MJCA BASKETBALL PLAYER PICKED TO REPRESENT TENNESSEE:

MJCA's starting point guard, T. J. Roberts (6'1" junior) has been selected to play for the only Tennessee team in this summer's International Tournament in Columbus Ohio. This tournament is scheduled for July 17th.

The preliminary games were played at Middle Tennessee State University a few weeks ago, in which many players played three games each. This preliminary event was designed to find the top players to represent our state in the International tournament. Although there were many of the state's best participating, Roberts was picked to represent the state.

As a standout player for the Saints' basketball team, T. J. currently holds school records in the following areas: assists in a single season (192) and career assists (404). Roberts also has 757 career points and 259 rebounds in his distinguished career at MJCA. This year, he led his team in points (381), assists (192), rebounds (106), and steals (68).

Roberts is currently playing for a local AAU team and the Tennessee international team. With this type of off-season, great things are expected for his senior season at MJCA.

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BLAZING START FOR MJCA MEN'S SOCCER:

MJCA's high school soccer team is off to an incredible 11-0-1 start, with wins over teams like DCA, St. Andrew's School, King's Academy, Smith County, Jackson County, Creekwood High School, and others.

The team is led by Sam Mummert (So.), who was listed among the "players to watch" by the Tennessean newspaper. Other noteable players are Noa Stroop, Brian Schlosser, Dylan Gammon (offensive statistical leaders), and Zach Pollock who is anchoring the defense at sweeper.

Entering Thursday night's home game versus Davidson Academy, the Saints are tied for first place in their side of the region.

Remaining home games for the Saints include Davidson Academy, St. Andrews School, and Riverside Christian Academy.

Be sure to come and be a part of this exciting team.

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STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE MONTH:

Caleb Wagler (Jr.) is this month's Student-Athlete of the Month. As MJCA's #1 tennis player, Wagler has an incredible resume on and off the court. He is also one of our best citizens of the school.

As a student, Caleb is carrying a 4.0 grade point average. He is also a member of the National Honor Society. This year, he was elected as one of the MJCA representatives with Youth Leadership Wilson. Due to his excellence in the classroom, Wagler is on the Principal's List. He has also won the Christian Character Award at MJCA.

As a tennis player, Caleb has won the team's Most Valuable Player award for the last two seasons. He was named to the District 8 A-AA All District Team. This came on the heels of finishing runner-up in both the district and region tournaments. Caleb has enjoyed a great deal of success with MJCA and the USTA. His summer team won the state tournament and was ranked 13th in the nation.

Even though Caleb has shown so much commitment on the court and in the classroom, he has found time to be very active in the MJCA community service program.

For these (and many other) reasons, the Athletic Department of MJCA is proud to recognize Mr. Caleb Wagler as Student-Athlete of the Month.

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DIRECTOR'S CORNER:

One of the biggest fads nowadays is that student-athletes are constantly thinking about the "next level". I have parents and students regularly asking me about how their child (or they) can reach the next level. The truth of the matter is that a very small percentage of student athletes, at any school, make it to college athletics and a much smaller percentage make it to play for a major Division I program. Just look at all of the great athletes that have come out of Wilson County. Then do your research on how many of them went on to a "major" college sport. You could probably count on your fingers the number of student-athletes that have advanced to that level. That is why it is unfortunate that kids today are using their high school teams as some sort of farm system for the next level. If that day never comes, they have just missed out on the great experience of playing for the moment in high school.

MJCA has had a great percentage of student-athletes move on to play college sports (27 in all); however, they were focused on their MJCA team and the opportunity to play on the next level became available as a result.

Believe it or not, we have had some kids transfer to other schools, because they thought they would have a better chance of advancement. Unfortunately, that is a misguided perception. To the best of my knowledge, not even one of those students have moved on to the college level in athletics.

The truth of the matter is that if you are good enough, the scouts will find you. Just look at the bios of your favorite college teams. Many of those athletes came from very small schools.

I was reminded of this the other day, while watching ESPN's top 10 plays of the day. Two of the plays were made by a young man who plays for Cincinnati that played high school ball for Pioneer Christian Academy in Nashville. PCA was about half the size of MJCA and was not even a member of the TSSAA. Cincinnati basketball didn't care about his school size, team, or even competition played. They just cared about what he could do.

That story can be told many times over. Some college athletes didn't even play high school sports at all. However, they were found because college scouts are paid to find the players.

My bottom line encouragement is if you are going to play high school sports, play for that moment and that team. Don't play for the future, because that may never come. High school sports is a privilege that should not be taken for granted.

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