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JUNIOR GOLF CHAMPS Woodard, Chanthaphaeng win county amateur
CARRYING THE TORCH Olympians share exploits with local gymnasts
Stars EARNING
Stripes
> American Legion players observe tradition
JOHN CLAYTON PHOTO
WES SHULER OF SPARTANBURG POST 28 DELIVERS A PITCH IN A RECENT GAME.
>> VAL WHITESIDE: COACH WINS CANCER BATTLE >> VOLLEYBALL ELITE: CLUB SOUTH 16-1 THIRD IN AAU NATIONALS >> ATHLETES IN ACTION
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Leading Off > 19
WILL WOODARD, ANNA CHANTHAPHAENG WIN COUNTY TITLES
>8
Dorman’s Val Whiteside overcomes ‘Big C’
> 12 American Legion teams
observing tradition
> 15
Local swimmers on national stage
> 20 Broome grad D.J. Moore
gives back to local kids
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AUG. 2 EET PHOTO
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back Byrnes runningmakes his Shakeem WhartonDorman way through 4A state in the defenders game in 2010. championship
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ASSOCIATE EDITOR / SENIOR WRITER John Clayton john.clayton@upstategameday.com
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS Ed Overstreet Pamela Dunlap Kyle Owings Ken Finley
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CORRECTION: A photo on page 15 of the June edition of Upstate Game Day inadvertently identified Converse Marlins swimmer CRIOSANNA ALLRED as Maddie Mitchell.
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NEWS & NOTES FROM THE LOCAL YOUTH SPORTS SCENE
PLEASE SEND YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS TO LES.TIMMS@UPSTATEGAMEDAY.COM AAU GIRLS JR NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL SEMIFINALISTS
By the
2 From left, bottom row, Tatum Metts, Katie Anne Wilson, Kayla Thomas; top row, Kirsten McCraw, Sarah Wade, Kylie Moyer, Johna Robbins, and Jamila Johnson of Club South 16-1 celebrate their third place finish. They lost to eventual champion Mizuno Northern Lights 16-2 in the semifinals.
Club South 16U National squad captures third place in 191-team field at AAU tourney Upstate Volleyball Club is 12th in Classic division Spartanburg was well represented in Florida last month as Club South volleyball squads and the Upstate Volleyball Club posted impressive finishes at the AAU National volleyball championships in Orlando. Club South 16-1 led the local contingent with an impressive third-place finish in the Club division among a field that included 191 teams. They lost in the semifinals (25-17, 25-20) to eventual champion Mizuno Northern Lights 16-2. Club South’s 15-1 team was 19th , CS 12-1 was 36th, CS 13-1, 39th; CS 17-1 67th; CS 14-1, 73rd; and CS 18-1, 100th.
Numbers
Number of former Broome High pitchers named to minor-league all-star games. Closer HEATH HEMBREE was named to the Triple A All-Star Game, which will be contested between the stars of the Pacific Coast League and International League July 11 in Buffalo, N.Y. Hembree (1-1, 13 saves, 4.13 ERA) is playing for the Fresno Grizzlies, the top farm team of the San Francisco Giants. . . . KEVIN PUCETAS, who played at Broome and Limestone before turning pro, made the Double A Eastern League AllStar Squad. That game will be played July 11 in Reading, Pa. Pucetas (6-2, 2.63 ERA) plays for the Harrison (Pa.) Senators of the Washington Nationals’ system.
1 9 14 4
Wins by the Boiling Springs girls basketball team last season. YONEKO WASHINGTON was hired to take over as head basketball coach for the Lady Bulldogs. Washington has been at Union County for the past five seasons. Consecutive games won by Dorman en route to the championship in the S.C. state 7-on-7 passing tournament in June. Years of The Blade junior golf tournament played. This year’s tournament is set for July 10-11 at Thornblade Golf Club in Greer.
ALL-AMERICANS: Club South’s Jamila Johnson, left, and Tatum Metts were honored for their outstanding play at the tournament.
Upstate Volleyball Club, coached by North Greenville University volleyball coach Greg Mosely, finished 12th in the Classic division. This was Upstate’s first venture into the AAU national tourney.
Seasons spent as an assistant coach at Woodruff High School by new head boys basketball coach CURTIS NASH. Nash played basketball and football at Dorman before going on to play football at Wofford.
