Well, the 3rd Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard officially kicked off on a sunny Friday afternoon on January 4th.
I traveled down to the western part of Virginia just north of Lynchburg to Amherst County to honor their 2007 state football champions. The 14-0 Lancers, who have won 26 straight games, were nationally ranked #14 overall from over 16,000 schools and they certainly showed their appreciation and enthusiasm that day.
The entire Division 4 School packed into their basketball gymnasium at 2:00 PM. With the high school band playing and crowd cheering, students filed into the gym and received special Army National Guard items from footballs to megaphones tot-shirts and keepsake MaxPreps lanyards.
Mr. William Gouldthorpe (or Goldie), Athletic Director at Amherst County, introduced MaxPreps representative Steve Spiewak, hailing from Bayonne, NJ; but no connection to the Bayonne Bleeder. Steve raved about Amherst County's remarkable run to their 2nd consecutive State Championship, their premier national ranking, and their ability to rival even some of the top Texas High School football programs - Katy anyone?
Steve then introduced the dynamic, crowd-pleaser SFC Joseph Corriveau of the Virginia Army National Guard, who simply said - put on a show. SFC Corriveau riled up the students all the while Army National Guardsmen and Guardswomen tossed t-shirts and footballs to the students. SFC Corriveau then talked about the 3 D's - Desire, Dedication, and Determination. And then, SFC Corriveau presented the coveted Tour of Champions National Ranking trophy to Head Coach Scott Abell. Coach Abellthanked the fans, coaches, faculty and players for an awesome season.
Afterwards, photo moments were had all around and the commemorative Army National Guard/Tour of Champions t-shirts and iPod speakers were distributed to all the players. Lastly, the media interviewed designated players, Steve Spiewak of MaxPreps, Coach Abell and SFC Corriveau to close out the affair.
All in all, the ceremony was a very enthusiastic start to a fast and furious 3rd annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard.
