Lindsay Lane's varsity plans derailed
Jul. 27—ATHENS — Lindsay Lane Christian Academy's debut into varsity football is going to be delayed for at least two years.
The school located in Athens decided earlier this month that the numbers were not there to field a team.
"We have only 12 players who have been coming to summer workouts," Lindsay Lane head coach Jeremy Williams said. "That's just an unacceptable number for a varsity football program.
"It's unfortunate and we didn't want to do this. This is really painful. We're not happy about it. Neither were the coaches at the schools on our schedule when I told them what we decided."
Lindsay Lane was scheduled to play in Class 2A, Region 8 with Falkville, Hatton, Tanner, Lexington, Red Bay, Sheffield and Tharptown. Lindsay Lane also had non-region games scheduled with Pisgah, Danville and Whitesburg Christian.
Last year, Lindsay Lane had a junior varsity team with 13 players. Five of those players were seniors. One of the seniors, Roderick Watkins, signed to play football at Kansas Wesleyan.
Lindsay Lane has competed in the Alabama High School Athletic Association since 2105. Tommy Murr was an All-State basketball player who scored 5,716 points before closing out his career in 2020. He now plays at Lipscomb.
This past spring the boys track program won the school's first state championship. The baseball program advanced all the way to the state championship series.
The AHSAA's reclassification starting for this fall along with the multiplier used for private schools has pushed Lindsay Lane up from Class 1A to 2A.
"Starting a varsity football program at a small school is not easy," Williams said. "Trying to do it in Class 2A is even more difficult.
"We talked to the AHSAA about what kind of numbers they thought we needed. They suggested 24. We thought we could make it work with 20, but we couldn't even get that many."
Because football is a two-year commitment with scheduling, Williams said the school will try to build the program up and try for a varsity debut in 2024.
— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.