GAME DAY u JULY 2012 5
Nearly 80 teams from across the region in 8U, 12U, 14U and high school divisions will compete in the American Softball Association of Upstate South Carolina Diamond Classic Events Summer World Series at Tyger River Park from July 12-15. Here, teams participate in an ASA tourney at TRP in June. JOHN CLAYTON photos
Area teams compete in ASA Diamond Classic at TRP By JOHN CLAYTON
A busy July at Tyger River Park will include the American Softball Association of Upstate South Carolina Diamond Classic Events Summer World Series July 12-15. Nearly 80 teams from across the region in 8U, 12U, 14U and high school divisions will compete in the event with fivefoot-tall trophies going to the winner of each division. Teams can expect to play five games over the course of the weekend. The summer World Series is one of several large events held in Spartanburg at Tyger River Park, North Spartanburg and 295 Park this year. If necessary, the world series event will also spill over to North Spartanburg, but ASA director Chad Green hopes to contain all games to Tyger River. 6 JULY 2012 u GAME DAY
“(Our players) absolutely love (TRP),” Green said. “These tournaments are growing bigger every year and the park has helped that this year. They hyped it up a lot, but it’s lived up to the hype.” The ASA World Series event will also include fun for the rest of the families in attendance with live entertainment, player competitions on the stadium field, a cornhole tournament for players and coaches, inflatable slides and bouncy houses and a professional cornhole tournament on the schedule. The Woodruff Wildfire, Carolina Crush, Spartanburg Phillies, Outlawz, S.C. Shine and Upstate Express are among the teams expected to compete. For information, visit http://www.eteamz.com/scasa/ news/index.cfm?cat=270513.
From left , Alex Arteaga, Dylan Turner, Clay Patterson, Nathan Diehn, William Joyce, Bryson Bishop, Dustin Watts and Parker Overlees, do the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Monkey Chantâ&#x20AC;? in celebration of the 2012 AYSO Section 5 title.
Local AYSO squad captures prestigious tourney title The AYSO Region 132 U10 Boys team captured the Division Championship in the 2012 AYSO Section 5 Tournament Games held June 15th-17th in Charlotte. Section 5 is comprised of seven Areas and 62 Regions throughout the states of Alabama, the panhandle of Florida, Southeast Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. These Regions represent approximately 22,000 players and over 4,500 volunteers. The U19 Girls Royal Strikers squad, coached by John Stadalsky and Darryl Thompson, were awarded the Sportsmanship Award. Everyone plays...Balanced Teams...Open Registration...Positive Coaching...Good Sportsmanship...Player Development
AYSO Region 132 Fall Registrations Who: Boys and Girls, Ages 4-18 Must be 4 by July 31, 2012--NO exceptions Birth certificate required for all new players Last Chance Registration Event !
July 9th, 4-8 pm - Westside Library After July 20th, players accepted on a space available basis OR Online Registration and Information: www.ayso132.org Phone: 864.574.1720 Costs: $65.00 per player Includes: Registration Fee; Insurance; Uniform; Photos; Magazine; and more! Hope we saw you at Red, White, and Boom! AYSO is the Official Corporate Sponsor of July, 4th.
Games played at Old Canaan Rd Soccer Complex. Season begins in August! GAME DAY u JULY 2012 7
from the sidelines
Cancer survivor Whiteside shows VAL‘O’R in fight of life
I
always wondered about the “o,” a letter placed conspicuously where it didn’t belong in Valorie Whiteside’s name, making the commonplace a little unusual.
