Summer jam
Brookwood teams compete at summer scrimmages
THOMASVILLE — A typical day for a high school athlete during the school year is busy. School until 3 p.m., workouts and practice until 5:30 or 6 p.m., finish homework and studying at night. The month of June for Brookwood’s student-athletes offers a different, but fun, challenge — juggle all your sports at once.
With so many multisport athletes, schedules get jam-packed. For the boys, it’s typical to see rising senior Kurtis Brown run routes in the morning and immediately hop on the bus to go play three basketball games in the afternoon. Senior quarterback Joe Parker, who was also an all-region selection in baseball as a utility player, had his daily routine last week consist of a morning 90-minute throwing session with coaches and receivers, hustling to a three-hour college essay writing class, and then playing two full seven-inning baseball games in the evening as a shortstop.
“It’s what I love about June,” Parker said. “Getting to play and practice both sports and just focus on getting better in the offseason.”
On the girls side, players such as Ann Murray Jackson and Mollie Vick balance practicing with new girls basketball coach Todd Webb in the mornings and playing softball in the afternoons in a few scrimmages. While basketball has stuck to practices so far, softball played four games last week against the likes of Pelham and Cairo.
For the coaches, they recognize how important a time of year this is to develop their team and spend time with their players.
“It’s been fun to see how much our basketball awareness and court sense has improved by putting ourselves in live-game situations against quality competition,” boys basketball coach Drew Giudice said. His team will play around 30 games this month. Beating Florida 5A school Gadsden County at Cairo High’s team camp has been a high point.
“Beating a team like that shows what we’re capable of,” he said.
Warrior baseball coach Daniel Funt emphasizes the opportunity his teamhas. “Summer ball gives a chance for players to compete, to get at bats,” he said. “Pitchers getting reps, we see some different looks on defense, and in the batting order. Also, there is no pressure, but players are learning what they need to work on moving forward.”
Athletic director and head football coach Shane Boggs took his team to traditional power Wakulla High’s 7-on-7 tournament last Thursday in Crawfordville, Fla., competing with the likes of FHSAA state champion Madison County. “The great players I have coached always maximized the opportunity for personal growth during these summer competitions,” Boggs said. “There’s so much to learn from alignment, spacing, improving ball skills and timing, reading keys. In the end this competition breeds better players and better teams.”
Brookwood School
Located in Thomasville, GA, Brookwood School is a private school for grades JK-12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.