Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Faith Christian School Athletics
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Each week, our camera captures youth sports and recreation in Southwest Roanoke County. Where should we go next? E-mail news@swo-co.com to let us know.
Faith Christian School will start their second year in their new school building this year, but according to Athletic Director Ed Elliott, the school is also in the process of adding new programs to their rather new facility.
"We are trying to expand our sports," Elliott said.
Elliott said they want to expand the sports they offer into the middle school, like middle school volleyball and soccer in the fall. But he says it's not always easy because Faith Christian has a population of 300 students and to start a new sports team they must have enough student athletes interested.
"With the small student body, you have to have a high participation to field those," he said. "Middle school programs are developmental for fitness and for a student to develop a passion for sports. We are putting in the effort to get those up and running."
Another change he said is that Faith Christian, as well as North Cross School, has chosen to move Spring Soccer to the fall.
"This change was made because of our sports conference schedule. This has created a situation where many of our athletes, who did both sports, last year, had to choose which one to participate in this fall. It has been a tough choice for them, and has impacted the participation level for both sports."
Faith Christian plays within the Virginia Association of Christian Athletics and plays other schools within the conference, which is broken into four divisions. Other schools that are also within the conference include Southwest Virginia Homeschoolers and the Roanoke Valley Catholic School. They also play some Virginia Independent schools, such as North Cross.
According to athletic director Ed Elliott at Faith Christian School, former volleyball coach Jessica St. Claire will not be returning this year. "It has only been a few weeks since we discovered our coach from last year would not be able to return, due to work conflicts. With the season upon us, it has been a bit of a scramble," he said.
Elliott said that St. Claire decided to leave the coaching position because of work conflicts. "It is difficult for many of our coaches, who have full-time jobs, to be able to have a flexible schedule that allows them to spend the time at practice and competitions.
"These coaches are incredibly dedicated to these kids, generally at great personal sacrifice. Most coaches will tell you that it is an extraordinary privilege and blessing to be able to work with these kids, so it is also very rewarding at the same time."
Elliott said that Faith Christian does have prospects for the open position.
"We are praying and trusting that God will bring us the right individual," he said.
However, despite the hustle to find a new coach Elliot said he is confident that the volleyball season will be a good one.
"It should be a good year for the team. We lost some of our players, but it is a great time to develop new leaders, and get some of the younger kids more playing time."
