The heart of every community is its schools, and August begins the cycle of coming together for community events based around the Raiders and Indians.
Football started Friday night in impressive fashion, with the Raiders winning 47-0 over East Hall in a preseason jamboree.
While no one expects East Hall to be a juggernaut, seeing the Raiders’ potential is exciting.
The Raiders always get tremendous support in the stands, and it will be even better this year if they bring home a few extra wins. With the Band of Blue and a unified community behind them, the team can only get stronger.
We have our other sports beginning as well, with volleyball, softball, cross country, competition cheerleading and more getting cranked up at the same time. We love seeing our community support all our young people in their athletic endeavors, as well as in their academic pursuits.
We will feature our young athletes in our Fall Sports special on Aug. 26, and in the meantime, we will bring you all the sports as these seasons begin.
Tallulah Falls School also has great pride in its athletic teams, and the Lady Indians began volleyball play Tuesday night as well. Even though the Indians do not play football, their fall athletes work just as hard and deserve adulation as well.
After the changes and workarounds of the last two years, it is gratifying to just see the smiling faces on the court, in the field, in the stands and in the band once again. We were not sure for a while what the future of community would be and if it would be forever altered by the pandemic, but we overcame it together, giving us a chance to share fellowship once again.
So it’s time to put on that orange and blue – or green and white – and get out there. Support our athletes and show them what character can be built on the athletic fields with the right mentality of sportsmanship and community.
Follow them in your local newspaper and enjoy their successes and their unforgettable moments that they will never get back once they have graduated and moved on from the halls of their schools.
Make this school year the best one yet for coming together as one county behind our young people. There’s simply nothing like Friday Night lights to bring a community together.
Onward and upward.