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Sports
Dotson and Cosey partnership
Duo enjoy teaching Perryans tennis
By Toeey Jouubt
Catesby Dotson and
Paul Cosey believe a good
backhand is necessary for
children along with a
strong forehand, volley,
and serve when playing
tennis. Dotson and Cosey
have been teaching tennis
to children in the Perry
Recreation Department for
three years.
“I enjoy working with the
kids. It gives them some
thing to be involved with
and introduces them to a
sport other than football,
baseball, and basketball,"
said Dotson, adding it
helps keep him young too.
Young is exactly what
these two men seem. Dot
son will be 76 years old “in
a couple of weeks." Cosey
will celebrate his 66th
birthday come November.
“The game keeps me
sharp. No question about
that. The physical activity,
it's brutal. But I can hon
estly say I do not feel any
different now at 76 than
when 1 was 56," said Dot
son.
“I play once a week with
Paul and then 1 play with
another friend who lives in
Warner Robins as well. And
just to keep myself in prac
tice, I fill a basket with 60
balls and practice my
serve," said Dotson. He
said he empties the basket
five times before calling it a
day.
Jody Johnson, Interim
director of the Recreation
Department, said, “They
impress me. They teach
class from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday through Friday."
Johnson said the heat and
humidity do not seem to
phase Dotson and Cosey
either.
According to Wanda
Sweat, mother of three
children who are taking the
tennis lessons, “They have
been doing this for three
years. When it got so hot,
kids would be fading out.
Not Catesby and Paul. They
would bring drinks and
cool wet rags for the kids.”
“The heat doesn’t bother
me. Cold, well, that is a dif
ferent stoiy. I was glad to
get out of Kentucky. It is
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LEARNING THE GAME Attending basketball camp
at Perry High are (back row, left to right) T. Scott, Aman
dria Ragin, Sabre' King, Jolynn Greco, Shuntina Davis,
Lady Panthers host first basketball camp at PHS
BrALLINE KENT
Hoy Jwww toom
A new tradition for young ladies
began in Perry last week as the the
first annual Lady Panthers’ Basket
ball Camp was held June 14-16.
The campers were exposed to offen
sive and defensive skills each morning
with a strong emphasis on lay-ups
and shooting.
The girls in camp, most between
the ages of 12-14, had a chance to
develop basketball skills and funda
mentals. both individually and on a
team.
This camp was designed to help the
middle school girls learn the system
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Home Journal Photo by Torey Jolley
READY TO TEACH Paul Cosey (left) for a game of tennis,
and Catesby Dotson (right) are always up
mighty cold in them hills,”
said Dotson.
Both men claim the game
means a lot to them. They
have been playing tennis for
more than 40 years.
“I been playing since I
was big enough to pick up a
racket. I grew up in Paris,
Ky., with two brothers. We
all loved the game, but we
didn’t have a court. So. we
dug up the grass. That gave
us a clay court and we used
lime to make the lines. The
net was chicken wire," said
Dotson.
Cosey admits he did not
start playing tennis until he
was out of high school but
since that time he has not
slowed down much.
“I am proud I am able to
get out and do this at my
age. Cates and I have been
playing for about 40 years,
it is such a good sport,"
said Cosey.
Cosey plays tennis often
during the week. “I’ll play
once a week after the
lessons with Cates and on
Saturdays with others,”
explained Cosey. One of the
“others” is Cosey’s wife.
“The girls were very enthusiastic. They were willing to work on
their game of basketball. I hope the camp continues to grow each
year.” Middle School Coach Leslie Belcher
used at Perry High School.
Coach Max Vickers, head Girls’
Basketball coach at Perry High and
Camp Director, stated, “This will help
the transition as the girls go from the
middle school to the high school."
On Wednesday afternoon. Shuntina
Davis won the free throw contest in a
shootout against Brittny Walker.
Reunekiea Williams won the game
Nellie. He has played for
USTA tennis league for the
last five years.
Dotson does not play ten
nis with his wife, Daisy;
however, they do play golf
together. The fact they do
not play tennis together has
not bothered their mar
riage.
“We have been married
for 57 years and still going
strong," said Dotson.
According to both men
they can make no promises
to teach tennis in the year
2000 until “at least April."
“We love working with the
kids. Teaching them basic
strokes. We hope to teach
them how to play the game
right. Perhaps then they
can play in high school and
college, “ said Cosey.
Both give great thanks to
the Kiwanis Club of Perry.
“Without the Kiwanis Club,
I don’t know what we would
do," said Dotson. “The
Kiwanis Club calls us up
year after year to ask how
much money do we need."
The club provides funds
for trophies and such for
the class’ end-of-camp
Brittany Walker, Lydia Diaz, (front row, left to right)
Eydie Ekorikoh, Jimesa Foster, Stephanie Childs, Ashley
Fairfax, Reunekiea Williams, and Kristin Schratt.
Page 6A
Wed., June 23. 1999
tournament.
Teaching kids tennis is
not the only thing these
men have done for the city
of Perry’s tennis courts.
They lobbied for city funds
to improve the courts for
people to enjoy.
“A few years ago, these
courts were in sad shape.
We went to the city council
and asked for the funds to
redo them." said Dotson. "I
was almost on my knees
begging for the funds.
Finally, they gave us the
money. When the crew
came to redo the courts, I
was here ready to help."
