Rivalries can be seen in all sports and at all different levels. North Augusta High School has rivals of their own that create a lot of excitement within the community and the student body.
Coach Kyle Smith of the tennis team, softball team, and assistant to football coaches on Friday nights, states that rivalries are a good thing for a team. He says, “I think it motivates you to get up for certain games.”
Pictured here is Coach Kyle Smith.
Photo credit: Ann Marie Partl
Head coach of the football team and softball team, Coach Craig Gilstrap, states that, “I believe [rivalries are good] especially when you see the other players year-round in other sports.”
North Augusta has had their fair share of rivals over the years. Many alumni would say that Midland Valley or Aiken was who they wanted to beat most during the football season, but some more recent graduates might say South Aiken.
Coach Gilstrap states, “I would say South Aiken is our biggest rival, and it has changed over the years. When I first got here Midland Valley and Thurmond were our biggest rivals, but for a few years they moved down a classification and South Aiken got much better, and it led to our rivalry.”
Coach Gilstrap has been at North Augusta since 2004 and has seen these changes firsthand.
Coach Smith gives reason to South Aiken being our largest rival because, "we are more competitive with them than any other team in the region.” Yet Smith states, “the Aiken rivalry is the oldest- probably from the fifties or sixties- but the Midland Valley rivalry, when Midland Valley became a school in the early eighties, North Augusta and Midland Valley quickly became rivals.”
Whether it is due to proximity, or the difficulty of the game, the North Augusta Football team has always been a rival to someone.
But football isn’t the only sport known to have a fierce rival. Softball’s big game is against Midland valley. According to Coach Gilstrap, this is because, “both teams have been finishing first or second in the region.”
Coach Smith states, “With golf, there is rivalry with South Aiken because they have a strong golf team too. Baseball was actually Midland Valley and South Aiken because they are both very good teams. And basketball has a rivalry with South Aiken and Aiken.”
These rivalries have stemmed from each competitor being good, and the game being something worth winning. According to Coach Smith,” in order to have a rivalry, the other team has to win every once in a while.”
Year after year, rivalry games bring plenty of school spirit and community support. Coach Smith states, “It sets a good atmosphere at your school. The atmosphere at the school goes up during weeks of rivalries- that's always a lot of fun, but you want to be on the winning side of those rivalries too.”
Comments