All-Star Games, Strong List of Speakers Highlight 22st AHSAA Summer Conference This Week
MONTGOMERY – More than 4,000 AHSAA member school coaches, administrators and contest officials gather this week (July 16-20) at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center for the 22th annual Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) Summer Conference and All-Star Sports competition.
The 22nd annual All-Star Sports Week is being held in conjunction with the conference. A total of 11 all-star competitions in seven sports at several venues around the city will showcase more than 300 student-athletes and coaches from AHSAA member schools.
Governor Kay Ivey will also address the annual Championship Coaches Banquet Friday night, and former major league reliever and 2017 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee Todd Jones will speak at the Sportsmanship Luncheon, also on Friday.
The North-South All-Star competition gets underway Tuesday night with the North-South Baseball Doubleheader at 4 p.m. at Riverwalk Stadium; the North-South Softball Doubleheader first pitch at Lagoon Park will be at 5 p.m.; and the North-South girls’ and boys’ Soccer All-Star matches are set for 5 and 7 p.m., respectively, at Emory Folmar Soccer Complex.
Wednesday’s All-Star competition gets started early with the second North-South girls’ and boys’ Cross Country competition at Auburn-Montgomery University’s on-campus cross country course at 7:30 a.m. The girls’ race will be first, followed by the boys’ race at 8 a.m. The North-South Basketball Games will be hosted at Alabama State University’s Dunn-Oliver Arena Wednesday night with the girls playing at 5 and the boys following at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s action concludes the 2018 all-star events with the North-South Volleyball match at AUM Gymnasium at 4 p.m., and the 59th North-South Football Game kicking off at 7 p.m., at Cramton Bowl.
The conference will conduct approximately 100 professional development sessions, eight rules clinics, three luncheons, one night banquet, 92 speakers, 51 moderators and a golf tournament and cookout, which was hosted by the AHSADCA Monday.
Among the speakers set to address the basketball coaches on Wednesday are college coaches: Auburn University’s Bruce Pearl, University of Alabama’s Avery Johnson, LSU Coach Will Wade, Georgia Coach Tom Crean, North Alabama Coach Tony Pujol, South Alabama Coach Terry Fowler and West Florida Coach Jeff Burkhamer, as well as several top high school coaches from across the state.
Several of the AHSAA’s top high school football coaches will be featured in the football sessions Wednesday and Thursday including Coach Clifford Story of 2018 Class 2A state champion Lanett, Piedmont Coach Steve Smith of 2016 Class 3A state champ Piedmont, Former T.R. Miller head coach and 300-game winner Jamie Riggs, who has come out of retirement to take over Houston Academy’s program, Jackson Coach Ryan Little, T.R. Miller Coach Keith Etheredge, Auburn Coach Adam Winegarden, Spanish Fort Coach Ben Blackmon, Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa’s Sam Adams, Blount’s Lev Holly, among others.
A strong mix of college and high school clinicians will address attendees in the sports of baseball, softball, track and field, volleyball, soccer, golf, wrestling and cheerleading.
The completing Coaching School schedule and list of speakers can be found at:
http://www.ahsaa.com/AHSADCA/2018-Summer-Conference
The AHSAA Officials Awards banquet will be Saturday morning. All will be at the Renaissance.
Friday’s session will include two mandatory for school administrators dealing with AHSAA rules and regulations and up-to-date health and safety measures.
NORTH HOLDS EDGE IN ALL-STAR SERIES: The all-star series records heading into the 2018 competition show the North leading in all series but football. The South holds a 30-26-2 edge in the football series which got underway in 1948. The North boys lead the basketball series, which was first played in 1953, 48-27. The North girls are 18-3 in that series, which got underway in 1997.
North-South Series records include:
Football – South leads 30-26-2
Boys Basketball – North leads 48-27
Girls Basketball – North leads 18-3
Baseball – North leads 22-11-1
Softball – North leads 25-20-3
Boys Soccer – North leads 11-4-1
Girls Soccer – North leads 13-2-1
Volleyball – North leads 14-6
Boys Cross Country – North leads 1-0
Girls Cross Country – North leads 1-0
NFHS NETWORK: All all-star competition will be webcast live over the NFHS TV Network utilizing the AHSAA member schools’ NFHS Network School Broadcast Program. Links and instructions on how to subscribe can be found at www.ahsaa.com. The All-Star Football Game will also be broadcast live by the AHSAA Radio Network.