But soon enough after we After a mammogram met longer ago than we would and regular doctor’s visit care to admit in junior high failed to show the tumor, school, Valorie became just Val, Whiteside said she found and the misplaced “o” became a it herself during a selfvague memory while Val went examination. A little on to become a basketball star while later, the lump she at Chapman High, graduating discovered was diagnosed in 1984, a year after myself and as breast cancer late last going on to play basketball at year. Appalachian State. “I had Whiteside, always been along with her adamant about older sister, Gwen, being what I were two of the call a ‘triple best female athletes threat,’” she to ever come out said. “I always Dorman High School girls basketball coach Val Whiteside took on and of Chapman. had regular defeated breast cancer. Here, she holds a special cake that commemorates That, I remember doctor’s visits as fact, the way I and mammograms her accomplishment. remember teenand I examined and rarely missed a practice not survive the fight. aged Val, so young, myself.” through a jaw-dropping force No, there are no guarantees pretty, athletic, And she was of will. -- only hope, prayer and will to JOHN popular. healthy -- she ate “There were times when I not only fight the cancer but to CLAYTON That’s what I right and was active. was pretty sick, but when it was fight through the treatments. remember. But none of that time to practice, I would drag One of the first things Val But it is more important is a guarantee against cancer, myself up and go,” she said. did after beating back cancer to talk about what she is now. which made it tough to believe “When practice got started, all was to take her victory lap as Who is the woman I would that the tumor she found was my energy came back, and for a survivor at the Relay for Life reacquaint myself with for this anything but benign. that time, I was myself again.” and then ask her Facebook column? It wasn’t. She would inspire her friends to pray, not for her, but She is the head girls players -- and really everyone for those who are still enduring “I laid on the couch for basketball coach at Dorman who knew her, but her players radiation and chemotherapy a week, kind of processing, High School. She is a wife and a but then I said, ‘I’m going to would also give her more treatments that make them mom. She is a teacher. She is a than even they knew -- as did sick again and again in order to approach this the way I do role model. her family, friends and newly make them better. everything else. I’m going to adopted Dorman family. And most recently, she basketball practice,” Whiteside She wants them to know is a cancer survivor, the “Big said. “We had a job to do and Whiteside shook her head. they can make it, and if her C” already attached to her in we weren’t going to let any position as a basketball coach “It just shows you that her forties the way that “o” obstacles stand in our way -becomes her pulpit in the fight there’s such things as hope and has been with her forever. She and that included cancer.” love still in the world,” she said. against breast cancer, then so underwent her final radiation The gym had always been So, now she’s spreading that be it. treatment in mid-June and is her safe haven and it would be It makes sense to me now: message. She’s letting women now cancer free. again. The “o” was supposed to be -- young and old -- know that “It’s a part of who she is there all along, a silent, oneAll through last basketball breast cancer isn’t a death now,” said niece Lia Proctor, season, she somehow balanced sentence, while reminding them letter comment on the courage who starred at Dorman in basketball and chemotherapy that they, too, need to be “triple she would need one day to win volleyball and basketball before and radiation treatments that the biggest game of her life. threats.” going on to play volleyball at made her sick but eventually There would be no Valorie We talked of people we Clemson. “But she doesn’t let it eradicated the Stage 3 cancer. both know and knew who have without “valor.” GD define her.” She didn’t miss a game fought cancer, some who did 8 JULY 2012 u GAME DAY
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WE WANT YOUR SPORTS PICS! please email to: les.timms @upstategameday.com photos by: John Clayton • Les Timms III • Traci Hamilton • Steve Hinds • Jay Barbee • Scott Hayes
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Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. -Lance Armstrong
GAME DAY u JUNE 2012 11
STARS STRIPES
EARNING
American Legion players carry on long tradition
By JOHN CLAYTON
A
side from the shotgun sounds of home runs off of wooden bats, the game is much the same as it was JOHN CLAYTON photos when American Legion teams first took the field in 1926. Greer Post 115 third baseman Zach Bridgeman makes But the game around the game has a throw. changed as youth sports has become big business and competition for players from other sports and other leagues has changed the way American Legion organizers approach their annual summer seasons. “There’s a lot out there and (players) have a lot of options,” said Post 28 Athletic Officer John Barron. “One of the things I’ve found out this year is that I’ve got to be a little more proactive in recruiting for the team. “I’ve got something a lot of these travel teams don’t have -- I’ve got history. Our team goes back to 1933. . . . And a lot of great ball players have played American Legion baseball.” In baseball’s golden era, ball parks such as Spartanburg’s Duncan Park, Stevens Park in Greer and Inman Mills Park (now with Jim Everhart Field) routinely Spartanburg Post 28 catcher Wes Hallberg hands the ball to U.S. Navy filled up for any sort veteran Ray Norris after the ceremonial first pitch at Duncan Park. of contest -- minor 12 JULY 2012 u GAME DAY
leagues, mill leagues, barnstorming and American Legion. And American Legion teams were all-star teams, drawing the best talent from area high schools and many had to hold tryouts and make cuts before the season began to get their rosters down to size. That was then. A short-handed Spartanburg Post 28 American Legion team was playing its fourth game of a busy week. Post 28’s numbers are down. Coach Ken Hanna is taking the field with 12 players against Gaffney. Post 28 is not the exception. Several American Legion teams are playing without the full complement of 18 players allowed by the rules. Perhaps it is commentary on the health of baseball as a sport. Putting that aside, coaches and players recognize that there is more competition for athletes from other sports (see, lacrosse and soccer) and from other baseball organizations such as traveling club teams. Other players have decided to concentrate on one sport in high school. As American Legion teams played the bulk of their seasons in June, area high schools were hosting football workouts and basketball shootouts. Hanna said he doesn’t blame travel teams for diluting the local baseball population for the American Legion. “I may be the only coach that doesn’t think so. I’m proud of the kids we have on the team and I’ll go to war with what we’ve got,” Hanna said. “I’m not saying that I haven’t called some Kids I’ve coached in the past or some kids who I
The Spartanburg Post 28 American Legion team lines up for the National Anthem prior to the regular-season game against Gaffney.
