The JV Boys Basketball team had a strong season this year due to consistent hard work.  The guys showed amazing dedication to make it to practice, even after a day's worth of work, just to make sure they were ready for each and every game.  Placing their patience and trust in their coaches was a major factor in their success this year.  “There are strengths when it comes to listening and executing the game plan, and also never giving up on me as a coach," Coach Carroll said. As the season progressed, the team became like a family, encouraging and helping one another to be the best version of themselves inside the court and even outside the court. "The game of basketball is just more than a game, it gets you ready for the real world and how to handle your problems," Coach Carroll explained, which is one of the most important lessons the team can take away from the sport.  The JV Boys Basketball team held a positive record after this time around and we are so proud of our  team for another great season.  

The ECHS Swim Team season is slowly coming to an end, but the State Swim Team is preparing to compete in February. This team has had a phenomenal season so far. Some information about the swim team is that the swim season starts in mid October and runs through the end of January. Swim practice is at the Summit YMCA and occurs usually 2-3 days a week in the morning before school 5:30am-7:00am. Each year there are 10 swim meets for the High School team.

Below is Coach Samuels' take on the team:

The ECHS swim team was established in 2003, so this is year 20 of ECHS swimming. I have been the head coach for seven of the 20 years. When I took over in 2016 the ECHS swim team had fallen to almost being non-existent; the swimmers were practicing on their own and didn't have much guidance or coaching from what I was told by the parents, swimmers, and admin. Looking back it is crazy to see how far ECHS Swim has come. In these past seven years we have never not been to state, we have competed at the state meet every single season for seven years straight. We have always finished in the top 30 or higher, which is huge for us since we do not have a dive team and dive points count to the overall team total so for us to perform so well is a big deal. I am hoping to get a dive team going for next year and the coming years. For the past seven years, we have had at least one school record broken every season. We bought a new record board which is on display in the new gym (Thrower Gym). Now while all of these are big accomplishments... none of these accomplishments would have happened if it were not for the hard work, dedication, sacrifices, and leadership of the swimmers. I coach them but they are the ones who continue to break records, finish in the top 10 or higher at every single swim meet they attend, and earn their spots at the State Swim Meet. Due to their effort and achievements, people took notice and the program has grown. We now have a middle school team, 6-8 grade. The middle school team continues to grow as well. When the middle school team started, I had 2 middle schoolers, Jaxson Smoak and Kaitlin Williams who are still on the team and are now seniors at ECHS. My first 6th grader on the team, Emily Thrailkill, who is still swimming for us, is now a Freshman at ECHS. We often joke that Emily is a "senior" since she has now been on the team for four years. Today I have 8 middle schoolers (two 6th graders, four 7th graders, and two 8th graders). As with any team and any sport, there are challenges for me as a coach and for them as swimmers but coaching this team has had more rewards than challenges.

On January 24 the Swim Team will participate in a swim meet at the YMCA for the Coweta Cup against other schools in the county. Please come out and show your support. Also if you are interested in swimming next year email Coach Samuels at aisha.samuels@cowetaschools.net.

When asked about the game, Coach Small boasted, “Huge win for the program, community, and the kids.” To achieve this win, Coach Small kept the same mentality all season: “Playing the next play” and that “The whole thing is one play at a time.” Ending the game with 49-34, Christian Langford and Dionte Jones both scored 1 touchdown each, while Brady Tillman scored 5. The 49 points wouldn’t have been possible without the help from Grace McGill, gaining a point for kicking a successful field goal after each touchdown.  Coach tries his best to keep his kids level headed and as displayed in this game--he does a great job. Coach Small tries to teach his players not only on the field but off the field as well. “We are teaching them football but we are also tryna teach them about life,” he told us.   We finished off the 2022 season 6-5. He is already working with the team for next year: “go right back to work, back to training, no off season.”

Serenidy Moss, sophomore, was said to be the most vital player to the team this year: she never failed to show up to motivate and lead the team on. Throughout this season, their most important concept was to play hard and play together. Coach Wien says, “Win or lose, if they do that, I am proud of them.” Overall, the East Coweta JV Volleyball team has had a season full of wins and ended with a record of 20-3. 

Tennis is boring. 

At least to the untrained eye. So when I watched tennis for the first time, it wasn’t by choice. My parents wanted to rest at the nearest hotel after a long road trip, and I, being ten and obnoxiously energetic, was soon banished to the TV corner so they could sleep soundly. As I flipped through Family Guy, Adult Swim, a B-tier house flip show on HGTV, Food Network’s Cake Boss, etc., nothing took my attention. I soon turned to the sports channels--a wild choice for my interests--and decided on one that was playing a rerun of Serena Williams’s 2012 Olympic gold-medal match. I watched the camera pan on a grainy, brightly-colored speck as it sped off towards both ends of the court; even to me, it was clear that Williams was on the winning end. Sharapova was barely returning Serena’s hits, and she had a consistently perplexed expression that read both confusion and shock. Shock at how unfortunate the game was turning out for her, and confusion that a player of her own caliber should lose by that great of a margin. 6-0, 6-1. Of course by then, I was fast asleep. 

