(I love sitting down and talking to coaches! Next to our parents, they influence our kids almost more than anyone else. LCA is home to exceptional coaches who influence this generation to lead and perform by example especially when facing adversity. Here is a portion of my conversation with a few of coaches. You'll meet new coaches Skip Lane and Christy Williams a little more next time.)

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LEGACY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY'S FALL SPORTS

“I’ve got the best classroom in the school”, says Legacy Athletic Director Andrew Embry. And, with that belief, Embry goes to work everyday preparing LCA athletes for life.  “We don’t have the opportunity to test in a classroom. When we test, we test in front of thousands of people, it goes in the Dallas Morning News, the internet and everyone sees it. There is a little more to it when we test, so we better be prepared.”

Football

Right now Fall sports are being put to the test including football, cross country, and volleyball. For the Eagles football program, the test looms large. The team enters this season as District Champions and the State Runner-up. They finished last year just three points shy of a state title. And, while 12-2 is a great record, the team left some ‘unfinished business’, “With the taste the kids have in their mouth right now, they know they need to work a little harder, go a little bit longer, push a little bit more to make up that three points needed from last year,” says Embry

Head Coach Mike Hall, the current Texas Private School Coaches Association Coach of the Year, positioned ‘unfinished business’ as the team motto for this year. He believes it’s time to take care of it, “We made great progressions last year. There are still more steps to take and never be satisfied. We’ve got to be hungry because we remember how it felt to be so close yet so far.” Embry echoes Hall’s sentiment, “I don’t want any more red ribbons. Red is second. I want a blue one. That’s a championship. That’s a first place ribbon. I have enough red, I don’t need anymore.”

After losing a large group of key seniors, the Eagles enter this season young and inexperienced in some areas. Returning just four offensively and five defensively, Legacy developed from within and gained some great talent from the outside. Legacy Defensive back Connor Ward takes over as the Eagles’ prime quarterback and Joshua Atkinson comes from American Heritage as the second quarterback in Hall’s 2-QB system.

Atkinson, a junior, also contributes at wide receiver, a position he has never played before but says it’s a role feels comfortable in, “We started playing 7 on 7 and I actually like it. I thought, ‘I can get the hang of this.’”

LCA senior Nathanael Mattay makes a return to football at receiver and defensive back. He played his freshman year then made contributions to LCA with the band and as Drum Major. After seeing the big hole the seniors left, however, Mattay decided to return after prompts from the coaching staff, “The coaches were always throwing in little comments about coming back and playing football because of how much of an athlete I am, as they would say. I never really paid any attention to it until I realized just how many seniors were leaving.”

Several other players return who remember the difficult title game run. Andrew Journey, a senior running back and DB who rushed for nearly 1200 yards last year. Coach Hall says he enters the season in great shape and sits ready to make a huge impact.

Blake Snider, a senior 6’6” 280 lb lineman, returns and already is being recruited along with junior Burke Morris, a 6’4” 265 lb lineman. Hard-hitting junior linebacker and tight end Ben Trotter joins the Eagles. His contribution provides LCA some much needed depth in those areas.

Coach Hall says he loves the chemistry of this team. With only five seniors carrying the leadership role, he cites the team quickly has grown into a family, “The plus of being a small group is that they are not at all looking at each other going ‘who is going to be a leader’. They are all taking a leadership role. At camp, they were phenomenal.”

Cross Country

In their second year as a Fall sport, Cross Country athletes welcome a new  coach to LegacyChristianAcademy. Skip Lane joins the staff as the Head Track Coach and Speed and Strength Coach for all athletes.

Currently, there are four members of the Cross Country team Melissa Meeks, James Byrd, Ian Huxham, and Rhett Allen. Lane believes he can build on these four athletes and promote it more throughout the school. “Anyone who is not in a Fall sport, cross country would be very beneficial for them, like soccer, tennis, and basketball.” Track and field, says Lane, enhances every other sport.

Lane trains athletes from the junior high and high school level to Division 1 and professional. He knows that building the endurance factor in each athlete is key no matter what sport. And, with cross country, he notes, it is more than just running, “You have to understand the concept and strategy of running. It is mental.”

Volleyball

Volleyball also supports a new Head Coach in Christy Williams. Coming off a year the program struggled, Williams aims to bring unity back to the team. “Oneness is my number one goal. We are really young and Ephesians 4:1-6 is my way of communicating this.”

Williams, a seasoned club coach, says her long term goal is to build a program based on the new commitment of the young athletes she has today, “Next year we will be more competitive than this year and in three years even better than two years ago.”

With only eight girls starting out on the team, Williams is now up to 12. And, while some may look at this as a negative, Athletic Director Embry believes the team will reap their new sense of purpose and discipline, “They have been working hard and in my opinion hard work pays off and nothing replaces it.”

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Stay inspired,

Kip #45