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LTC 504: Legal Issues Risk Management:  Jeff Beggs - Chippewa

LTC 630: Contest Management: Brett Phillips and Nathan Turner - Monterey

LTC 703: Leadership, Management/Supervision and Decision Making:  David Brooks- Telfair

LTC 506: Legal Issues - Title IX: Mike Emery and Mike Phillips - Chippewa

LTC 625:  P.A. Announcing: Kevin Petroski - Monterey

LTC 707: Assessment of Programs and Personnel: Bob Stinchcomb -Telfair

1:00 - 4:00 P.M.     LTC 508: Legal Issues: Hazing and ADA:    Rendell Jackson - Chippewa

2:00 - 3:00 P.M.    Workshop B: Technology: Jerry Vaughn - Monterey  

Discovery, slated to open for students in August, will be called the Titans and its school colors will be navy, silver and lime green. In terms of sports uniforms, think Seattle Seahawks.

"It's a little different shade of navy (than the Seahawks)," Discovery athletic and activities director Brent Tisdale said. "It's something when it comes to picking colors, we wanted to have something stand out a little bit with the lime green, but also something you could order, navy and silver, colors we can get and do really cool graphics with. And the lime green is something that sets us apart. I think our students will enjoy that."

As for the Lawrenceville high school's nickname, Tisdale said staff took input from students and selected a nickname fitting of Discovery's mission and curriculum. The school has a list of entrepreneurial and personal finance programs and curriculum not seen in Gwinnett and only sparingly in Georgia. It will host students from across the county to learn about personal finance and business principles, with an entrepreneurship center and two Junior Achievement of Georgia programs for middle school students offered.

"The nature of our school, business, finance, entrepreneurship, our theme and focus was a natural tie to Titans," Tisdale said. "Titans of industry. Titans of business. It fit what the theme of our school is and it's something unique to Gwinnett County. Read more...

MURFREESBORO - High school girls basketball in Rutherford County took center stage nationally this week.

But for all of the wrong reasons.

Media outlets from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, New York Times and many others have chronicled an incident last Saturday at Riverdale High where the host Lady Warriors and Smyrna each tried to tank the District 7-AAA consolation game, which Smyrna won 55-29.

The NBC Nightly News and The Today Show also discussed it. And the website Deadspin.com picked up the story.

"It's been everywhere. Network news, SportsCenter. One woman told me she saw it on 'Imus in the Morning.' I didn't even know (Don Imus) was still on TV," said Rutherford County school board member Jeff Jordan, a former Riverdale assistant basketball coach.

And newspapers across the country ran a snippet of the story from the Associated Press.

"We want to celebrate our academic and athletic success nationally, not be known for anything like this," said Rutherford County School board chairman Wayne Blair, a Smyrna High graduate.

Various ESPN shows discussed the incident, including "Pardon the Interruption" with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on Tuesday. It was a topic on "The Dan Patrick Show" on Wednesday. Read more...

When Title IX was adopted in 1972, forcing schools to offer and fund female and male athletics equally, there was a bit of an upheaval when men were hired to coach girls sports - particularly basketball. Now, 43 years later, very few women even apply to coach the sport.

In the Upper Connecticut River Valley, Stevens' Ivy Desilets is the only woman who is the head coach of a varsity girls program these days. And there are very few throughout New Hampshire and Vermont.

Lebanon girls basketball coach Tim Kehoe knows that there are female coaches at John Stark and Goffstown, and in Vermont women are coaching basketball in Poultney, Mt. Abraham and Champlain Valley Union.

So why are women staying away from a sport they once wanted to lead? The time required for a coaching commitment along with family may play roles.

Coaching girls basketball is nearly a year-round deal, with the long regular season, summer basketball and, in New Hampshire, fall skill sessions. Also, some say that women with family responsibilities may find the strain of being away from home to be too much.

"I think most athletic directors would agree that we are hoping to find qualified women coaches for our girls sports, especially," said Hanover athletic director Mike Jackson. "Quite honestly, in my time here, we have never had a female apply for our head girls basketball coaching position.

"I, like most of my colleagues, want female coaches for our girls sports to provide female role models for our female student- athletes, but they must be the most qualified candidate. If all things are equal between a male and female candidate the coaching job in girls sports, I would hire the female candidate."

Desilets is single and has a job that allows her time to devote to coaching girls basketball, and Jayne Barber said that being single was the reason she was able to coach basketball at Bellows Falls for 28 years.

"Basketball is the longest of all the sports seasons," said Barber, who no longer coaches but remains an employee of the school district. "I think if you are not a teacher and single, it is hard to make all the practice sessions, and some of the bus trips are very long. The time commitment is enormous. If a wife and mother coaches girls basketball, it affects the whole family."

Another area of concern for girls basketball is the shrinkage of rosters. Many schools no longer have subvarsity programs. Over at Green Mountain Union High School, in Chester, Vt., there is no varsity program. There was some attempt to use eighth-graders at the varsity level, but the school board thought that put too much game- day pressure on such young people. Read more...