Alumni will take field to raise money

Published 11:28 pm Thursday, November 3, 2011

Alumni from Dalton, Northwest Whitfield and Southeast Whitfield are renewing their rivalries on the soccer pitch and baseball diamond this weekend in reunions that will benefit the sport programs at each school.

Southeast will host Dalton in an alumni soccer match at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, while Dalton will take on Northwest in a baseball game at 1 p.m. Sunday in Tunnel Hill. Tickets for each game are $5 for adults, and proceeds will be divided evenly between the participating programs. Baseball tickets for students will be $3, and barbecue plates will also be sold at Richard S. Chumley Field.

Raiders soccer coach Jamison Griffin said he contacted Catamounts coach Matt Cheaves and found both sides were ready to make the game happen.

“We had talked about doing this for a couple of years now,” Griffin said. “We’ve been doing an alumni game in the summertime just with the Southeast alums. It’s tough to get alumni back during the school year, and our kids can’t play in that then. We pitched it to (the Dalton coaches) and they loved the idea.”

Northwest baseball coach Todd Middleton said rekindling the ties of former players was a big motivation for creating their matchup.

“It’s more about the reunion nature,” Middleton said. “Getting everybody back together. But the old rivalry is a part of it.”

Dalton baseball assistant Grant Sane, who was also a former Catamount on the 1998 state semifinal team, said using the past to help the present also appealed to him.

“It comes from being a coach at Dalton and having played here,” Sane said. “Dalton needed a few extra funds, and all of the money we raise will go back to the kids. That’s the main thing. It’s not so much about beating the Bruins. I have not seen some of (my former teammates), except maybe here and there. We were a real close group, and seeing those guys again will be a big thing.”

Middleton said some discussions have been had to include other schools in future events. He also said baseball alumni still have the chance to participate Sunday in a game that may be extended to nine innings if participation is high enough.

“Players can come play, even if they haven’t signed up,” Middleton said. “We’ll have extra jerseys because we know people’s plans can change.”

Depending on the number of alumni who participate, which is limited to graduates who played for the respective teams, the soccer game may be made up of three halves to increase opportunities for participants and help ensure similar events in the future.

“This is the first time we’ve done something like this,” Griffin said. “We’re hoping to make it bi-annual and play it in the fall and the spring and alternate hosting. It might take a little while, but we’re trying to get some awareness for the first time. We’re hoping for a competitive, clean match. And we hope it’s something the community will come out and support.”

This weekend’s action is just the latest in a trend of alumni games for the area this year. Dalton and Northwest played an alumni football game during the spring, while a basketball tournament hosted at Dalton High’s Cats Den in August featured former players from Dalton, Northwest and Southeast reuniting for a day of games. The money raised there was to fund local youth programs.

Cheaves said alumni games help players return to the fields of their youth.

“For a lot of people, playing sports in high school is one of their best memories,” he said. “This is an opportunity to relive it again. It’s a great opportunity.”