By Rubin E. Grant Adelaide Vandevelde knew something was up with her twin daughters when they were babies. “They crawled early, they climbed out of their crib and they walked early,” Vandevelde said. “We had a feeling they might be agile.” Ann and Liz Vandevelde weren’t just agile. They were in the early stages of developing into multi-sport athletes. The twins began with … [Read more...]
Group Trains Coaches of Young Players to Keep Them Safe
By Sam Prickett When it comes to preventing athletic injuries, said Drew Ferguson, one population has been largely overlooked. It’s not the roughly 10,000 professional athletes in the U.S., or the 500,000 college players or the 6.7 million high school athletes. It’s the 67 million athletes aged 14 and under. “Park-and-rec, church league, whatever you want to call it … [Read more...]
Deep, Talented Hoover Volleyball Team Set for Another Run at Elusive State Title
By Rubin E. Grant Hoover volleyball coach Chris Camper has a problem many coaches would like to have. Camper has so many talented players that he has to figure out a way to get them court time this fall. “We have 15 players and it’s the deepest team I’ve been a part of,” Camper said. “We’re athletic, big and strong. We’re a presence on the front and deep on the back … [Read more...]
The Beat Goes On: Sixty-Eight Drums Lead the 2019-20 Homewood Marching Band
By Emily Williams For the 15th consecutive year, Homewood High School boasts the largest marching band in the state of Alabama. According to the band’s assistant director, Chris Cooper, 375 students make up the roster for this year’s marching band. That number accounts for about one-third of the student body. Though it isn’t the most Homewood has had marching – … [Read more...]
’99 Lions Were Loaded: Briarwood Expected to Repeat as State Champions 20 Years Ago — and Did
By Rubin E. Grant Legendary Briarwood Christian football coach Fred Yancey wasn’t expecting to win his first Alabama High School Athletic Association championship in 1998. He figured 1999 would be the year the Lions would bring home the blue map AHSAA championship trophy. But in 1998, the Lions shocked him by going 15-0 to win their first AHSAA title, claiming the Class 3A … [Read more...]