By Chris Yow
Editor
CLAY — Clay-Chalkville Principal Michael Lee said no additional word has come yet with regard to the Class 6A, Area 12 softball tournament, but did say he has attempted to work with tournament officials at Gardendale High School to move around the schedule.
Clay-Chalkville High School Principal Michael Lee
file photo
The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) rules state the area tournaments must be completed no later than Saturday. The championship game for the area tournament in Gardendale is scheduled for Tuesday,
“Gardendale (administrators) made the decision not to change the times,” Lee said, “I tried last week and this past Saturday to back the times up so the girls at Clay-Chalkville could do both.”
The event the seniors are choosing to attend tonight is an award ceremony that includes representatives from several state colleges, including the Univ. of Alabama, Auburn Univ. and UAB, awarding scholarships to students.
“This is not a simple awards banquet,” Lee said. “This is an awards program that has been on our schedule since last year’s event. We have to schedule our auditorium well in advance because of the number of events in the auditorium during the spring. We scheduled this before the AHSAA tournament dates were set.”
Lee added that rescheduling this event would have been a disservice to his students and could harm the school’s relationship with those colleges.
“This is not just about Clay-Chalkville,” Lee said. “If I cancel our event, it puts our reputation with those colleges on the line. If it was just our kids, I would cancel it and we would do it another time, but it’s not.”
The Tribune reached out to Gardendale High School softball coach Barry Brake and Athletic Director Matt Plunkett for comment, but those messages have not yet been returned.
“I don’t want our girls to be criticized,” Lee said. “These girls have given so much to this school over their four years. They’re being put in a situation of being able to choose a softball game or one of the biggest events of their senior year.”
4 Comments
Ronald Hagood Jr.
It’s all Gardendale’s fault
Andrea Catalano
Ok…….are all senior girls getting an award/scholarship? If not, they what’s the big deal? If I was a college coach that had given a scholarship to one of the seniors I would rather them play the game than attend the banquet awards. It shows dedication.
Tracy Feltman Meloni
Yes, there are only 3 seniors and they are all recipients of a scholarship and in MY opinion by receiving these scholarship there is no argument about their dedication.
Shelby Elizabeth Morgan
i am one of the three seniors on the softball team, and i am honored to have been able to attend the awards banquet. I represented myself and the school I will be attending in the fall. It is our senior year, and yes even though all three of us received softball scholarships and committed to play ball in college, that simply wasn’t all that was given out on awards night. One of the other seniors received her cords and other awards as well. The banquet was put together a year ago, we are thankful the Gardendale coach was flexible with us and our team as to acknowledging our awards & hard work.