ALL CHARGED UP

The local area’s newest high school basketball team, the Catoosa Chargers, will charge into Chattanooga this Friday night (Feb. 14).

UTC will once again host a Special Olympics basketball tournament at historic Maclellan Gymnasium. Over 110 participants from more than nine local counties participated in the tournament last year, which was won by the Chargers.

The team, coached by Kay Mcdowell and Michelle Callahan, are made up of players from LFO and Heritage High Schools, plus a couple of others that have already graduated. This year’s team ranges in ages from 15 to 22. A local church has offered its gym facilities for practice and the team trains from September to March.

Like many new teams, the Chargers struggled at first. However, as the team chemistry has grown, so has its success. The Chargers placed third in a tournament in their second season and they have taken second place in the state tournament in Atlanta the past two seasons.

In addition, they finished second in a tournament at the Lakepoint Complex in Emerson last year and closed out the year by winning the tournament title at UTC and winning the championship in a Tennessee state tournament at Lipscomb University. They will return to Lipscomb in mid-march to defend their title.

The Chargers are also going to be back at Lakepoint on Feb. 22 for Georgia’s largest youth basketball tournament. There will be a Special Olympics division, hosted by the NBA’S Atlanta Hawks.

Both coaches said the team and its players have come a long way since the Chargers were formed several years ago.

“This is our fourth year with this particular team,” Mcdowell explained. “We found that several of the youth wanted to participate, but (they) were not able to always participate in the school sports, so Special Olympics offers a fabulous training opportunity for our use. We needed 10 for a team and we were able to find 10

CHARGERS,