Paul Durham

Assistant Sports Editor

The Eagles have landed at Sallie B. Howard School.

The 11-year-old charter school that focuses on the arts began a sports program at the middle school level this past fall with boys soccer, volleyball and cross country.

Now both the girls and boys basketball teams are unbeaten and will host the inaugural Sallie B. Howard Christmas Classic Tournament beginning this afternoon.

In the spring, girls soccer, baseball and track teams are planned.

The school, which was publicly funded but operated by a non-profit organization and not under the auspices of Wilson County Schools, had an intramural program before this year.

But SBH athletic director Rachelle Pierce says: "We had a need for sports because, more and more, they were asking. So we pretty much try to meet the needs of the children and give them what they can get in public schools."

Providing an outlet for athletics fits the school's mission statement, which says on its Web site that it is an institution "where children are being prepared academically, technologically, and socially to compete successfully in the 21st century global marketplace."

Certainly sports has proven to be a backdrop to future success and Pierce says: "I think they should be given an option, at this age, of a variety of things they'd like to do."

The school has a gymnasium, where the Christmas Classic and the Eagle Pride Classic Tournament in February will be held. The soccer teams play their games at Community Christian School, a regular opponent.

"We made a pretty good partnership with them," Pierce said.

Although it was too late to get Greenfield on the boys soccer schedule last fall, it has been on the basketball schedule for SBH this winter.

Other basketball foes besides CCS and Greenfield are Gaston College Prep in Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount Prep, Rocky Mount Academy and Haliwa Saponi Tribal School in Hollister.

The baseball team is looking for a home to practice and play this spring and Pierce said Mickey Davis, the Wilson County Youth Athletic Association athletic director, has been extremely helpful in that endeavor.

Organizing a start-up athletics program doesn't seem like too big of a chore for Pierce, who seemingly has the enthusiasm and energy to launch an athletics program at a charter school.

"It's constant juggling because it's just getting off the ground because you don't have as many coaches as you want to have," said Pierce, now in her second tour of duty at Sallie B. Howard.

She coached at Sussex (Va.) Central High School for the past four years.

Pierce coaches boys and girls basketball as well as cross country and track, while Dewald Coetzer is the boys and girls soccer coach and Curtis Long is handling volleyball and baseball.

So far, there has been widespread support and participation in the programs.

"Everybody's been excited about it," Pierce said. "We've gotten great support from the staff and great support from our director (JoAnne Woodard).

"We're getting a good response from the parents and we want them to come out more than they already do."

Pierce said the school is currently undertaking a fundraising project to obtain a scoreboard for the gym. Besides the two basketball tournaments this winter, Pierce hopes to put together a middle school girls soccer showcase this spring for county schools.

What they haven't been able to get, however, is a chance to play the Wilson County public schools. The problem, Pierce said, is that the county schools already had set schedules and she had to scramble to get a lineup of opponents for the fall sports.

Pierce said some county schools were receptive to scheduling Sallie B. Howard in the future.

"I really appreciate the positive responses I have gotten," she said, expressing hope the school would be able to compete against other public schools in the county.

"Once we get through this first year, people will look at us and think: 'Hey, Sallie B. Howard, they have teams.' And hopefully will want to play us."