Newspaper Page Text
piums qq
A Supplement of the Forsyth County News • Sunday, March 28,1999 '***—
Get ready Cumming - Here come the Grands!
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
It was July 3rd and 4th of 1995 and resi
dents of Cumming and Forsyth were being
treated to something they had never seen in
their midst before. In the big parking lot of
what was then the Russell Building, across
from the courthouse, a handful of local
youngsters were zipping around a makeshift
l/20th-mile oval.
It was called quarter-midget racing and a
small, eager band of enthusiasts - who had
previously had Marietta as their only racing
location in the state - were bound and deter
mined that the sport was going to take off in
Forsyth County.
By later that fall, amazingly, the City of
Cumming had helped the fledgling group
build a track at the edge of the new fair
grounds and attendees at the first annual
event flocked over to see what was going
on.
Now blast forward just over 3-1/2 years
- the results are incredible. What became
the North Georgia Quarter Midget
Association is now preparing to host one of
the two biggest racing events anywhere.
This summer, the quarter-midget world will
descend upon Cumming for the Eastern
Grands - and for what NGQMA President
Bill Thomas says will be the biggest sport
ing event in local history.
Four to five hundred cars are expected to
race in the July 16-25 national competition.
That’s going to be in the neighborhood of
2000-3000 visitors in Forsyth for 10 days.
See /VCQMA Page 14G
Success in the schools
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
With the decade of the ‘9os about to come to an end,
one can certainly say it’s been unlike any other decade
in the history of Forsyth County prep sports.
It may seem too simple and straight forward, but the
bottom line is this: Before 1990,
teams from Forsyth schools had
won two state championships.
Since 1990, they have won eight.
If one could count all of the
region championships, there’s little
doubt that you’d have a similar
ratio.
The county has had four state
softball championships in the ‘9os
- South Forsyth in 1994, Forsyth Central in 1995 and
North Forsyth in 1997-98. North’s baseball team also
won in 1998, while South’s cheerleaders just won their
third consecutive title five weeks ago.
That perspective may seem skewed, given that we’re
just talking about three sports, but the fact is that teams
in every prep sport in Forsyth have reached heights in
the past several years that were never before scaled.
Well-qualified to speak about such matters is North
Forsyth’s Richard Gill.
The assistant principal served as the school’s athletic
| SPORTS IN FORSYTH COl
* * T * ■ I • • • • ■ • • • • fl i gfl b •
1959 - Forsyth 1994 - SF’s Lady 1995 - Sharon 1997-98 - NFHS base- 1999 - The
County HS and coach War Eagles win the Springs Park, the ball/softball coach Byron NGQMA prepares
D. B. Carroll win the county’s first state county’s biggest to Orr wins three state to host the Eastern
girls state hoops title. softball crown. date, opens in March. titles in 12+ months. Grands in July.
1989 - South Forsyth 11994 -The county 1996 - Prep football 1 1999 - South
becomes the county's gets a third high reaches an apex Forsyth’s cheer-
second high school; school when North when South and leaders take their
Forsyth Co. HS is now Forsyth HS opens Central clash for the third straight state
Forsyth Central. during the falL 7-AA title. title in Macon.
I I
a I a J ZrSMWB
w 1 j 9 Km fr
fl fl fl I Ki fl fl fl
"aE fl V \
tßs IHfIK fl W -is
flf flWßtear ]
bHMBBMWf ‘ jn-iiiw”r ? «fl flfl 1
fl S si *
• fl I ■ BBi.
flfl
Photo/Dustin Wright
Racers began getting ready last weekend for the biggest quarter-midget event ever to come to Georgia: The Grands.
. director for a couple years before taking his current
position; before that he served as head hoops coach
from the time South opened in 1989-90.
, “I think you could say, ‘unparalleled growth, unpar
: alleled athletic success’ in this county,” he says. “I don’t
think this county has ever enjoyed athletic success on a
: consistent basis like it has the last five years.”
66 ,
I think you could
say, 'unparalleled
growth,
unparalleled
athletic success'.
99
I area, and we felt like we didn’t quite rate,” says Gill,
» indicating that this was a sentiment he heard on numer
ous occasions. “That’s not the case any more. With the
success we’ve had, and the outstanding facilities we
have now, we take a back seat to no one.”
; One of the latest of those new facilities has been
i North’s new track, which was adequate for practice last
spring, but has been finalized for competition this spring
i (see photo, this page).
For more on the athletic programs of all of the
schools, see pages SG-13G.
Seemingly walking hand-in-hand
with that success has been the growth of
facilities in the county.
Between the high schools and middle
schools, there has been more progress
with the development of new football
fields, basketball gyms, baseball fields,
etc., than there ever has before.
“There was a time when Forsyth
seemed more on the edge of the metro
; ...
Photo/Stephen Underwood
North Forsyth hosted its first-ever track and field meet on March 18, with South Forsyth as
the visiting squad.
NGQMA on
the Fast Track
• July, 1995 - Local quar
ter-midget racing enthusiasts
put on a demonstration race
at the Russell’s parking lot
during 4th of July weekend.
• October, 1995 - The
North Georgia Quarter
Midget Association holds its
first regular race during the
Cumming Country Fair and
Festival.
• May, 1996 - The
NGQMA really gets on the
national map withthe Apple
Blossom Classic, a national
ly-sanctioned race that brings
in racers from all parts and
dedicates the facility.
• February, 1998 - The
Club announces that it has
landed the Grands.
• July, 1999 - The world
of quarter-midget racing will
pour into Cumming.