by Matt Wright
At the Lakeland School System school board meeting held Monday evening, July 12, 2021, an overview of a recent athletics survey was shared with the board. Matt Adler, Principal for Lakeland Prep, released the results of the survey which was issued to current parents of middle school students on June 14, 2021. The survey’s goal was to gather insight from parents in regards to athletic opportunities they would like to see at Lakeland Prep for both middle school grades and the new high school, or “upper” grades as Mr. Adler called them.
Mr. Adler stressed the middle school grades at Lakeland Prep already offer a wide variety of athletic opportunities and even expanded athletic opportunities this past year during the Covid pandemic by adding baseball and softball teams. The results of this survey helped guide the administration as to which sports to offer and to prepare for over the next 12 months.
During the 25 minute presentation to board members, Mr. Adler showed there was a wide variety of interest in adding officially sanctioned TSSAA sports such as track & field and wrestling, as well as club sports like lacrosse. Respondents showed there was also a high interest in traditional athletic programs like football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and soccer at the high school level.
Based on the feedback, all existing athletic programs that are currently offered at the middle-grade levels (football, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, soccer, cross country, and cheer) will also be offered at the upper-grade levels.
New athletic offerings at Lakeland Prep will include the following:
- Track & Field
- Wrestling
- Lacrosse
- Tennis
- Golf
- Swimming
When questioned about facilities for these sports, Dr. Horrell reminded the board most facilities are already under construction at the high school campus, including some most people are not aware of. As an example, he mentioned a wrestling room and wrestling locker room which includes wrestling coaches’ offices. The new athletic park being built on the east side of the campus (which the city will also use for some athletic facilities) includes two fields specifically built to the dimensions of a lacrosse playing surface. Tennis, golf, and swimming would use facilities off campus for now, although the long-term plans do include tennis courts on the Prep campus.
Mr. Adler also shared that coaches for some of the new sports have just recently been hired, while for other sports they are in the process of identifying or interviewing candidates. The school hopes to start some of these new sports this year at the middle school level so they are prepared to transition to the high school level. Mr. Adler stressed to the board that a full offering of athletic opportunities would be available to Lakeland students saying, “We plan to offer all sports that are sanctioned by the TSSAA,” adding, “the future is bright for Lakeland.”
Dr. Ted Horrell, Superintendent of the Lakeland School System, said preparation for high school athletics was paramount saying, “Among the many things that we’re doing to get ready for the opening of the high school is taking a good look at our athletic programs and making plans to prepare.” Based on that sentiment, Dr. Horrell announced he will be forming an athletic advisory council to provide feedback and opinions for all the individual sports which will be offered at the school. According to Dr. Horrell, the committee will be made up of parents who have a detailed working knowledge of each sport represented at Lakeland. That committee will provide feedback to the Superintendent about those sports and the best ways to achieve success. The committee will also be provided behind the scenes information that will help them share feedback to the parents and athletes in the sport they play.
Dr. Horrell told Lakeland Currents he hopes the advisory committee will start meeting this fall once school starts.
“There is a lot of interest in athletics and we want to be sure we are getting good feedback,” Dr. Horrell said.
