Tournament Under the Cross kicks off at Sherwood

ALBANY —A weekend of food, fellowship and of course futbol is back as Sherwood Christian Academy’s Tournament Under the Cross kicked off Friday morning.

Thirty teams throughout the state of Georgia made their way to Albany for the affair not only sharpen their skills but get a chance to meet college scouts.

The Lady Eagles head coach Jayson Davidson said the turnout for scouts is better than ever. This year attracted the usual in-state Christian colleges as well as schools from Columbia, S.C. and even out in Ohio amongst others.

Sherwood athletic director Chad Evans said the amount of attention the event has garnered from college coaches serves as motivation for their student body.

“It creates that overall excitement for a program to know that there is interest in college coaches for our athletes,” he said. “That’s a big encouragement to all of kids to work hard and those that desire to play at the next level, that desire can become a realization and they see that this weekend.”

Friday morning, the Eagles and the Lady Eagles both picked up 6-1 wins against Dominion Christian out of Marietta, Ga. Davidson said the girls played the “best game they’ve played all year this morning and the worst game they’ve played all year this afternoon.” The Lady Eagles suffered their first regular-season loss in about a year after falling to Robert Tombs 2-1.

“We missed about 10 goal-scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the game,” he said. “We should’ve put the game out of reach right then. They didn’t counter them, they let them get a goal in and let it get their morale down and it was behind from there on.”

He added that the loss might actually be a blessing in disguise.

“To be honest with you I welcome the loss,” he said. “Because as a coach, once you have win after win after win, you have to try and ground the girls so this will be good for us. It lets them reset, lets them think about the things we need to work on and can get serious and go after the win after this.”

He is equally optimistic about the boys team, of which he serves as assistant coach.

“The boys are the best boys team we’ve had yet,” he said. “It’s the most skilled group we’ve had. They put the ball down, they move it fast, they find goal-scoring opportunities and they make them count.”

As the teams look to sharpen their skills along with the rest of the teams in attendance, Davidson said school officials are looking to aid in that effort by expanding the tournament. He said they’re working on making the rest of the land on the property usable, which would allow them to host 40 teams. The teams would not only get to face new competition, but build lasting relationships while sharing a love of Jesus.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “If what we’re doing today isn’t honoring Him, there’s no point.”

The Lady Eagles are back in action Saturday at 11 a.m. to face the HALO Wolfpack.