Column: Without a league of their own again

By Larry Fleming
larryfleming@daltoncitizen.com

July 02, 2008 11:07 pm

— Last February, Bagley and Dalton middle schools put to an end a year with a league affiliation for their athletic teams after the demise of the North Georgia Middle School Athletic Association because Whitfield County schools dropped out and formed a league of their own.
Hence, the Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference became the new home for the Braves and Cougars, and a year of being “athletic vagabonds” was supposed to end this coming school year.
Athletic teams would have league championships to shoot for. No more playing just to be playing. Athletic directors, principals, coaches and athletes themselves could once again dream of adding hardware to the school’s trophy case.
Well, poof.
Those dreams fizzled.
Now, the Braves and Cougars are back to square one. The 2008-09 athletic competitive calendar will be filled with non-league opponents, with only a 50-50 chance of changing in the near future.
Several Tennessee schools withdrew from the TVAC, effectively killing the league and leaving Bagley and Dalton athletic teams swinging in the breeze.
Attempts were made to form a league from the TVAC’s remaining schools, but that failed as well.
The last option for Bagley, located in Murray County, and Dalton is now a reality.
“We’re going to compete as an independent, the same as we did last year,” Bagley athletic director Steve Granger said.
There is a feeling at the two area schools that the TVAC went away because some Tennessee schools simply didn’t want to have “anything to do with” the two Georgia schools. Also, middle schools in Cleveland, Tenn., apparently weren’t keen on competing with private school powerhouses McCallie and Baylor. Something about hard feelings at the high school level filtering down to the middle schools.
Brian Suits, principal at Dalton Middle School, says “vigorous efforts” are still being made to align the Cougars with a league, but it’s not likely to happen in time for any sports in the 2008-09 school year.
“Interested schools will continue to talk this fall,” Suits said.
In the meantime, schools in Tennessee and Georgia have made plans for season-ending championship tournaments in almost every sport in a series of “The Battle for the Border” contests. Games would determine champions in Tennessee and Georgia, and those champs would square off for border championships.
“This whole thing has been a pain,” Suits said. “But I’m pretty sure it’s going to work out. At least we’ll be playing for some sort of championships, and I have confidence the thing could turn into a league. Once we play and trust each other, we will be able to do that.”
Last year, Bagley played four football games. In the fall, the Braves have a full schedule of six games (middle schools can play 60 percent of a high school schedule) against Baylor, McCallie, Cleveland, Dalton, Gladden and Christian Heritage.
Still, there is lingering disappointment in seeing the TVAC fold its tent.
“As of right now, it’s about a 50-50 chance for the teams we’re talking about forming a league,” Granger said. “If that falls through, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Ideally, it would be great to get Dalton, Whitfield County and Murray County schools back together, but I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.”
So, until the landscape changes drastically Granger plans to sell the school’s athletes on preparing them to compete at the high school level.
“The high school coaches have been positive in their communications with the kids, making them feel like they’re a part of the bigger cause,” Granger said.
• The Chattanooga Speeders, a power soccer team, recently competed — albeit with heavy hearts — in a tournament in Suwanee and won the Fair Play award. The Speeders’ Cameron Watkins, who is from Dalton, claimed the Most Valuable Player honor.
However, the team was stunned a week before the tournament by the death of teammate Peter Andersen, also of Dalton. Andersen’s father, Mike, is the team’s coach.
Power soccer is an international sport for players in power chairs. Players control a large soccer ball through the use of metal or plastic guards attached to the front of their power chairs.
• Mitchell Boggs, the unbeaten rookie right-handed pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, is scheduled to make his fifth start — sixth appearance — tonight against the New York Mets.
Boggs, who is from Dalton is 3-0 with a 4.37 ERA in 22 2/3 innings since his call-up from Triple-A Memphis in early June.