In less than two weeks, high school fall sports teams in Oregon will be allowed to hold their first official practices.
Take note of the term “official” because as I’m sure many of you know, a fair number of Philomath High’s athletes have participated in voluntary summer activities within the various sports programs to stay in shape, increase knowledge and position themselves for a better chance at success this coming season.
The football program, for example, started conditioning at 5:30 p.m. Monday and will continue those drills until official practices can begin on Aug. 19. PHS coach Alex Firth said the team will go in the mornings to try to beat the heat.
“We’re miles ahead of where we’ve been the past couple of seasons,” Firth said. “We’re a lot more mature as a team so I feel really good about it right now.”
A glance at the number of participants in conditioning drills looked promising.
“We’re going to see what the numbers look like when we actually get into real football,” Firth said. “I actually think they’ll be pretty similar to last year — I don’t know if that will be a plus (number of players) but I would say at the most minus five.”
The number of students participating in football has been an issue in recent years. Last fall, Firth saw a roster jump up to 46 players.
Philomath High just recently went up against Corvallis in a 7-on-7 scrimmage. Firth said no score was kept but that the Warriors would’ve won over the 5A school if it was an actual competition.
“It was more of a controlled deal but I thought we did pretty well against them,” Firth said. “They’re a new program, so they’re getting their feet under it but we performed well.”
The Warriors are coming off a 5-4 season and will begin this year’s slate Sept. 6 at Newport. The home opener will follow Sept. 13 against Milwaukie. The team will not participate in a jamboree.
Philomath’s other fall sports teams are also gearing up for the season with cross-country, soccer and volleyball all hoping to find success. The girls cross-country team will be looking to repeat as state champions. The volleyball team heads into the fall with a new head coach in Whitney Rasmussen.
Sports camps this week
Philomath High’s volleyball, dance and soccer programs are holding youth camps in the coming days.
The volleyball team’s two-day camp begins Wednesday with sessions from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the PHS gym. For those who see this and want to head out, the registration form, which includes additional information, is available online.
The Shining Stars dance team will host a kids dance camp Thursday through Saturday. The camp will be for all kids ages 4-14 and take place at PHS from 8-10 a.m. on all three days. A finale performance is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. A registration form is accessible online.
The Junior Warriors Soccer Camp runs next week from Aug. 12-15 for kids in grades K-8. Each session goes from 9-11 a.m. at the PHS soccer fields behind the middle school. A participation form is available online.
Philomath Olympian wins medals
Jade Carey, the Oregon State gymnast and Arizona native who lives in Philomath, won a gold medal as a member of Team USA at the Paris Olympics and also won a bronze medal individually in the vault. The performance follows up her 2021 appearance at the Tokyo Games when she won gold in the floor exercise.
OSU is planning a “Welcome Home Celebration” for Carey at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Parker Plaza, which is located at the Reser Stadium football statue. The parade-style event is open to the public.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
