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There must be something in the water. If you look at the history of sports in Glynn County schools, there is no shortage of outstanding players through the decades. Our most notable sports success stories still make national headlines for their accomplishments. Adam Wainwright recently signed one of the most lucrative deals in MLB history, extending his pitching career with the St. Louis Cardinals through 2018. At the time of writing, PGA golf “Godfather” Davis Love III is paired with surfer Kelly Slater for play in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. On these pages, you’ll find profiles of these two shining examples of Glynn County athletics as well as others who came from the halls of Glynn Academy and Brunswick High.
While it’s true that several world-class athletes have gotten their start on Glynn County teams, the goal of athletic programs in schools is not to produce sports professionals. Sports programs have a wider impact as excellent retention tools, encouraging students to stay in school and make better grades. “Participation in sports is one of the ways we can assist young people in the development of their character,” noted JR Stambaugh of Wings, Wheels and Run race sponsor, Stambaugh Aviation. “It offers lessons in fair play, competition, achieving goals, discipline and striving to perform to the best of one’s ability. By supporting athletics we get to assure this process, and assist these young people on that journey.”
The Glynn County Schools Athletic Department currently has approximately 1,200 students participating in the 19 sports offered at both high schools and 1,000 students participating in the 11 sports at each of the four middle schools. While most schools have their own athletic director, in Glynn County, there is one athletic director that oversees 38 high school teams and 44 middle school teams. Steve Waters is the man heading up that department. He explains, “We have a list of over 100 responsibilities from scheduling games, scheduling officials, interpreting rules, ordering equipment, counting and depositing money, arranging travel, and making sure all of our athletes are academically eligible and have physicals. We work anywhere from 15 to 18 hour days usually, but we love what we do.”
Since the Athletic Department receives no tax dollars, they depend on the community to support the programs and athletes by purchasing tickets to sporting events. According to Waters, the yearly expenses incurred by Glynn County athletic programs are approximately $255,000. The department raises between $210,000-220,000 in gate receipts in a typical year. Fundraising and corporate sponsorships also supplement the budget. One major fundraiser each year can cover all of the county’s athletic expenses. Waters says, “Hopefully,Wings, Wheels and Run will be a fundraiser that the community will rally behind so we can provide quality athletic programs for our student-athletes in the Glynn County School System.”
Like the rest of the world, athletics has been significantly impacted by the downturn in the economy. Just like any other business, the program has to make money in order to survive. If they run in the red, Waters says, “Then tough decisions have to be made, such as do we need to cut athletic programs or reduce budgets? We realize that cutting sports hurts kids and cutting budgets hurts our programs, so our goal is to have a fundraiser that every person in Glynn County can support.” He adds, “If people love kids and want to help kids have all the resources they need to be successful athletically, then we encourage them to come out and walk or run in the Wheels, Wings, and Run fundraiser.”