Spartanburg’s Seth Lewis attempts a bunt against Greer.
know can play and asked them to come out and try American Legion ball out.” Hanna said, yes, players still have a chance to be seen by college and professional scouts on American Legion fields, but he wants his players to learn about the American Legion and who it is they are playing for. “We’re playing for our country, and playing for our veterans and for those still serving our country,” he said. “We hope it’s getting through how important it is that they’re playing for somebody else, not for themselves.” Catcher Wes Hallberg, a student at Dorman, said he has come to understand what this brand of baseball is about.
“It’s taught me a lot about this country,” Hallberg said. “I’ve come to really appreciate what (the Legionnaires) have done for us.” Post 28 ace Wes Schuler, a Dorman product who just completed his first year at USC Sumter, said the program’s connection to the veterans and Americana kept him coming back for a third season. “I love the way our program salutes the veterans with every single thing we do, every day,” Schuler said. “It’s a great way to show how we support the veterans and play the game we love while we’re doing it.” Greer Post 115 Athletic Director Harold Brown has been on the job for nearly four decades and easily recalls when Stevens Field was “slammed full” with a couple of thousand fans for any given game in the stands and some of the area’s top talent on the field. But the numbers have dwindled in both places. “AAU really hurt us, but we’ve got some of those guys coming back,” Brown said. Even so, Post 115 and there counterparts in Inman, Gaffney and Spartanburg play on, continuing a tradition of baseball and code of sportsmanship demanded by the American Legion. “Back (in the 1970s and 80s), I think the desire was a little more back then, simply
because that’s all there was -- you didn’t have travel ball and the other things these kids have as far as choices,” said Greer head coach Dale Gilbert. “From a financial standpoint, this is still the best thing going because guys don’t pay any money to play. The Legion still supports them 100 percent.” The fact that American Legion players do not pay for a season that lasts a little more than a month could be a factor as local teams look to increase participation with junior and senior programs in the future. “To me, it just makes more sense than spending all that money,” said Tripp Owenby, a Blue Ridge graduate who just completed his freshman year and season at North Greenville. The American Legion also plays mostly under professional baseball rules on the field, meaning nine-inning games packed into a five-week, 16-game regular-season schedule. Owenby and Schuler both acknowledged that schedule is sneak peak at the next level, whether it be professional or college. Barron agreed. “A guy who is planning a career in baseball should have his ticket punched that he’s had at least one year of American Legion ball,” he said. GD GAME DAY u JULY 2012 13
Swimmers in Action SPARTANBURG SUMMER SWIM LEAGUE please email your best Summer Swim League pics to les.timms @upstategameday.com
Little Fish photos by Les Timms III
Addi Bowen, 3, bobs along as she makes her way from one end of the pool to the other during an event at the Lantern Ridge / Westside Club swim meet held at Lantern Ridge earlier this month. She is the daughter of Kristi and Jim Bowen of Spartanburg.
Photos courtesy John & Dede Warner
Jay Warner, center, top photo, prepares to compete in the 100 Butterfly at the USA Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. Photo at left, a view from the stands.