Dotson and Cosey believe
Rozar Park is nice in many
ways. Yet. they haven’t
failed to notice the growth
of the baseball fields and
the soccer area
“They need more space
here. The talk about it. I
can see turning the tennis
courts into more ball fields
as a possibility. I only hope
they make new courts
somewhere else. And they
better hurry so I can use
them,” said Dotson.
Home Journal Photo by Tortey Jolley
of “Gotcha". Ashley Fairfax won the
three-point contest.
“The girls were very enthusiastic,"
said Coach Leslie Belcher, a coach at
Perry Middle School who assisted
Vickers.
“They were willing to work on their
game of basketball. I hope the camp
continues to grow each year," Belcher
added.
Houston Horn Joma!
Thomas shines during
Georgia-Florida All-Star game
By ALUNB KENT W '
Dontarrious Thomas will long be
remember by his teammates and Georgia fens as the
player who saved the day. But that was not the utmost
on the Georgia coaches minds as the Georgia Florida
High School All Star game ended.
“All three coaches from the Georgia team said the
same thing to me Just minutes after the game ended,"
said Perry High Coach George Collins. “They didn’t
talk about the interception that saved the game, but
how much character and class Dontarrious has. Over
and over, they told me, ■what a fine young man he is."
Fine young man that he is, Dontarrious Thomas,
wearing a Perry High School helmet, saved the game
for the Georgia team, preserving both the win and his
place in the game's history.
With 28 seconds left in the game, the Georgia team
had possession of the ball and was up 13-6. Georgia
seemed to have the win in the bag. But a fumble by the
Georgia quarterback. Fabian Walker of Americus, gave
Florida the ball on the 46-yard-line.
The first three attempts to score by Florida failed
and on 4th down, the clock read one second. Florida
took their last shot at a touchdown and that’s when
Thomas, literally, stepped in.
“Coach took a timeout after the third down, and told
us (Thomas and Northside’s Ricky Reed) to watch the
quarterback's eyes,“ Thomas explained after the game.
“That's what I did. I watched his eyes.“
Thomas’s interception ended the game aad evened
up the series 6-6-3.
It was a fine moment for Thomas, who lettered in
three sports at Perry High School and was a honor
graduate just three weeks ago. Finer still, because of
the grief Florida had given the Georgia team all week.
“All week during practice, they talked trash to us
about how they were going to beat us," Thomas said.
“The Florida guys were huge, a lot bigger than us.
They looked like they had been to college and gradu
ated already. I was glad to show them that size isn’t
everything."
About three dozen people from Perry traveled to the
Georgia Dome to watch the local graduate play in what
is considered a high school bowl game.
Collins said that right before the last play of the
game, he turned to the other Perry coaches in the
stands and predicted Thomas's interception.
“I said that Dontarrious would intercept the ball
and run it back for a touchdown. I was half right,"
Collins said.
Thomas spent the week prior to Saturday’s game in
Atlanta, combining practice and team trips to attrac
tions around the city. One of his experiences that
stood out was the team’s trip to the Scottish Rite Chil
dren’s Medical Center to visit hospitalized children.
“I was glad I got the chance to spend some time
there, “ he said, “and to see the true meaning of the
game." “It made me very thankful for what God has
done for me.”
Thomas, who will attend Auburn University on a
football scholarship, reports to practice on Aug. 10.
And Another View
Thomas saves game for Georgia
By PHIL CLARK
Home Jourhal Sports
It wasn’t a baseball game, but Peny’s Dontarrious
Thomas had the biggest save’ of the weekend, playing in
the annual Georgia-Florida high school football all star
game at the Georgia Dome.
With Georgia trying desperately to hold on to a 13-7
lead and even the 15-year series, Florida was firing bul
lets toward the end zone after recovering a Georgia fum
ble with 28 seconds left in the game.
It shouldn’t have come
down to it. but it was fitting
that Thomas make the big
play, an interception at the
goal line on the final play of
the game to preserve the
win for a Georgia team that
had dominated from the
start.
Thomas had led Georgia
High School Association
Region 4AA in pass inter
ceptions during his senior
year, and it was fitting that
the Auburn signee end his
Final game with an inter
ception.
Thomas and Northside’s
Ricky Reed were both in the
secondary for the final play,
although both were late
additions to the Georgia
team, and neither started
the game.
An excited Thomas told reporters “That's the best thing
that’s ever happened to me. Saving the game. You can’t
beat that."
Thomas also said, “I’m too excited to think about it."
He told reporters gathered with the victorious Georgia
team “I wasn’t even supposed to be here," referring to his
being left off the original Georgia squad.
Thomas, at 6’3" and 195, is slated to play in the defen
sive secondary at Auburn, but his size and speed opens
up a lot of avenues for the talented and modest young
whose classroom and extracurricular credentials
rival his athletic prowess.
Thomas was added to the roster just days before prac
tice began in Atlanta.
He was the sixth highest graduate among the more
than 200 Perry High School seniors receiving diplomas
June»4.
Thomas played football, basketball and helped the Pan
ther track team capture fourth in the state for the second
straight year during the all-classification GHSA track
meet a few weeks ago.
He received numerous awards and honors from Pan
ther teams during his four years at Perry High.
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DONTARRIOUS THOMAS
Helps Georgia Win