Sports

Coach Kirk Thacker’s plans for starting Orrick’s final week of varsity 8-man football team camp Monday got changed. Normally, Thacker and his Bearcats hold camp sessions outside.

Norborne Hardin-Central (NHC) varsity 8-man football coach Andrew Watson and his Aggies beat Monday’s rain storm that hit Ray County. NHC coach Tommy Burton and his junior high Aggies didn’t.

Hardin-Central’s second, and final, combined summer practice with Orrick in varsity girls basketball was an eye-opener for Hardin-Central coach Tommy Burton. In more ways than one.

This summer, Trish Fields faced – and accomplished – what she considered a daunting task. Fields succeeded Angie Pencook as head coach of the Dolphin Swim Team, Richmond’s club program.

Fine tuning was the emphasis for Richmond varsity football coach Nick Persell and his Spartans for this week’s set of team camp sessions. Having installed the basic offenses and defenses during a team camp last week, the Spartans were “tidying up a few things this week,” Persell said Monday afternoon on the practice field at the high school, where camp sessions took place through Thursday.

Orrick varsity 8-man football coach Kirk Thacker and his Bearcats got defensive this week. Or rather, they focused on defense for their latest team camp.

A new area competitive softball program is already looking to expand. The program, the Ray County Firecrackers, launched this year with a 10-and-under (10U) team.

On July 13, Orrick varsity girls basketball coach Jonathan Kinder and assistant coach Chase Sims noticed a change in their Bearcats. In scrimmaging against Hardin-Central that day during a combined practice in the Orrick High School gym, the Bearcats were more confident than they had been during a June combined practice hosted by Hardin-Central, Kinder and Sims agreed.

When Richmond’s 2022 varsity 11-man football season ended in November, Chris Webb couldn’t wait to put on his uniform again. “(I) just (wanted to) be on the field and get back with the boys – get back to playing football,” he said.