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thesylvaniatimes.com
The Sylvania Times
Wednesday, April 13, 2022 - Page 9
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There is a face that has
become synonymous,
beyond almost all others,
with Screven County High
School athletics. Over the
past two decades very, very
few coaching faces have
been constant, but with the
exception of a single year
(the school year 2006-07),
Bill Hall has been here
every year since the fall
of 2001. There may be
Gamecock fans who know
the face but not the name.
Anyone who does not know
the face is not a true fan.
Who is Bill Hall? He is the
Nationally Certified Ath
letic Trainer for the SCHS
athletic program.
How long is two decades?
Bill Hall has seen a lot of
head coaches come and
go at SCHS, an awful lot
of them. As head coaches
go, he has seen three
baseball coaches, three
softball coaches (the only
three), three boys basket
ball coaches, three girls
tennis coaches, four cross
country coaches, four
football coaches, five girls
basketball coaches, five
boys tennis coaches, six
combinations of cheerlead
ing coaches, six wrestling
coaches, and uncountable
track coaches. Bill was
even here for the only
season (2003) that Terry
Markovcic was not the
varsity soccer coach.
How important is Bill Hall
to SCHS athletics? Athletic
Director/ Principal Brian
Scott, and seemingly every
coach on the local staff,
answers that question “I
wouldn't trade Bill Hall for
anybody.”
Put another way, the athlet
ic trainer at SCHS is the man
that the parents of all those
who wear the Red and White
want there for their kids,
but also a man with whom
they do not want to see their
kids become involved. The
reason for that is obvious;
no parent wants their
child-athlete injured.
While Hall goes on the
road with the football
and basketball teams,
other athletes depend
on their host schools’
trainer when on the
road, but all schools
do not have trainers.
The GHSA mandates
a lot of things. The
GHSA does not man
date every school have
a trainer. “I have been
other places without a
certified trainer,” says
Head Football Coach
Ron Duncan. “It is a
nightmare. He is the
best I have ever been around
and he is big.”
Who is Bill Hall? It was
2001 when he began his
affiliation with SCHS. Those
long years ago he was in the
training room for two days
a week and on the sidelines
on Friday nights. At that
point, he also covered most
home games for basketball
and spring sports. Save for
one year, the 2006-2007
term when he worked with
the Savannah State Univer
sity athletic program, he has
been a Gamecock ever since.
At the time he returned to
SCHS in the fall of 2007 he
became full-time and is now
here every day. Though an
Atlanta native, he “is the
biggest Gamecock fan that I
know,” continued Scott.
As the full-time trainer for
SCHS, Hall is responsible for
a variety of things including
the prevention, recognition,
evaluation, rehabilitation and
referral of athletic injuries.
On any given afternoon this
time of year he can be seen
in his red golf cart, trailer
with equipment in tow, going
from the track to a soccer
match, and into the baseball
dugout. If necessary, there
may be a stop-off at the
tennis court. In the summer
there are usually two days a
week he will be at SCHS as
he also covers Tormenta USL
League 2 Soccer Team.
Athletically Hall says he
is, “responsible for prevent
ing injuries from occurring.
I try to do this through the
education of coaches and
athletes.. .through wrapping
and taping. Once there is an
injury my job is to rehab and
get the athlete back on the
field as quickly and as safely
as possible.”
Even for the casual high
school fan it is obvious that
one of the most pressing
issues is concussions. Hall
has been very instrumental
in handling that area, “the
identification and treatment
of concussions has changed
for the better since I be
gan,” he explained. “At the
beginning of each preseason
in each sport we give each
player something called an
‘ImPACT test’ (a computer
ized neurocognitive tool) that
establishes a baseline and, if
there is a concussion ques
tion during the season, we
can compare a new ImPACT
test to the baseline.”
Does Hall feel that he errs
on the side of caution, often
holding players out over
even the possibility of a con
cussion? Says Hall, “Con
cussions are one of the most
serious injuries that I deal
with and I do tend to side on
caution. I work closely with
Dr. Lancaster when I suspect
an athlete has sustained a
concussion. There is a return
to play policy that we follow
closely so that the athlete
can return when it is safe for
them to do so.”
Beyond the treatment of
concussions, are there other
changes as the job of athletic
trainer evolves? “One
of the biggest changes
is dealing with the
heat” Hall replied.
“The GHSA has Heat
Index Policy that we
follow and it is my re
sponsibility to monitor
the heat index. Along
those same lines it is
my responsibility to
monitor for lightning
during practice and
games and to let the
coaches know when
it is time to go inside
because of lightning in
the area.”
Asked something
that he wanted fans to
know that maybe they don’t
know about athletic trainers
he answered, “I think that
fans should know the level
of education that we have
as Certified Athletic Train
ers and what we can do. At
a sporting event, we can do
everything from taping an
ankle to saving a student
athlete’s life in the event of
something like a catastrophic
heart problem.”
Hall continued, “One of the
things that I truly appreci
ate about the SCHS Athletic
Department is that they get
me what I need to do my job
well. They allow me to or
der the tape, band aids, rehab
equipment, etc, that I need to
keep the athletes going. “
This summer Hall will be
going into his fifth season
as the head athletic trainer
for the Statesboro Tormen
ta USL League 2 Team.
