McComb, MS: MHS Athletic Director Sam West Speaks to Kiwanis Club of Pike County

Coach Sam West, the new athletic director at McComb High School, spoke recently to the Kiwanis Club of Pike County. He recognized several similarities between Kiwanis and his own mission. "Being the athletic director at McComb High School, I live and die for one thing: I want to help children and adults alike have extraordinary, life-changing moments." One of the things begun at MHS this year is a scholar athletes program. "Every student who has a 3.0 GPA or higher from last year, we're going to have a big pizza party for them. We're going to give them all T-shirts with ‘McComb High School Scholar Athletes' on them, with different symbols and signs for the different sports. We've also started back our FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) again, and we believe if we can get FCA grounded and rooted back into the school system, and really put Christ, really put God, back where He needs to be in the school," West said, significant changes will be seen in the students' lives. "We meet every Tuesday morning at 7:25, and on some of those Tuesday mornings, we would love for you prayer warriors to come, and you don't have to say a word, just walk the halls and lay hands on teachers' doors. And whatever of God's spirit you've got on you, allow that spirit to just saturate and marinate that high school or junior high."

MHS scholar athletes are also involved in a reading program, where they will go into Otken and Kennedy and visit classrooms and read, "and just let the little kids see them," West said. West noted that reading to children is another way his scholar athletes program is similar to that of Kiwanis.

"We also want to make sure that our teams are very competitive. We have outstanding coaches who are able to discipline and motivate players, and can communicate to parents and the community," West said. "I'm from Natchez, and all my life there was a rivalry between Natchez and McComb like you've never seen, because of one reason: we both had green and gold! And we wanted to focus on why our green and gold was better than your green and gold!"

"The bottom line is, we want to make sure in McComb High School and the whole school district, in terms of athletics, that we're able to reach children right where they are, and take them to a level they've never been to before. We want to let everybody know that we're really serious about what we're doing." West concluded with a Biblical reference: "One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of Job. If you search the scriptures real close, you'll see that on each of three occasions (when bad things happened to Job), one person was left to run and tell Job what happened. See, to me, a Kiwanis Club is that one person-there are things you can do, places you can go, people you can touch that others can't."

West also brought copies of the book Y'all vs. Us, a recently published book about fifteen Mississippi high school rivalries. In the book is a chapter devoted to McComb vs. Brookhaven. (They play again in McComb on September 19, 2008, by the way!) The athletic department is selling them for $34.95 as a fundraiser. A portion of all book sales also benefits the Mississippi High School Activities Association. The book is available with fifteen different covers, one for each athletic rivalry. Be sure to get yours now!

***Did you know?! You can now subscribe by email to my blog! (Enter your email address in the subscribe field in the right column of this page, below the pictures of recent visitors.)

***Comments are welcome and encouraged--please click on the "Comments" link below!