By Sidney Bartee

Football season tickets are now available for 2022.

The first game of the season is at home this Friday, Aug. 26 against Lubbock Trinity, followed by two away games in Dublin and Seymour and then two home games against Hawley and Comanche. District home games are Oct. 14 against Cross Plains, which is also homecoming, and Nov.4 against TLC.

Single varsity game tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets for junior high and junior varsity games are $4 for adults and $2 for students.

By Sidney Bartee

The Albany gymnasium wil be the site of a new elementary volleyball program.

The Albany Lil’ Diggers will be led by former Albany coach Lauren Peacock, with assistance from high school volleyball volunteers.

Participating students will be taught fundamentals of the game, including the skills of passing, setting, attacking, serving, and defense.

The program will be held Sunday afternoons from Sept. 11 through Oct. 16.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs volleyball teams opened their season Monday, Aug. 22 by splitting a pair of matches at Abilene Christian.

Junior high teams are not allowed to practice until the start of school under UIL rules. With Albany ISD beginning the new school year on Wednesday, Aug. 17, the teams had two practice sessions before playing.

The seventh grade Lady Cubs bounced back from a first-set loss to win their match 18-25, 25-23, 15-12.

By Sam Waller

Several factors combined to disrupt Brian Hamilton’s college baseball career, but he started getting things back on track in 2022 at Harding University.

A 2018 Albany graduate who earned all-state honors for the Lions, Hamilton redshirted in 2019 at Cisco College, then had the next two seasons wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic and a shoulder injury. He saw limited action as a pitcher in 2022, going 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA in four appearances, making one start and working a total of eight innings.

By Sam Waller

Albany junior high athletes began preseason practice in football last week with the start of school.

Seventh and eighth grade teams will take on Dublin on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

Albany ISD athletic director Ryder Peacock, who will coach eighth grade football, said the Cubs have more than 30 players out for the two grades. The first two days of school were spent distributing equipment and getting organized with full practices starting Monday, Aug. 22.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs football team enjoyed another solid outing last week in its second scrimmage.

The Bulldogs open the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26 at Benjamin.

The Bulldogs scrimmaged Lueders-Avoca on Thursday, Aug. 18 at Lueders.

“It went well, no injuries or problems,” Bulldogs coach John Hughes said. “We scored similar to the way we did in our first scrimmage, but this time we gave up three scores, all because of blown assignments on defense.”

By Sam Waller

The Moran Independent School District received a grade of C from the Texas Education Agency, holding steady from the last ratings handed out in 2019.

The TEA assesses grades of A through F for accountability for districts and campuses throughout the state. The ratings were not issued the last two years because of COVID-related disruptions.

Moran principal Jo Hise said the district is taking steps to improve its rating.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs volleyball team picked up its second victory of the season last week, taking losses in two other matches.

Moran was back on the road Tuesday, Aug. 23 at Roscoe. Results will be reported next week. Moran will play Friday-Saturday, Aug. 25-27 at the Abilene TLC tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the week Tuesday, Aug. 16 with a five-set loss to Gustine in their home opener, then split two matches Saturday, Aug. 20 at Knox City.

Against Gustine, Moran lost 25-12, 25-16, 22-25, 15-25, 8-15.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Texas Education Agency issued grades on Friday as part of the Texas A-F accountability ratings for districts and campuses in the state, with Albany ISD receiving a B.

This was the first time that the rating system has been used since 2019 due to two years of COVID-related disruptions.

The local district received an overall grade of B based on a score of 85 for the 2021-22 school year. The district had received a B when ratings were given for the 2018-19 school year.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany ISD was again expecting just over 500 students with the start of the new school year Wednesday (yesterday), indicating that beginning enrollment has been steady for the past three years.

Following “Meet the Teacher” sessions at both Nancy Smith Elementary and the Albany Junior/Senior High campuses on Monday evening, local administrators were looking for a total of 501 total students to show up for classes yesterday for the first day of school.

The same exact count of 501 students was reported last year.