The PDL is a developmen
tal league of the United
States Soccer League. It
has 76 teams in four con
ferences. Hall is quick to
point out that as a student
athletic trainer, “I was part
of the Georgia Southern
1985, 86, and 89 national
championship teams.”
According to Hall, a
frequently asked question
of both he and Scott, and
maybe anyone associated
with the athletic program
in general, is as to whether
or not he works for the
Screven County Board of
Education. The answer
is a simple no. He works
for Optim Health System’s
Sports Medicine Program
under the supervision of
Dr. Don Aaron, Jr. “Optim
has a contract with the
Screven County Board of
Education and I am the
person who fulfills that
contract,” he said.
Optim’s organization
covers 24 high schools,
universities, and Tormenta
Pro Soccer, in Southeast
Georgia including most
of the counties that adjoin
Screven and southwest
to Bacon County and
Appling County as well
as westward to Laurens
County and Treutlen
County.
“Bill Hall is without a
SEE HALL page 10
Around
the horn
SCHS SPORTS ARE GETTING
DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY
Burton Kemp
Well another spring break
has come and gone. Athleti
cally it was the annual week
where more people have
more time to watch more
athletic events and yet none
are scheduled. The one base
ball game set for the SCHS
campus last week was rained
out. Of course pretty much
anything last Tuesday or
Wednesday was going to be
postponed. But now things
are getting down to the nit
ty gritty. Read that to mean
playoff time.
Soccer and both tennis
teams have punched their
tickets with region titles
and are ready to get going
in state play. If baseball did
not win home games Mon
day against Claxton and last
night against MCA, I mean
win both of them, then the
playoffs may be even less
than a pipe dream. First
and second are already im
possible but, as of Monday,
neither third nor fourth were
impossible. Also remember
that this year third and fourth
is not as bad as normal. Ask
softball about fourth. We play
into Region 1 which is not a
tough region. Only 2021
baseball champion Seminole
County (apparently the quali
ty athletic program in deepest
Class A southwest Georgia)
won a playoff series last year
and then they were whipped
by Claxton in the second
round. Baseball regular sea
son ends next week with
home (4/19) and away (4/22)
with Jenkins County. Track’s
region meet is April 30.
Elsewhere I write about
our trainer Bill Hall, long a
part of our athletic program.
There are so many things to
say about his role, but I am
already so long winded ev
erywhere I write.
One of the things I men
tion from time to time is the
literally the time he spends
at SCHS. Let’s relate that
to students from GSU. Fre
quently he has student train
ers (think student teachers).
You may see them with him
before a football game or sit
ting beside him during a bas
ketball game or the like. One
of the laughable things is that
they take college breaks and
holidays off. They are not
with Bill during GSU spring
break or Thanksgiving or
Christmas or the like. They
are not required to be there. I
wonder how that is supposed
to prepare them for the real
world job of being an athletic
trainer. Athletic schedules do
not take holidays off, though
I did just mention our spring
break.
I remember that Bill Hall’s
full time status at SCHS co
incided with Christie Kemp’s
Soccer leading scorer Emma Jones
dribbles past an MCA defender,
(photo by Jamie Warren)
freshman softball season at
SCHS. That would be the fall
of 2001. Right before school
started that fall Christie
pulled a thigh muscle while
playing the much over hyped
travel ball. Boy is there a
column to be written about
the number of players named
“All-Travel Ball” but that
would definitely get some
one’s panties in a wad. Any
way I remember Bill hooking
her up to some EKG looking
things that were supposed to
help. I thought that was high
tech for us (at that point). It
also gave rise in my mind to
memories of previous sea
sons when there was nothing
to do with a sports related
injury short of making an ap
pointment to see the doctor.
Maybe that is an example of
something Bill said in my
feature, “One of the things
that I truly appreciate about
the SCHS Athletic Depart
ment is that they get me what
I need to do my job well.”
I don’t usually write or be
labor on athletic injuries but
let me break my unwritten
rule and preface this with the
thought that very bad things
sometimes happen to very
good (athletically and spiri
tually) people. Rising senior
Emma Jones went down two
weeks with, among other
things, a tom ACL. It hap
pened during a 3 A
soccer match with
Claxton. The reper
cussions from that
injury will carry well
beyond soccer, where
she is the leading scor
er. The repercussions
will carry through the
softball season.
Jim Randall Doyle’s
Lady Gamecocks are
coming off one of
the program’s great
est seasons ever if
not the absolute most
surprising. They came out
of nowhere to reach the Elite
Eight and Columbus last Oc
tober. Emma Jones was a big
part of that and a big part of
the hopes and dreams for the
2022 season and the new
Region 3A D-l. Adjust
ments must now be made.
A season ago Emma put
together one of the great
est offensive seasons ever.
She hit a school re
cord .603 (44-73) after hit
ting what is now a fourth
best .516 (49-95) in 2020.
She drove in 25 mns and
scored 37 (we scored 184
mns as a team). Current
Liberty star Kara Canetto
has the second and third
highest season batting av
erages. Emma was also
the go-to pitcher and two
time Region 3A Offensive
Player of the Year as well
as Second Team All State.
Life will go on and now
SEE SCHS page 10
Emma Jones pitches against GMC in the
second round of state playoffs, (photo by
Ginny Atchley)
613 West Ogeeehee Street. Sylvan a, Georgia 304(7
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