The high school

soccer season started yesterday and the local high schools are ready to

prove their dominance in a whole new classification. Last year's AAAA

state champs, the boys and girl's soccer teams from McIntosh, and the

AAA state champs, the boys and girl's teams from Starr's Mill, are both

in the new AAAAA classification, along with East Coweta, Fayette County

and Newnan. Sandy Creek made the leap from AAA to AAAA.

A number of

the local teams played in jamborees over the weekend in order to prepare

for the season, which began last night for some teams, and will begin

on Friday for others. McIntosh hosted North Clayton last night, while

the Starr's Mill boys hosted Pope. The Chiefs and Lady Chiefs will host

Lovejoy on Friday night, while the Starr's Mill teams will travel to Brookwood

High School for the Brookwood Tournament.

It will be

an interesting year for the teams from McIntosh and Starr's Mill. The

Panther boys are ranked first in AAAAA while the Chiefs are ranked fifth.

On the girls side, the Lady Panthers are ranked second, while the Lady

Chiefs are ranked third. Fayette County will field strong teams this year

but both the boys and girls are ranked outside of the top ten. It is the

first time that all three teams are in the same region, although region

4-AAAAA has been split so that all three schools are not in direct competition

to get out of the region and to qualify for the state playoffs.

If you are

a soccer fan, here are some dates to remember. The McIntosh Lady Chiefs

will host Fayette County on march 13 at 7:30 p.m. They will also host

the adidas Challenge Cup April 11-13. The tournament will feature two

teams from Wisconsin, a team from California, Parkview and Starr's Mill.

The McIntosh boys will host Fayette County on March 23 at 8 p.m. The Chiefs

will also host the McIntosh Classic on March 29-31. Starr's Mill will

host Fayette County on March 2 at 8 p.m.

The talent

levels for the McIntosh and Starr's Mill teams are very high. The Lady

Chief's Julie Herdic is the school's leading scorer, will most likely

be the top scorer in state history, can enter the top five scorers in

the nation this season and has set a number of school and state scoring

records in her previous three seasons. Herdic has also recently signed

with The University of Utah.

It also helps

that both the boys and girls teams are extremely well-coached Both the

boys coach, Bunky Colvin, and the girls coach, Stephen Buckner, were named

NSCAA Coaches of the year for Georgia.

The Lady Panthers

have a superstar in Alison Graham. A player in the national team pool,

the junior looks to help secure a third consecutive title for her team.

She controls the pace of the games as a midfielder and has exceptional

ball control. The Lady panthers return a majority of last year's team

with new head coach Jill Crepeau. The boys team also returns a number

of key players as well as their coach, Mike Hanie.

This soccer

season is sure to be filled with exciting games that are increasingly

meaningful as the postseason draws closer.

Back

to the Top of the Page Back

to the Sports Home Page