On March 14th, Gilmer will host Harmony on the softball field.
Gilmer will be coached by Keirsten Seahorn, while her mother, Sheri Seahorn, will coach Harmony.
Just three months later, on June 2nd, the Seahorns will be on the coaching staff for the ninth annual Northeast Texas FCA All-Star Softball Game.
“It’s pretty cool to do something with your daughter who’s also a trainer,” Sheri Seahorn said. “I think everyone dreams of being able to train with their kid. I think being able to train with my kid in this atmosphere is the icing on the cake. This is just one of the most wonderful experiences that I will cherish as a coach and also as a parent.”
“It means the world to actually train alongside her,” said Keirsten Seahorn.
Sheri Seahorn is the Red Team’s head coach in the FCA softball game. She will be joined by Keirsten Seahorn, Harmony assistant Whitney Phillips and West Rusk head coach Bill Morton.
Before they team up in the summer, the Seahorns will be in opposite dugouts in a regular season meetup.
“We’ll train against each other later this year,” Keirsten said. “We’re going to call it the Seahorn Showdown, so we’ll see how it goes, but it’s an honor and a blessing that she asked me to be here in the first place.”
Will there be a friendly rivalry between the two and maybe some trash talk along the way?
“Absolutely,” Keirsten said. “If I lose the game, the Seahorns will never let me live it out, so I have to win or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
The Seahorns were two of several coaches unveiled as coaches of the FCA All-Star Games Tuesday morning at First Christian Church in Tyler.
“This is the best day of January,” said Robert Bardin, FCA Northeast Texas area director. “To get all these coaches in this room and see the number of schools represented and know that it’s going to be a remarkable experience for them, it doesn’t get any better.”
The Softball Blue Team is coached by head coach Jennifer Hawkins (Hawkins), Terri Boyd (Hawkins), Dariann Resendez (Henderson), and Trevor Murphy (Longview). The softball game director is Paul Roberts, and advisors are Mark Chitty (Grand Saline), Justin Kniffen (Tyler Legacy), Colby Sales (Mabank) and Meredith Grant (Lindale).
The coaches also assembled their teams on Tuesday, which Sheri Seahorn says is made easier by the abundance of talent in the area.
“Tell you what, there are 37 schools and you can’t go wrong,” Sheri Seahorn said. “It’s easy prey this year.”
Kinney LaPrade (Grand Saline) is the head coach of the Baseball Red Team. He is joined by Allen Ladd (Grand Saline), Jerry Courtney (Brook Hill) and Bryan Schneider (Chapel Hill). Chad Halcumb (Union Grove) is the head coach of the Baseball Blue Team. He is joined by John Roberts (Union Grove), Clay Halton (Van) and Charles Foshee (White Oak). The baseball game director is Jeff Lee and the advisor is Rich Sanguinetti (Lindale).
“This is my second year in a row that I’ve been able to do this, first as a head coach,” Halcumb said. “The best thing is 100 percent the relationships. It’s a great opportunity and environment to build those relationships.”
Coaches of the girls soccer teams are Kendra Lockett (Nacogdoches) and Chris Hemphill (Grace Community) for the blue team and Megan Coppedge (Mesquite Horn), Tiffany Cooksey (Bullard) and Cody Bray (Lindale) for the red team.
The boys’ soccer teams are coached by Anthony Randle (Marshall) and Austin Walker (Forney) for the blue team and Tony Bowles (Rockwall), Jay Campos (Sunnyvale) and Josue Sabillon (Grace Community) for the red team. Caitlin Petrich and Joey Petrich are the referees for both football games and Angel Rocha (Pine Tree) is the consultant for both games.
“It’s a great honor,” Randle said. “It is truly an honor to be here with the Christian athlete community as I am the sponsor of the FCA in Marshall. I look forward to having the opportunity to coach different children and possibly leading them to Christ and to be part of a great organization.”
The Football Blue Team’s head coach is New Diana Head Coach Jason Pitts. Scotty Laymance (Overton) will be the offensive coordinator and Tyler Zapata (New Diana) will be the defensive coordinator. Other Blue collaborators include Cody Gilbert (Sabine), Lance Connot (Brownsboro), Jason Holman (Jacksonville), Garrett Smith (Canton), and Mike Davis (Spring Hill).
“Honestly, when Robert sent me the message asking if I would do that, it was one of the greatest honors I’ve had,” Pitts said. “As a coach you have to be committed to the kids and what better way to reach the kids than that. In a Texas public school, we can’t really take care of kids. This gives you the opportunity to connect with children from all over the region. It’s a great experience.”
Pitts may have the chance to coach not only some of his current New Diana players, but potentially players he coached while he was an assistant coach at Tyler Legacy.
The Football Red Team’s head coach is Sam Wells (troop). Jordan Blackmon (Troup) will be the offensive coordinator and Jay Brashear (Troup) will be the defensive coordinator. Other Red staffers include Jack Alvarez (Marshall), Thomas Sitton (Rusk), Nick Harrison (West Rusk), Daryl Hayes (Bishop Gorman) and Travon Brown (Tyler High).
“It’s a great honor for many reasons,” Wells said. “For one thing, I get to coach a lot of kids who are playing their final high school football game. You get another extra game with other good players. It is great and a great event to help young men continue on their path to Christ. It’s a great honor for us, for me and for the rest of the guys who are training in this game. This is my third and I am very blessed to coach the other two times and when Robert called me about this one it was obviously a no-brainer.”
Bardin is the referee of the football game and the coordinators are Scott Callaway (Bullard) and Luke Blackwell (Mineola).
The cheerleading coaches are Cheryl Trimble (Harmony) and Summer McCartney (Big Sandy).
The softball and baseball games are scheduled for June 2, a location to be announced. The football game will take place on June 3rd at Lobo Stadium in Longview. The football games will be played on June 10th at Tyler Legacy High School.