Church brings new youth soccer league to area

An alternative youth soccer league, of sorts, called Upward Soccer, is launching in the Seymour area beginning with an August 10th evaluation period at the First Baptist Church of Seymour. The church is one of 30 nationwide, with four in Tennessee and three in Knoxville, that participate in the relatively new project. According to one of the league’s organizer’s, Joe Fowler, the league is not designed solely to make kids strive to win or be more competitive. “Each child goes through an evaluation process,” said Fowler. “There are six skills that the child is asked to do during the evaluation and they are timed and put into a computer. That way we can balance the teams.” “We make no bones about it on the front end,” Fowler added. “If you want to holler and scream then this is not the league for you. If you want to see kids develop then this is the league for you.” Upward Basketball is a program that is entering its’ fifth year and Fowler said that they consistently have over 100 children involved. The church also provides a program called Upward Cheerleading. The Upward Soccer games will be played at Smoky Crossing. The church is building a softball field, a soccer field and a walking track that will be financed by pledges coming into the church. “We asked ourselves, what uniqueness do we have that other churches don’t and that was 30-acres,” Fowler commented. “We have full-size softball and soccer fields and we also have a walking track that is 9/10 of a mile.” “We entered into a stewardship campaign last fall which has raised a little over $900,000 over a three-year period,” Fowler explained. “Half of the money is going to debt retirement and half to the sports complexes. People have given pledges that are above and beyond what we had asked, and they are still coming in regularly. The campaign ended this fall and in six months we have raised $220,000.” The church is looking at a program called Upward Baseball for next year which will be the same, kind of program as the soccer and softball leagues. The church averages 400-500 attendees in Sunday school, which according to Fowler is one of the advantages of being a big church. “We can offer a lot to our community and that makes our members very proud.” Parents may drop off their form and registration fee at the church office anytime between 8am and 4pm, Monday through Friday. The early registration cost for child is $55 and after August 24th, the cost is $65. Deadline for registration is August 24th. Shorts are optional at a cost of $11. The evaluations will take place at the First Baptist Church as follows: Four and five-year-old boys/girls–Saturday, August 10, or Saturday, August 24, between 10am and noon. First and Second grade boys/girls–Saturday, August 10, or Saturday August 24, between 10am and noon. Third and Fourth grade boys/girls–Saturday, August 10, or Saturday, August 24, between 9am and 11am. Fifth and Sixth grade boys/girls–Saturday, August 10, or Saturday, August 24, between 9am and 11am.