VALDOSTA —
A record 625 area kids turned out for the annual Valdosta State football Meet the Blazers event on Saturday morning at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
Between Friday’s Meet the Blazers event for soccer and volleyball and Saturday’s event, over 850 area youth participated in Meet the Blazers this year.
“It is great,” Junior safety Chris Caspari said. “Everybody is excited for the season to start. The kids, they just look up to us, and we are just doing our best to be role models out here and just have fun with them.”
Participants in this year’s event took part in various football drills run by the football players and they were able to run out onto the field like the Blazers do on game days. An autograph session with the team followed activities on the field. Every participant received a free T-shirt.
Nearly every drill during Saturday’s event involved tackling. Some of the participants skipped tackling on the dummies and took to tackling members of the team, like senior offensive lineman Edmund Kugbila.
“It is fun being out here with the little kids,” said the 6-foot-5, 347-pound offensive guard Kugbila. “It is all for them.”
Every drill finished with a dance, too.
“I usually just give the ball back to the referee,” Caspari said. “I just act like I’ve been there before, but if I had to choose a dance, I would do a little shoulder lean or something like that.”
The annual event allows Blazer fans, young and old, to get an up close and personal look with the team and interact with the players they watch on the field.
The Blazers open their season next Saturday, when they visit Saginaw Valley. The game will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Due to the length of the trip, the Blazers will fly out of Valdosta on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Local Sports
Meet the Blazers
Record turnout for annual meet-and-greet with team
- Local Sports
-
-
VSU softball wins South Region, headed to nationals
For the third time in four years, and second in a row, Valdosta State’s softball team will play in the national championship tournament.
The Blazers won their third South Region championship Saturday, beating Alabama-Huntsville 8-3 in game three of the best-of-three series at Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park. -
VSU baseball season comes to an end
Delta State scored seven unanswered runs to defeat Valdosta State 7-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at the UT Baseball Field Saturday afternoon.
-
Blazers take 1-0 series lead
Angela O’Connor launched a pinch-hit two-run home run over the left-field fence, tying the game against Alabama-Huntsville in the bottom of the sixth inning, and sparking the Blazers and their fans along the way.
-
Blazer baseball stays alive, beats Stillman
Valdosta State scored five runs in the first inning to defeat Stillman 6-2 in an elimination game of the NCAA South Region Tournament at UT Baseball Field Friday morning.
-
Lowndes’ Harwell, Wortham sign with Valdosta State
Lowndes’ Ty Harwell and David Wortham won’t have to go far to play college baseball.
-
Blazers host respected rival UAH in Super Regional
One would expect a matchup featuring two of the top softball programs in Division II to come in the national championship game.
Unfortunately for Valdosta State and Alabama-Huntsville, who have combined to appear in four straight national championship games, they won’t be meeting in title game on Memorial Day in Salem, Va. -
Pop Warner Football coming to Valdosta
Pop Warner Football is coming to Valdosta.
The nationally known organization that puts an emphasis on education and developing American youth has been established in the Valdosta area and will begin playing football this August. -
Blazers lose to Delta State, fall to loser’s bracket
If the Valdosta State baseball team is going to win the South Region Tournament, the Blazers going to have to do it from the loser’s bracket.
The Blazers (33-17) dropped their first game of the tournament Thursday, falling to Delta State 4-2 at UT Baseball Stadium.
VSU will face Stillman College, which lost to No. 1 seed and tournament host Tampa Thursday, Friday at 11 a.m. to advance to the weekend portion of the tournament. The loser will be eliminated. -
Lowndes’ Willis, Breit named Region 1 Coaches of the Year
The All-Region 1-AAAAAA soccer teams were announced Wednesday and Lowndes was well represented.
Lowndes coaches Chris Willis (girls) and Jordan Breit (boys) were named the Region Coaches of the Year, after leading the Lowndes teams to region championships and going undefeated in region play. -
Vikings commit 4 errors, fall to Roswell, 5-2
The small things matter in baseball, especially in a winner-take-all game three.
On Wednesday, Lowndes’ baseball team made too many mistakes on the little things. The Vikings committed four errors that led to five Roswell runs and were eliminated in the Class AAAAAA state playoffs with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets. - More Local Sports Headlines
-



