Semi-pro team
from page Hu
Panther player Wil
Miller is a native of
Winston-Salem. He says
he takes a lot of pride in
playing in front of his
hometown people.
“We are here to stay
and we are very exciting,”
Miller said. “We do a lot
more for the community
than what people know.
We do food drives and
other community events to
make sure we continue to
give back to those who
support us.”
Kenneth Patten,
Panther middle linebacker,
says one of the best things
about the team is many
guys have the opportunity
to renew their careers after
they have left the sport for
a few years.
“It feels good to come
out here because a lot of
guys are from the area so
for us to be able to do this
for the community with
snacks and drinks is good,”
said Patten. “We are proud
to have this team out here
because a lot of our youth
are misguided and now we
have a place for people to
come instead of out here
getting in trouble.”
According to
Summers, Panthers head
coach Will Pompey and
offensive coordinator
Reggie Jones are two of
the best in the business.
He feels with them at the
helm the Panthers have a
good shot in their first year
being in the Coastal
Football Association.
“We like to do things
for the community to make
sure we give back if noth
ing else,” said Jones. “My
hope is that the community
comes out to support us
because I have high expec
tations from the young
men on the team this year.”
Councilwoman Adams
came out and spoke with
the team about the impor
tance of their presence in
the community. She
implored them to set a pos
itive example for the
young men and women
coming up behind them.
“You guys are out here
today leading by example
and 1 am just so proud of
you,” Adams said in refer
ence to the team's presence
in the community Saturday
afternoon. “You all are the
next kings and queens of
the world and people are
looking up to you.”
The Panthers kick their
season off this Saturday at
Carver High School with a
jamboree. The games
begin at 2 pm.
Photo* by Timothy R*m«y
Council*oman Denise “DD” Adams joined the Triad Panthers for their
Community Day last Saturday.
K-Cup
from page 01
“We came out flat on
defense in the second half
so that really hurt us and
those threes really killed us
as weli,” said Southeast
head coach Matthew
Halverstadt.
Southeast would not go
away easily as they began
their comeback effort early
on in the fourth quarter.
Led by Tyler Bailey and
Julius Reese Jr. the Jaguars
closed the gap to three with
less than fifteen seconds
left in the game. As the
clock expired Southeast hit
a game tying three to send
it into overtime.
Halverstadt told his
team they had to step-up
the effort on defense
because that is what got
them there.
Kememersville had other
ideas as they dominated
the glass grabbing every
rebound and loose ball.
The clutch shooting from
Jeremiah Scales did not
hurt either.
Southeast had their
chances late in the game
but a lane violation, one of
three they had on the night,
negated a game tying free
throw with just over a
minute to play. That one
point would prove costly
as the late three point shot
from Bailey brought them
only to within one in the
final seconds.
Last season Southeast
Lacrosse
from pagiTfl
“My coach is a teacher
here and I was sitting in his
class speaking with some
friends who play and they
kept telling me to just come
out and play,” said Adams.
“At first I told them no
because it looked too hard
but when tryouts came I
went and made the team.” .
He says by the time the
third game of the season
came around he knew this
was something he wanted
to play for a while. As a
means to get better he dove
head first into obtaining as
much information and tips
about the game as possible.
“Everyone just gave me
tips about what to do and
how the game is played,”
he said. “I just soaked in
what the coaches and the
experienced players were
telling me and I just started
liking it.”
Adams says ne used ms
athleticism and speed to
carry him in the beginning
of his career. He now has
added other skills to his
arsenal to make him a more
versatile player,
For Adams he says he
prefers lacrosse to other
sports because of the con
tinuous style of play. He
says even when there is a
foul, play does not stop
until the ball hits the
ground. He also enjoys the
team aspect of the game
because as he put it “it
takes more than one player
to make a good lacrosse
team.”
Another point of moti
vation to play the sport of
lacrosse was the fact that
not many African
Americans are involved
with it. He feels he can
spark interest in the sport
from more African
Americans at his school by
inviting them to come out
Photo by TIniothy Ramsey
The Kernersville Middle school team finished the regular season undefeated with a win against Southeast Middle last week.
defeated KemersviUe by a
sizable margin so this
game was on their radar all
season according to Britt.
