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2B I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, June 27,2018
Future Tigers test basketball skills
Photos by Jessica Brown Dawson County News
The Dawson County Tigers basketball pro
gram recently hosted a three-day camp for
future Tiger basketball players. Fifteen rising
middle and junior high students got a chance
to train at the high school June 19-21 under
Head Coach Chad Pittman and his coaching
staff.The camp is a way for upcoming basket
ball players to become familiar with the varsi
ty and junior varsity coaches.
FROM 1B
Fishing
Use your electronics and
look for both schools of
herring and the arcs below
the bait schools that give
away the predator fish like
stripers and bass that feed
on herring.
Once you find a school of
stripers, the down lines
have started to produce bet
ter than flat lines. If the fish
are in the upper 20 feet of
the water column, stick
with flat lines or flat lines
with a split-shot attached. If
the fish are deeper than 20
feet, you can deploy your
flat lines to the specific
depth where you mark fish.
Set up your down lines
with a large 1- to 2-ounce
lead sinker, a plastic bead
(to protect your knot), a
SPRO Power Swivel, a long
leader of fluorocarbon line
and a Gamakatsu Octopus
Hook with a herring hooked
through the nose.
My electronics are show
ing schools of stripers
around the islands and
around the creek mouths in
the ditches and off the sides
of the points around 30 feet
deep over a 40- to 60-foot
bottom. Explore these areas
with your electronics and
be ready to drop live her
ring or gizzard shad to the
fish you see suspended.
Before you switch out old
down line live baits, don’t
be afraid to drop it to the
bottom and power-reel it
back to the surface. Even
the larger spoons or buck-
tails reeled to the surface
will trigger deeper striper
into biting.
Try tolling a Captain
Mack’s Umbrella Rig with
seven or eight colors of lead
core at around 2.5-3 mph,
speeding up as you make
turns before slowing down.
Most of your strikes will
occur when your baits are
different. Trolling may
work all day, but it’s also a
great technique to cover
water and find fish with
your electronics.
Crappie fishing: The best
bite has been after dark.
Fishing with lights
around bridges has been
good. Crappie and other
predator fish will move
shallower to attack bait
that’s attracted to lights.
Make sure to buy some ice
and several dozen crappie
or medium minnows.
For the hardcore jig-
anglers, shooting docks has
been good, as has hitting
deeper brush with small
jigs. This fishing has been
best early in the day and
again later toward sundown.
Trout fishing: The river
below Buford Dam has
really cleared up during
slack water periods, and
fishing has been good.
The trout are striking dry
flies, small in-line spinners
and good old-fashioned
worms on a bottom rig.
These same techniques will
also work well up in the
North Georgia mountains.
Bank fishing: Brim are
biting from the banks of
Lake Lanier, as well as your
local subdivisions lakes,
farm lakes and ponds. All
you need to catch these
scrappy little panfish is line
with a bobber and a small
Aberdeen style hook with
an earthworm or cricket
threaded on the end.
You can use an inexpen
sive Zebco 33 or even a
cane pole to get your bob
ber and bait set in and
around any fishy looking
areas.
Eric Aldrich is an outdoor
writer, marketing specialist
and bass angler. Reports are
based on personal experi
ence and permission from a
close network of friends. He
would love to hear from his
readers, so please email him
at esaldrich@yahoo.com.
Remember to take a kid fish
ing.
FROM 1B
Nixon
said the chance to set foot
on the national stage is
right up there with the
NBA Finals, and her squad
has made several public
appearances in conjunction
with its practice schedule
leading up to the event.
In January, Hall County
Traditional took home its
fifth consecutive Gold
medal at the Winter Games
for SOGA, which qualified
the players to represent
their state at the national
level. In response, Nixon’s
alma mater held a special
fundraiser during halftime
of a home varsity basket
ball game between North
Hall and Dawson County.
The team was introduced,
and a donation bucket was
passed around the bleach
ers, raising more than
$1,500 for the trip.
“(The USA games)
allows them to identify
with their hearts’ desire,
which is to play basketball
or whatever sport,” Young
said. “It gives them an
opportunity to believe in
themselves — that (they)
can do what any other child
can do.”
Nick’s surroundings
growing up involved sports,
with his younger siblings
— brother Nate and sister
Natalie — being accom
plished athletes at the varsi
ty level. Nate, 16, plays for
the varsity basketball and
football teams at North
Hall, while recent grad
Natalie has signed to play
basketball for Truett
McConnell University this
fall.
The eldest of three
learned from an early age
that due diligence would
take him far in both aca
demics and basketball, and
in no way has autism
defined Nick.
It was just a small part of
him that makes his journey
all the more grand.
Diagnosis
Roger and Leeann
Nixon-Miles welcomed
their first-born into the
world March 23, 1998, on
a military base in
Sagamihara, Japan, while
Roger served in the U.S.
Army.
Their return to the states
months later was followed
by life-altering news.
When Nick was 1, Roger
and Leeann began to notice
a different side of Nick. He
developed a fascination
with toy Hot Wheels cars,
more so with the spinning
motion of the wheels. An
obvious sensitivity to loud
noises and high ceilings
raised even more flags for
the parents.
“You couple that with,
not so much the fact that he
couldn’t communicate, just
that he didn’t access his
words like everyone else,”
said Nixon-Miles, a special
education teacher at Wauka
Mountain Elementary in
Gainesville.