USA OLYMPIC TRIALS
Local swimmers on national stage By JOHN CLAYTON
the 100-meter butterfly, 200m individual medley and 400m A group of locally produced individual medley. Oberg swimmers were on the (Spartanburg national stage during the High/Vanderbilt) USA Swimming Olympic competed in the Trials in Omaha, Neb., 200m backstroke and recently, but none were Warner (Dorman/ able to advance out of the South Carolina) in preliminary rounds. the 100m butterfly. Spartanburg’s David Lips, who will Ingraham, Chrissy be at freshman at Ingraham Oberg and Jay Warner Indiana next year, along with Greer’s Haley qualified for five Lips (Riverside), J.L. events, but failed to Mann’s Annie Gillig advance in the 100m and Christ Church butterfly and 400m alum Kendall Crawford individual medley. -- all of Y-Spartaquatic -Gillig also competed competed in the trials. in the 400m individual medley. Ingraham (Spartanburg High/ Crawford and Warner Virginia) qualified in Lips still had events
remaining at the trials at press 10 or 15 meters but he did a time. good job, and I was proud of his effort and the way he Oberg, Ingraham represented our team.” and Warner are also graduates of the Vanderbilt head Spartanburg Summer coach Jeremy Organ Swim League. Oberg credited Oberg for swam for the Country giving the Commodores’ Club of Spartanburg, swimming program a Ingraham for boost by making it to Lips Hillbrook and Warner the trials. for Lantern Ridge. “It’s really exciting “(The event) for Chrissy, but also for was the only one of the program to have the entire week for somebody at the U.S. Jay (Warner),” said Olympic team trials,” South Carolina head Organ said on the swimming coach team’s website. “She’ll McGee Moody on the be representing her Gamecocks’ website. home club team, but Oberg “He had to wait all also Vanderbilt University. week for (the) event. . . .It’s a really big step He struggled through the final forward for everybody.” GD GAME DAY u JULY 2012 15
CARRYING THE TORCH
Former Olympians share exploits with Kozeev’s campers Watch the ex-Olympians
SVETLANA BOGINSKAYA 1988 Olympics
SAMANTHA PESZEK 2008 Silver Medalist
By JOHN CLAYTON
G
ymnastics students at Kozeev’s can usually find the Olympic exploits of former Russian star Svetlana Boginskaya on YouTube. But this past month, Boginskaya brought her annual summer camp to Kozeev’s along with U.S. 2008 Olympic Silver medalist Samantha Peszak, giving the local gymnasts more than just a brush with fame and Olympic glory. They also got in a couple of days of hard work under the tutelage of the Olympic champions. “They teach you a lot,” said Grace Perdun, 14, a student at Hillcrest High School. “They’ve
“We teach the correct way as we did in Russia and we can teach the higher-level skills here.” SVETLANA BOGINSKAYA Gold Medalist, Russia 1988 Olympic Games
16 JULY 2012 u GAME DAY
JOHN CLAYTON photos
Samantha Peszak, U.S. 2008 Olympic Silver medalist, answers questions from gymnasts during a camp at Kozeev’s in June.
been there and they’ve done it, 2012 OLYMPICS and hopefully I’ll be there one on TV day, too.” Grace and sister Anna were Schedule at nbcolympics.com among the local gymnasts put through their paces during the OPENING CEREMONY camp at Kozeev’s Gymnastics, Friday, July 27, 7:30 p.m. the Spartanburg-based school WYFF-TV, Ch. 4 founded by Anatoly Kozeev, NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of who coached Boginskaya to London Olympic coverage over 17 five Olympic medals, including days for the most extensive coverage gold, in Russia. ever provided by an Olympic broad“I thought establishing these cast network. NBC cable networks types of camps in the summer MSNBC, CNBC, among others, will and giving back to children provide additional coverage. could benefit gymnasts when “We teach the correct way an Olympian would be teaching as we did in Russia and we can them,” said Boginskaya, who teach the higher-level skills retired from the competition here. He trusts me with it and in 2000 and currently lives with her husband and family in lets me run our camp here,” she said. Houston, Texas. Boginskaya, 38, competed “It’s grown from one in three Olympiads, the last one location in 2000 to seven this coming in 1996, years before year and possibly more in the some of her current charges years to come.” here and elsewhere were born. Boginskaya’s history with She smiles a little and Kozeev goes back to her own acknowledges that YouTube, the beginnings in the sport. She has known the legendary coach Internet video site, has kept her competitive career alive for her since she was 8 years old and is carrying on his style of teaching students to see. in her own camps. “YouTube comes in handy,” Boginskaya said. “We tell the The visit to Spartanburg has become an annual event for parents of the gymnasts to have them watch our performances.” Boginskaya.