He says on top of finishing
undefeated they wanted to
avenge this loss and head
into the playoffs with good
momentum.
Scales added, “I just
wanted to be there for my
team and come out and
play hard and hit the big
shots when we needed
them because that is my
role. I'm used to the pres
sure and I am gratefhl to
come out here and get this
win.”
Coach Thompson says
his guys have “been doing
it all year” and has really
listened to what he and his
coaches were trying to
implement all season.
“They work hard and
come to practice everyday
and they really stepped up
tonight,” he said. “I know
we will be playing at home
and we will just have to go
out there and give it all we
got.”
Atkins coach Timothy Callaghan gives his team some words of wisdom during
practice last week.
and play
When Nickolas went to
his mother Deborah about
the possibility of playing
lacrosse she was not aware
of what the sport was
either. Upon seeing how
the sport was played she
was worried about the
amount of contact involved
in it.
“When I went to go see
his first game I thought it
was the most violent sport I
have ever seen,” said Ms.
Adams. “I just saw kids
running after one another
with sticks trying to knock
the ball out of your hands
and it made me a bit appre
hensive.”
“But the only reason
why I allowed him to play
is because he was good,”
she continued. “It's nice to
go see your son play and
the whole team is rooting
him on.”
Atkins coach Timothy
Callaghan says Adams sur
prised everyone on the
team with his play because
of his limited experience.
Callaghan says the fact
Adams did not have any
bad habits was a bonus
once he took the field.
“It was really exciting
to see him carry out a lot of
the things we were saying
and to see him take that
step forward by getting bet
ter as a player,” Callaghan
said. “He went from being
a backup to now being a
big starter with a lot of
playing time this season.”
“He is already a leader
out there by trying to get
the guys to play the right
way,” he continued. “He
has been a huge addition
for us since last year.”
Callaghan said he is
surprised by the impressive
fundamentals Adams pos
sesses so quickly in his
career. He says Adams
doesn't do anything poorly
but he just needs to “take it
to the next level” to make
him a better player.
The Camel program is
only in its fourth year of
existence. Coach
Callaghan hopes to become
more competitive and pos
sibly have a winning sea
son.
Atkins is one of the
more diverse schools in
Forsyth County and it real
ly shows on their sports
teams. Adams was the
only African-American
youth on the team last year
but now minorities make
up a large portion of the
team this season, which
was a point of emphasis for
him.
“There is so much
diversity here and I figured
it would be, but I guess it's
more surprising when you
go out to games to see how
diverse we are as compared
to other teams,” Callaghan
said. “There are other
schools out there that are
starting to grow and it is a
lot more fun with the diver
sity out there.”
Adams is also a high
achiever in the classroom
as well. He is an honor roll
student with a 3.8 GPA and
is a member of the National
Junior Honor Society,
Crosby Scholars and
WSSU Math and Science
Education Network just to
name a few of his honors.
He ranks in the top 15
of his graduating class and
would love to stay close to
home when it comes to his
choice of college. He
would like to continue his
lacrosse career if possibly
1 but his dream is to become
a forensic scientist.
Photos by Timothy Ramsey
Nickolas Adams, who poses with his mother,
Deborah, is a key piece to the Camel lacrosse team
this year. '
Ramsey
from page BT
the likes of Ken Griffey
Jr., Barry Bonds, Albert
Belle, Doc Gooden, Darryl
Strawberry and Tony
Gwynn to look up to, just
to name a few. Nowadays
there are just a handful of
African-American star
players, many of which are
not household names like
they used to be.
My hope for the future
is that sports outside of
football and basketball
focus on including more
people of color.
Basketball and football do
a great job to marketing to
young minorities, which I
cannot say about other
sports.
If and when access to
these other sports becomes
readily available to young
people of color, it will only
be a matter of time before
a column like this will be
moot. So next time a
sports commentator makes
a comment about how a
finish like Wallace's'in the
Daytona 500 affects the
sport, I hope they mention
that those sports need to be
available to a wider audi
ence.
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