For the last two seasons of high school sports, I’ve had a couple of different perspectives of the athletic success that’s taken place in the CSRA.
During one season, I had the best seat in the house as I covered much of the action up close and personal with the Augusta Chronicle.
I saw five state basketball championships, dozens of collegiate-ready athletes gaining scholarships through their play and a passionate area-wide fanbase more than ready to celebrate the achievements while boasting to anyone who would listen that the Augusta area’s athletes — especially on the basketball court — shouldn’t take a back seat to anyone — particularly those folks in the big city two hours west on I-20.
But during this past season, I had more of a bird’s eye view. I watched from my perch in Covington, Georgia as I spent time back at an old journalism haunt.
Since I wasn’t directly involved in the coverage, I had the chance to be a fan. And I watched as seniors Khalon Hudson, Jalex Ewing and AuMauri Tillman led Westside boys basketball to back-to-back state crowns.
I marveled as DJ Shine became the unquestioned leader for the Augusta Christian squad that also repeated as state champs.
I watched as a very game Josey girls squad, with first-year head coach Nichelle Champan, continued to step to the music of predecessor Jawan Bailey, making another deep run into the class AA state tournament.
I joined some of the rest of you being electrified at Thomson’s run to Class AA supremacy while enjoying the exploits of Jontavis Curry whom I believe was one of the state’s best football players, period, regardless of classification.
I got excited as Harlem laid claim to its first state championship in baseball since 1986. All of it reminded me of just how ridiculously talented the CSRA is comprehensively.
To be sure, Augusta’s always had talent. Championship level talent. Basketball is king here, but football isn’t far behind. But isn’t that sort of the way it is, not just in the CSRA, but in most of the state of Georgia?
That’s not to say that the state nor the area doesn’t produce its fair share of next level talent across the board. But let’s face it: The revenue sports — football and basketball — seem to do it better and at a higher level around here than the rest.
But it doesn’t have to be so.
Yes, I know that football and basketball are much different animals on the high school sports scene than, say, track, softball, volleyball or soccer. The former two are revenue generating sports. The latter two probably lose more money than they’ll ever make.
But that doesn’t mean that non-revenue sports in the CSRA can’t compete at a higher level than they do.
Some are already doing it. The Harlem Bulldogs, nestled on the western fringe of the area, is a baseball powerhouse still likely basking in the glory that comes with a 36-1 regular season record and Class AAA championship to boot.
Evans is usually the standard bearer for baseball in Columbia County and, over the last decade or so, Westside, Richmond Academy and Laney, albeit to a lesser extent, have represented Richmond County decently in baseball and other spring sports. Richmond Academy is the county’s standard bearer when it comes to soccer, volleyball and golf.
And, of course, North Augusta — particularly its girls basketball team — is a perennial powerhouse.
But contrary to what some may believe — and money aside — the formula for CSRA success in football and basketball is, indeed, transferable to non-revenue sports.
I know. Some of you are rolling your eyes at the “money aside” part, because that’s really one of the key differences between regular state contenders and also-ran programs.
But honestly, no school in the CSRA is just overflowing financially, though some do have it better than others. The discussion about why that is can be saved for another day. But the recipe for winning here, in any sport, is what it’s always been. Hard work, a blue collar, chip-on-the-shoulder mentality, solid coaching and strong fan support.
How amazing it would be to see more of that in sports such as track and field, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, softball and baseball. Some of the slack in non-revenue sports’ competitiveness could be remedied by encouraging athletes to stop specialization.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) — the governing body that oversees what state governing bodies, such as the Georgia High School Association (GHSA), do with its athletics and fine and performing arts activities — sport specialization is defined as, “intense, high-volume (hours per week or months per year) training and participation in a particular sport at the expense of an equal focus on other sports.”
I don’t have the exact figures to officially quantify it, but just based on what I’ve seen during my time observing the local sports scene — and based on what I’ve seen in close to 15 years covering high school sports across Georgia — it seems as if sport specialization is on the high end here in the CSRA.
I’m not sure that’s exactly a good thing for several reasons.
First, research shows specialization can limit the overall athletic development in young athletes. Multiple studies depict how sport specialization can have an adverse effect on middle and high school student athletes. Beyond the opportunities afforded by participating in other sports, numerous data shows non-specialized athletes actually perform better even in the sports they’d most likely want to specialize in.
All that tells me is good athletes make good athletic teams. Sounds elementary, right? Here’s what I’m saying: Some of your best wrestlers make great football players, and some of your best football players turn out to be excellent grapplers.
Football team looking to increase team speed? Go find your sprinters and intermediate runners on the track team. Not only does taking a non-specialization approach help the athlete and help strengthen some of those non-revenue sports programs at a high school, it could also put the athlete in front of previously unknown scholarship dollars.
Google the name Devin Dixon, and you’ll see a track and field athlete with multiple NCAA Championships and All-American accolades to his credit. Why do I know him? Well, I covered him as a high school cross country and track runner at Eagles Landing High in McDonough, Ga.
He started running cross country and track to help increase his chances to make the high school basketball team. He never made it. Instead, he only became a multi-time state champion in both sports which opened the door for his ridiculously decorated career at Texas A&M.
His story isn’t exactly rare.
According to a November 2021 article on asmschoarships.com, some of the lesser-known sports are among the easiest to acquire scholarships. More athletes across the country are discovering this.
For example, did you know it’s almost twice as likely for a young man to get a baseball, ice hockey, track or lacrosse scholarship as a football or basketball scholarship? And boys swimmers are almost just as likely (7.0%) to earn a scholarship as football (7.1%).
On the girls’ side, ice hockey (yes, women’s ice hockey is a thing), lacrosse, soccer and field hockey are more likely to award scholarships than more popular women’s sports such as basketball and volleyball.
Those lacrosse stats should be good news to local athletes as lacrosse’s popularity has rapidly grown in the CSRA, particularly in Columbia County — especially if using sports to pave a path into college is the goal. And athletes are finding themselves able to play without sacrificing time in their other sports of choice.
Here’s the bottom line: Excellent athletes abound in the CSRA. But most of them are specializing in basketball and football, which in turn, make those local programs more competitive. Want to shift that success a bit locally? Encourage less sport specialization in the CSRA.
I believe the comprehensive competitive value on the local sports scene would increase exponentially if more of the athletes who make revenue-earning sports go would step out of their comfort zones and compete across the board.
It could be a game changer for local athletes. Even more, it would be a game changer for local sports programs whose coaches are already strapped for cash and scrounging the hallways of their respective schools for available bodies to plug into vacant roster spots.
Augusta is annually showing the rest of Georgia that it’s a force to be reckoned with in basketball and football. Now is a great time to extend that reputation across the board, and we’ve got the athletes to do it.
Gabriel Stovall is a freelance sports writer and columnist for The Augusta Press. He can be reached at gabrielcstovall@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @GabrielCStovall.