Such is not the case - yet - for Peszak with most of the students. The Indiana native, who won Olympic silver with Team USA in 2008, is just a few years older than some of the gymnasts at Kozeev’s and is now an undergraduate on the gymnastics team at UCLA. “If just me talking with them or engaging them inspires them, that’s what I’m her for,” said Peszak. “The first time I wanted to go to the Olympics was when I was 5 and I watched the 1996 (U.S.) Olympic team win gold in Atlanta. That is what inspired me and still inspires me. Hopefully, I can do the same to them as the ‘96 girls did for me.” Peszak said she sees a lot of potential in the gymnasts training at Kozeev’s, despite the region not being known as a gymnastics hotbed. Sarah Jane Manucy said coming to the camp helped her with her technique. “You feel like you’re really learning something and you’re learning it correctly,” said Manucy, 16, who started gymnastics at the age of 3. Caitlin Blackburn, 13, said working with Peszak was especially exciting after watching her compete in Beijing in 2008. “It was a great experience,” Blackburn said. “When you come to the camp, you can learn anything because they’ll help you with anything. . . . Samantha was my age once and to see how she got there lets me know that maybe I can get there.” GD Svetlana Boginskaya gives advice to young gymnasts at the camp.
USA OLYMPIC TRIALS
.34 separates Rowland from Olympic berth By JOHN CLAYTON
Spartanburg sprinter Marcus Rowland narrowly missed out on a spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, finishing just .34 seconds out of the third and final spot granted the Olympic bid for London later this month. Rowland, a former Dorman runner and two-time state champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, is a rising senior at Auburn and competed in the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. His time of 20.50 was good enough for eighth place in the finals, .34 seconds behind Ole Miss’ Isiah Young in third.
Arkansas alumnus Wallace Spearmon, Jr. won the event with a time of 19.82 seconds. Rowland made it to the finals in the 200m event and to the semifinals of the 100m. Rowland I’m really proud of the way Marcus competed this week,” Auburn head track coach Ralph Spry said on Auburn’s official athletic website. “It is no small feat to run the 100 and 200 meters and Marcus was able to reach the semifinals and finals. That really says a lot about him as a competitor. These two weeks have been a great learning experience for him and I look forward to seeing what he is able to do in 2013 as a senior.” GD
Dorman graduate Marcus Rowland finished eighth in the finals of the 200m
GAME DAY u JULY 2012 17
Byrnes, Eastside to host youth football camps u THE BYRNES HIGH SCHOOL COACHING STAFF will conduct the annual Bill Eubanks Memorial Rebels Youth Football Camp July 16-18 at Beech Springs School. The camp is for rising third-eighth graders. Sessions will be held from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. daily at the school. Cost is $40 per camper. Registration is ongoing and will be held on the first day of the camp. A meal will be served to campers each night after the camp at no additional cost. All proceeds from the camp will go toward
SPORTS CLIPS the annual Bill Eubanks Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded each year to a senior football player at Byrnes. For more information on the camp or the scholarship fund, please visit http://d5rebels. com or call Tony McAbee at (864) 439-1881. Donations to the Eubanks Scholarship Fund can be mailed to P.O. Box 187, Duncan, S.C., 29334, Attention: Bill Eubanks Scholarship Fund.
u EASTSIDE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH JEFF THOMASON will host football skills camps for kids July 9-13 and July 16-20 at Eastside.The clinics are scheduled for grades 3-5 the week of July 9 and for grades 6-8 the week of July 16. Participants can attend three days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for $75 or all five days for $100. The clinics will run from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. each day. For more information, visit http:// coachtfootballcamp.com.
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Will Woodard, Chanthaphaeng share County Jr. Am titles By JOHN CLAYTON
Will Woodard turned the lessons learned from a runnerup finish in the Spartanburg Junior Amateur Golf Championship in 2011 into a title in the event in 2012. Woodard opened up a four-stroke lead after the first 18 holes and overcame a rocky start to the second round en route to a three-stroke victory in the 36-hole tournament at The Creek Golf Club. “I slept like a baby last night,” Woodard said of his four-stroke cushion after Round 1. “I was pretty confident. . . . My goal was to come out and shoot par. I just missed that, but it turned out OK.” Woodard’s openinground 66 was followed up by a 2-over-par 72. A birdie on the short par-4 16th hole gave the Oakbrook Prep senior some welcome breathing room between himself and runner-up Jordan White (7170--141). Ethan Smith finished third with a 71-71--142. Taylor White (70-72--142) and Matt Thorne (71-72--143) tied for fourth.