“He understood anything
and everything going on
around him all along, but
he didn’t necessarily under
stand how to communicate
that with others. I’m sure
that lent to his frustrations
and some of the challenges
he’s had with being social
and being in situations that
a lot of other people take
for granted.”
The Nixon family even
tually paid a visit to the
Marcus Autism Center in
Atlanta, where he was for
mally diagnosed on the
spectrum at the age of 4.
Of the three categories of
ASD, Nick is considered as
mild (Level 1 or high-func
tioning), Roger said.
Moving forward, the
family made a team effort
to help Nick thrive.
Basketball bridged the gap.
Passion realized
Growing up in a sports
centric household beside
his younger siblings, Nick
was encouraged by his dad
to take interest in sports
like football and baseball.
But basketball seemed to
be the most intriguing for
Nick, who first held a ball
at 4. It really became a pri
ority by Nick’s sixth-grade
year.
“I always found that bas
ketball was such an inter
esting thing for him to
excel at because things
change so fast,” Nixon-
Miles said. “There was a
lot of things (about that
sport) he had been so
uncomfortable with, he had
to deal with.”
Still, Nick took off with
it. In his first season with a
local YMCA league, he
averaged 14 points a game.
“My friends taught me a
lot,” Nick said. “I just start
ed getting better and better.
It takes practice for me to
get better, and that’s what I
do.”
Practice turned into an
obsession for the game.
When he wasn’t spending
hours shooting by himself,
Nick paid close attention as
a spectator.
“He has an eye for detail
like other people don’t,” his
mother said. “Very literal
thinker, so when his middle
school coach said, ‘You
need to be shooting 50 free
throws in a row,’ he thought
he meant make 50 in a row.
And he wouldn’t come
inside until he did it.
“It’s just that kind of
drive that he has, because
of who he is.”
From the age of 11, Nick
played in an assortment of
leagues: middle school,
travel ball for the North
Georgia Elite and junior
varsity in high school.
While Nick doesn’t consid
er himself to be the best
ball-handler on the court,
Young said otherwise —
the North Hall grad eventu
ally found himself at point
guard for Hall County
Traditional, which he
joined as a high school
freshman.
At 6-foot-3, he seems to
barrel through defenders
like a freight train inside
the paint, with handles so
swift and one with his
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movement they could rival
a person running without a
ball, his coach said.
Nixon-Miles said Nick
seems to carry a LeBron
James persona, and when
he’s on the court, he
expects to win.
“(Nick) just plays from
his heart,” said Young,
Nixon’s coach for the last
five years who has spent
nearly a decade with
SOGA. “He loves the
sport. He is a player you
want to handle the ball.
(He’s) not intimidated at
all.”
In time, Young said her
point guard learned to be
more of a facilitator, and he
plans to move up to the
Masters level for Hall
County.
The time not spent on
himself, however, is spent
with his siblings.
However early North
Hall boys basketball coach
Tyler Sanders could open
the gym during the week,
Nick and Natalie were
inside for 1-on-ls before
school.
They even rehabbed
together in Natalie’s sopho
more season at North Hall
after they both tore their
ACLs six weeks apart.
Nick pushed Natalie to
improve, and their father
said he’s the reason for
where she is today.
“He has had more of a
positive impact to some
degree on (Nate and
Natalie), rather than the
other way around,” Roger
said.
Lasting impression
Roger and Leeann found
that sports surrounded Nick
with a community of close
friends and individuals
invested in his improve
ment.
“Playing with your clos
est friends really is the
good part in your life, and
it makes an impact,” Nick
said. “You make a lot of
memories when you play
with your closest friends.
It’s just reveals what the
Lord can give you.”
In addition, Nixon-Miles
said the sport has given
Nick a platform to influ
ence and teach others to
think differently about
autism.
“It’s an awesome way for
us to encourage other par
ents to not feel hope is lost
just because your kid has
autism,” Nick’s mother
said. “God can do amazing,
wonderful things. And
Nick is a prime example of
that.”
In the coming weeks,
he’ll have the help of thou
sands more to spread the
message even further.
“(Basketball) gave him
the confidence,” Roger
said. “And the opportunity
to go to these 2018 games
this summer, it’ll be a
memory that he will take
with him for the rest of his
days.”
Another piece of hard
ware around his neck on
the flight back would be
nice, too.
WANTED
m
FUREYER homes for inseparable pairs
m
Doc Holiday and Kate
Doc Holiday is 4 year old black and white bulldog
weighing 30 lbs and Kate is a 4 year old brown
retriever at 85 lbs. These two are best friends,
and while Kate is pretty outgoing, Doc is a little
more reserved. This pair would do best as the
only dogs in the house, but they have had feline
roommates before!
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde are a pair of 2 year old
spotted beagles that weigh in at around 27
lbs each. They have been together since the
day they were born and are two sweet peas
in a pod. They should probably live in a cat
free home, but a meet and greet with other
dogs is recommended.
imfii i main Hinr iinii
Form ziadZ ation Dawson County Humane Society
706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Road, Dawsonville
adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex
Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE benefits the
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. Humane Society
AM Collision
Bradley M. Maple
^Dawsonville
Specialists
CPA, PC
() Veterinary
706-216-0992
706-216-2362
ViJEy Hospital
103 Industrial Park Road,
Dawsonville
2390 Thompson Road
Suite 100 Dawsonville
706-265-8381