It wasn’t until a few years later that I picked up a racket for the first time. Tennis was a new trend amongst the Korean church community--literally everyone was playing tennis--and I found myself feeling left out. I expressed my FOMO to my mom, and she, a staunch advocate for exercise, eagerly signed me up for a lesson with Coach George--a short, blunt tennis coach popular in the area. Upon arriving at the tennis courts, we did little more than talk about the basics. He taught me the correct form for a forehand, backhand, and volley, but as for putting my newfound knowledge into practice, I struggled…quite a bit. After about an hour of pure effort, he stopped my fruitless swings and recommended I watch clips of professional tennis to better understand the form. “Who’s your favorite player?” Not knowing anyone else, I said, “Serena Williams.” 

Thus, my Serena phase began. I took Coach George’s advice to heart and poured countless hours into watching her play. Whenever the commentators would exclaim, “Perfect serve from Williams!” or “What a shot!”, I’d replay the clip again and again until I could pick out just what exactly made that play so great. I even started picking up some mannerisms. Back at Coach George’s courts, whenever I won a point against the other students (who were always much younger than me) I’d yell “Come on!” and pump my fist in celebration. 

Eventually I got (a little) better, though also obtaining a slight obsession with Serena Williams highlights, and when she made it all the way to the finals of the US Open in 2018, I was ecstatic. Here was my favorite tennis player, at my favorite Grand Slam, on the brink of breaking Margaret Court’s record of 24 slams and making history! I begged my parents to let me buy a month of ESPN so I could watch the final, and when they finally said yes, I carefully planned out my homework so that I would have none to do during the weekend match. When the time came for the 23-time Grand Slam champion to play Naomi Osaka, a newer face on tour, I felt confident that I would be watching Serena cruise to a smooth victory. 

I was wrong. 

The first game was misleading; Serena placed some choice shots and took that game with efficiency. The games that followed made it clear that Osaka was now warmed up to Arthur Ashe and a crowd so clearly favoring Williams. In quick succession, Osaka took four games in a row to close out the set 6-2. Wanting to see a comeback, I yelled at my screen for Serena to focus up. This was important! And no negative thoughts could infiltrate the steely will of the greatest of all time. I was wrong again. As I watched the crowd anxiously cling to every groundstroke, every close call, and every breakpoint, it was clear that Naomi Osaka had a purpose and was going to do everything in her power to carry it through. I watched as Serena’s game fell through, and with it, her mindset. The umpire, unhappy with Serena’s displays of frustration, dealt her penalty after penalty. I hated that umpire. How could he penalize passion? 

In the end, Naomi Osaka became the US Open’s 2018 champion. I was heartbroken. Who knew if Serena could make it to a final again? (She would go on to play two more in 2019.) But as time went on, I began to recognize an important facet of Serena Williams’s career. She wasn’t just the greatest tennis player of all time because of her picture-perfect serve, 37 Grand Slams (singles and doubles), 5-time World No.1 status, or four Olympic gold medals. No, she was the greatest of all time because of her legacy. And Naomi Osaka, with her 2018 Grand Slam title, was a part of it.

When Serena Williams made her professional debut alongside sister Venus Williams in 1995, tennis was not yet an inclusive space, and the media at the time made sure the Williams sisters knew. In the face of great adversity, the Williams sisters could have caved to external pressure. Instead, they chose to rise above their doubters and critics and pave the way for a more hospitable playing field. This new playing field broke all notions about “traditional” tennis. In Serena’s court, it was about free expression of self, of passion, and of childhood aspirations. “...It doesn't matter what your background is and where you come from, if you have dreams and goals, that's all that matters.” It was this very idea that Serena boldly proclaimed with each title she acquired and every record she broke. It’s this very idea that inspires players who grew up watching the Williams sisters--like Naomi Osaka-- win Grand Slams and continue making ways for future generations. When Serena Williams won a grand slam while pregnant with her daughter, she redefined what it meant to be a working mother. After giving birth to her first child, she immediately returned to tour--and to the top of the rankings. When Serena Williams started her own brand and investment company, she made sure that the world knew tennis was not her end-all-be-all, and that every athlete was a person separate from the sport. In all that Serena Williams has done in her lengthy career, she embodies not ‘ignore the haters’, but ‘face them head on’. 

These qualities, and more that can’t be encapsulated by a single article, are what I’ve come to understand about her impact beyond the sport. These qualities are also why it’s easy for me to say she’s one of the greatest athletes of all time.

So when Serena Williams announced that this year’s US Open would be her last tournament, I couldn’t help but have a heavy feeling. To me, Williams’ career felt eternal, and it didn’t seem like her magical comebacks and winning streaks would ever end. And as if to answer this universally held feeling, she cruised past the first round with astonishing ease, breaking the expectations of the US Open crowd once again--except this time, with them cheering her on. In the second round, she upset No. 2 Anett Kontaveit, reminding the world that she still had some magic left, and as she closed out her career with a nail-biting third round match (5-7, 7-6,1-6), it was evident that her influence would never retire, even if she did. Hundreds of tennis players, athletes, celebrities, and influential figures flocked to social media to reflect on the profound career of Serena Williams, some noting that they would not be where they are today without Williams’ impact. 

I would have never continued to play tennis if it wasn’t for Serena Williams, and I say this not because I’ve become some tennis guru, but to say that her influence reaches near, far, and to every unassuming corner of the world. I know she’ll continue to do so, as she becomes the first female athlete to become a billionaire, has her second child, and maybe, later on, picks up a racket, just one more time.