Anna Chanthaphaeng
Defending champion Forrest Fowler took sixth with a 71-72--143. A year ago, Woodard’s driver faltered, but this year that was not a problem at a course that does not reward length as much as it does precision. “I hit two drivers here the entire tournament,” Woodard said. “It’s all about course management here.” The top 10 finishers in the tournament receive an invitation into the Spartanburg Amateur Championship. Trey Daniel, Nick Broome, Ryan Kincaid and Will Blackwood rounded out the top 10. With the win, Woodard also received a bid into the Bobby Champion Invitational later this year at Spartanburg Country Club.
JOHN CLAYTON
Will Woodard shot rounds of 66-72--138 to capture a 3-stroke victory in the Spartanburg Junior Amateur Golf Championship.
Anna Chanthaphaeng earns girls victory
In the girls division, Anna Chanthaphaeng tried to avoid making the big mistakes on her way to the Spartanburg Junior Amateur Girls title. “It’s exciting,” she said. “This is my first big tournament win.” Chanthaphaeng fired a 7273--145 for a six-stroke win over Blake Hodges (77-74--151) in second and Abby Driscoll (79-72--151) in third. Despite the heat and Chanthaphaeng’s best efforts, a “snowman” (and 8 on the scorecard) did appear as Chanthaphaeng began the second round, but she quickly righted herself. “When I did make the big one, I was able to come back with a par and a birdie,” said Chanthaphaeng, a rising freshman at Boiling Springs High School. GD GAME DAY u JULY 2012 19
For anyone with the desire to play sports at the college or professional level, the road is long and hard. This regular feature is about local athletes, living their dream, competing at ...
Competitiveness drives D.J. Moore Former Broome standout visits hometown, gives back to youth at football camp By JOHN CLAYTON
F
ormer Broome High assistant and current Chapman head football coach Mark Hodge called D.J. Moore the most competitive student he’d ever taught or coached. Whether it was in the classroom or on the gridiron, Moore competed. “It was him against the test or him against the book,” Hodge said of Moore, the student. On the football field, it was much the same and that competitive fire led Moore from high school glory at Broome to SEC stardom at Vanderbilt and finally to the NFL and the Chicago Bears. Moore, who is entering his third season with the Bears after being taken by the historic franchise in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft, returned to his Spartanburg home in June and hosted a football camp for 80 area youth at Spartanburg High. While Moore, an All-SEC and AllAmerican defensive back at Vanderbilt before leaving Nashville after his junior season for the NFL, was the star attraction and football is the subject of the camp, Moore said he wanted the campers take home other lessons. “I want to let them know to take their school seriously. That’s important,” Moore said. “Once you get to college, it’s a whole other world. You have the opportunities to meet people you’d never have a chance to meet. “I just want them to get to college, whether you’re an athlete or not. I want them to get to college and open up avenues that wouldn’t be available to them.” Moore was an two-time all-state receiver at Broome, which he helped to
20 JULY 2012 u GAME DAY
Chicago Bears nickelback D.J. Moore returned to his Spartanburg home in June and hosted a football camp for 80 area youths. Here, he speaks to campers at Spartanburg High School.
the 2004 Class AA state championship. His all-around abilities enamored coaches during the recruiting process. After starring at Vanderbilt, he was slated to go as high as the late first or early second round of the NFL Draft. What had been a magical ride turned sour on draft day as Moore inexplicably fell to the fourth round. Moore said the draft-day slid affected his confidence during his rookie season, but he righted himself, once again relying on his competitive nature to work his way into playing time in the NFL. As the Bears’ nickelback in 2011, Moore collected 44 tackles (29 solo), four interceptions, a sack and a forced fumble. “It’s good to come back and show the kids that they can make it,” he said. “You don’t have to be that big -- I’m not that big (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) or that fast, but I can jump.” He is one of a handful of local players who have made a successful jump to the NFL, following in the footsteps of former Spartanburg High stars Steve Fuller and Stephen Davis.
