By Donnie A. Lucas

There is a lot more up in the air right now concerning high sports than footballs and volleyballs.

The fate of the fall sports seasons was in limbo awaiting an announcement from the University Scholastic League this week.

The UIL issued new guidelines for the 2020-2021 school year on Tuesday, with Class 1A-4A districts keeping the original schedule of  how and when high school sports will be allowed to proceed due to concerns over the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Local conditioning and sport specific training will resume for the last week of workouts prior to two-a-days for local athletes entering grades 7-12.

The final week of summer conditioning for both boys and girls will start Monday, July 27.

Sessions for the boys are scheduled for 7:00 until 8:30 a.m. on Monday through Thursday.

High school age students wanting to participate in football (sport specific) drills will meet from 5:30 until 6:30 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Local athletes entering grades 7-12 got a break from summer conditioning and sport specific training last week but were back working this week.

Both the boys and girls sessions will be on hold again next week due to the boys coaches attending coaching school, along with UIL setting some blackout dates next week.

“At this point, nothing is planned for next week,” athletic director Ryder Peacock said. “If that changes, I’ll send out a notice.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Yard Goats, a local baseball 14U travel team, won the championship at the Nokona Iron Jacket VII Baseball Festival for the 14 & under age group.

The tournament was held in Nocona, Texas and sponsored by the famous Nokona baseball glove manufacturer located there.

Each member of the Yard Goats received a gold ring and a Nokona glove, while the team was awarded the championship plaque.

“The boys all played great through the whole tournament,” coach Justin Read said. “Everyone  did more than their fair share to win.”

By Lynsi Musselman

The Albany Athletic Booster Club met July 1 to elect new officers and begin making plans for the annual Hamburger Supper and other fall events.

Officers elected at the meeting are Shawnee Tischler – president, Stephen Kayga – vice president, and Tisha Wilkins – secretary. The position of treasurer will be announced later. 

Logan Neve will head up the “Tunnel Crew” again this year. Volunteers are always needed to help hold the inflatable “A,” as well as with the horn and flags. 

By Kathy Thomson

The Albany Athletic Booster Club’s annual kick off meeting for the upcoming school year  took place Wednesday evening, July 1, at The Feed Store, and although members are working on raising funds for the new school year by selling ads in the annual football program, details were not available before press time this week.

Ad costs and sizes will be reported in a future edition of The Albany News.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany youth who have been participating in summer conditioning will get a week’s break from the training during the week of July 6-9.

Two of the days next week were already desig-nated as “periods of no activity” by the UIL, so local coaches opted to give students in 7-12 a full week off.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The shortened seasons for Albany Little League major teams came to an end this week, with the Raiders winning the league title.

Play continues for both the intermediate league and junior league through July 22.

Likewise, games also ended for the minor league teams last week, along with T-ball and coach pitched games the week before.

Official standings were not kept for the minor league teams and younger.

By Donnie A. Lucas

A record amount of donations was raised by Albany High School baseball parents on Monday during the annual “Long Ball” fundraiser to benefit the program.

The event brought in $17,200 for the baseball program, almost double the previous record and over three times the average $5,000.

“That was by far the best fundraiser we have ever had,” said baseball coach David Fairchild. “I never expected they would raise that much, so now we are figuring out to use the money.”

By Kathy Thomson

A dozen Moran high school and junior high boys and seven or eight girls are participating in summer strength and conditioning practices at MISD.

The athletes have been supervised by Moran athletic director John Hughes and coaches Matthew Hise, Jo Hise, Robert Londerholm, and Phillip Huskey. 

“We have had a good group of kids who have spent the time to make themselves better,” said Hughes. “All of their hard work will pay off when two-a-days begin.”