Sinkhole causes soccer move for Trojans
Soddy-Daisy soccer will have a new home for at least part of the spring season.
A sinkhole has caused the move.
“It’s approximately 15 feet deep and about six feet wide,” school principal Steve Henry said. The hole is near midfield. “There may have been some water leakage at one time or maybe the drought had an effect on it,” said Henry, who played on the field as a Red Bank football team member in the 1970s. “I’ve been told that stadium was built in the (19)40s.”
The school system is going to pay for repairs.
“I know they want to test and get core samples around the field to make sure it’s not going to fall in elsewhere, and then they’re going to put in different layers of rock and soil to fill it,” Henry added. “It is probably going to be at least a month.”
In the meantime, Soddy-Daisy soccer matches likely will be held at the Middle Valley youth complex and Henry said the Trojans’ annual tournament may be moved to Bryan College in Dayton.
There were thoughts of using the high school’s football field, but it has minor issues with top-dressing and filling low spots that need to be taken care of this spring.
Tornado 10th at nationals
McCallie finished 10th in the team standings at the wrestling prep nationals last weekend at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
Baylor’s Khamari Whimper, who is headed to Penn, won the 170pound championship with a 9-5 victory in overtime.
McCallie heavyweight River Henry and Baylor 152-pounder Mason Reiniche were runners-up. McCallie’s Ethan Dendy was fifth at 152 and the Blue Tornado’s Brock Herring (132) and Judah Duhm (182) earned All-America honors with seventh-place finishes.
Moore to Mars Hill
East Ridge running back Traneil Moore signed scholarship papers Thursday with Mars Hill, passing up on other offers.
“He visited several places, but he really just liked Mars Hill better,” Pioneers coach Tim James said.
A TSSAA Mr. Football winner as a junior, Moore was a two-time Best of Preps selection. He twice led the Pioneers into the state playoffs.
Lady Owls softball streaming this year
Ooltewah plans to show its home softball games this spring on Facebook live through the WOWL page.
Public-address announcer Steve Ray is the coordinator of the project. He said a MEVO livestream camera will be placed somewhere near the field and within Bluetooth range of his mobile device in the press box.
“It turns your phone like into a production truck,” Ray said of the MEVO device. “I can change scenes. I can focus on the pitcher. Then I can focus on the catcher. Or I can focus on the runner running toward first base. It’s like a TV camera. I think it will make it more interesting.”
Ray said the WOWL Facebook page already has 150 likes in anticipation of the start of the season in less than two weeks. He added that the best thing about the livestreaming is that it allows grandparents who live elsewhere to watch their grandchildren perform.
“If nobody watches, I haven’t lost anything,” Ray said. “I’ve got to be up there anyway.”
Ray said plans also are in the works to livestream the football team’s spring game on the WOWL page.