While he knew their stories, he said that is not what motivated him to play college and professional football. “I think the thing that kept me motivated were the guys who didn’t make it -- those superstars that you really know they should’ve made it, but they didn’t,” Moore said. “I didn’t want to be one of those guys where people said, ‘He was a great high school player, but that was it.’” He also didn’t want to be one of those guys who forgot his roots. Moore grew up with his mother and siblings in a single-parent home and found sports to be a refuge. He splits time now between Chicago and Spartanburg in the offseason with girlfriend and Spartanburg native Kristen Tullis, who helped organize Moore’s June camp. He says he hopes to continue the camp annually. “A lot of kids feel like I don’t know what they’re going through, but I feel like I have been through some of it and I want to let them know to push those things aside and keep your dreams alive,” he said. GD
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Faith in Sports
UPWARD TOURNEY PICS BY REV. ORSETH FCABUCKLEY COLUMN
Reaching out through sports Upward Unlimited spreads Gospel in KY, elsewhere
T
he children streamed into the gymnasium with a look of amazement. For many of the children, this was their first time in an air conditioned environment since the end of school. They were greeted at the door with smiles from students and adults from First Baptist Church Spartanburg. They were immediately issued fresh new T-shirts from Upward Sports and the smiles just got bigger. This Upward basketball camp was one of five basketball camps run by First Baptist Spartanburg in poverty stricken Southeastern Kentucky. The students were instructed in basic basketball skills but more importantly, they were introduced to life skills that would guide them through the rest of their life. At the end of each camp day, the children were fed a delicious lunch which we discovered was the only meal that many of them would eat that entire day. As the week unfolded, our students and adults become so involved with the children and close relationships were
established. There were smiles that would Rev. Seth Buckley is Minister to Students light up any room and at First Baptist Spartanburg. we knew that we had made a difference. As the children were carried home to their “hollers”, you could see them carefully dribbling their new Upward basketballs to their homes. One of the things that made the difference that week is that we discovered that basketball was merely a tool to teach the children about a bigger picture. Just like in any sport, there is more to teach then the game itself. Over the course of the week we were in Kentucky, we were able to present the children there a message about how God had an amazing plan for their life and that he longed to have a relationship with them. We taught them simple truths about serving others and how to make a difference. Many of the children not only bought in to these truths but they shared them with others. It is important for all of us to realize that sports are merely a tool to each a greater truth. These truths are teamwork, sacrifice, dedication ,and living life for a cause greater than ourselves. I am thankful for the vision of folks like Caz McCaslin at Upward Unlimited who partner in communities all over the world to use sports as a means to present the life-changing truth of the Gospel. My prayer is that during the fall of this year, coaches will see that their duty has very little to do with X’s and O’s but has everything to do with pouring their lives into the Rickies, Brads, Billies, Susies,and Tammies of the world in order to help guide them in the game of life.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Children in Kentucky try on cheerleading uniforms provided by Upward Unlimited during a mission trip by students, volunteers and staff from First Baptist Spartanburg.
At Knute Rockne’s funeral, there was more said about the lives he impacted rather than the games he won. I pray that more coaches capture a glimpse of this blessing that coaching can be! GAME DAY u MARCH 2012 25
22 JULY 2012 u GAME DAY
GOLF ACADEMY
Turn... don’t lift to hit powerful shots
M
any golfers try to hard to hit the ball instead on swinging through the ball. The same principle applies when putting. You never hit the putt, you stroke the putt. Many golfers hit slices because they try to force a good shot. When you do this, the golfer generally has a very upright swing and cuts across the ball and has an out of synch and steep swing. Did you ever wonder why you slice the ball when you swing left? When you swing across the ball for a right handed golfer, KYLE you swing to the left, OWINGS and this puts clockwise spin on the ball. The dimples catch the air and the ball spins clockwise and produces a fade or worse, a slice. What you need to feel is to simply turn around your body. I teach many of my students to set up and swing around their spine.
This creates a much lower backswing and keeps your swing path inside of the golf ball. Olivia Slatton (Dorman H.S.) has worked on this recently. In Pic A, you can see Olivia has lifted her takeaway and not turned. For a result, she often saw a steep divot and golf swing. All her shots were either pulled to the left or faded to the right. In Pic B, you can see her current swing is much more rounded. This puts less strain on her hands and wrists at impact, because her impact position is much more shallow and her divots are less deep in the ground. This also has helped her to produce a much straighter shot and occasionally her desired shot of a draw. If you slice the ball, try to swing in to out. Think of it like a clock. 12 being the desired target. Swing in to 7 o’clock and swing out to 1 o’clock. If your swing and divots with irons can be toward 1 o’clock, your shot shape will be much straighter. Happy Golfing! GD
Reach the Kyle Owings Golf Academy at (864)205-4221
A Golfer has lifted takeaway and not turned. All shots were either pulled to left or faded to right.
B Current swing is much more rounded, which puts less strain on hands and wrists at impact.
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Congratulations to all those volunteers, coaches, players, and other supporters of our great Spartanburg County and Upward Sports athletic programs. GAME DAY u JULY 2012 23
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