Not only are athletes putting in blood, sweat and tears into Etowah sports practices, but they do the same for other teams outside of Eagle Mountain. Across our campus, there is a range of travel baseball players, Cherokee Youth Basketball (CYB) players, dancers, all-star cheerleaders, travel soccer players, travel lacrosse players, horseback riders, tennis players, swimmers, and gymnasts. Most athletes grew up learning these sports outside of school, then put their experience into Etowah. 

“I love playing sports outside of school because it allows me to stay active and train for school teams,” Avery Digirolamo, freshman, said. 

Cherokee Youth Basketball, baseball, lacrosse, and soccer are some of the popular sports Etowah students participate in. Cherokee Youth Basketball is a basketball league that anyone can play in. Most boys who do not play for Etowah’s basketball team decide to play for this league instead because it is more “easy-going” and “fun.” A travel league that most Etowah baseball players play for is East Cobb Colt 45’s or Rawlings southeast. Nick Wilson, senior at East Cobb Colt 45’s, committed to Georgia Highlands. Another popular sport Etowah athletes play is travel lacrosse. Most players play for the academy Storm Elite and play during the summer against some of the most elite teams in the South. Some soccer players at Etowah play for travel teams such as Concorde Fire. Ally Zazzara, junior soccer player, played for 13 years and received a D1 scholarship to play at the University of Tennessee.   

“I love getting the opportunity to play for an elite team, while going against some of the best teams in the nation. It’s a good way to practice for the school’s lacrosse team,” Amanda Buchheit, junior, said.  

For a select few athletes, there sports are tennis, horseback riding, and elite gymnastics. All these sports have daily practices and serious competitions or matches. Anna Grace, sophomore, has been doing horseback riding for seven years at Falcon Ridge Stables. Another athlete is Molly Froman, junior gymnast, that has been competing for 12 years at Georgia- All-stars gymnastics. She has made it to the “Easterns” competition, that only the best athletes in the Eastern part of the United States compete at for level nine. Josh Raab, senior tennis player, has been enjoying this sport since he was nine and will continue his tennis career as a Tennessee Volunteer this fall. 

“I love how tennis is such a mental sport because it is just you, your opponent, and the ball,” Raab said. 

Other students participate in swim, competitive cheerleading, and dance. The two best known swim teams are Stingrays and Chattahoochee Gold. They have swim meets throughout winter and practice almost daily at the Cherokee and Woodstock Aquatic Centers. Payton Smith, junior swimmer for Chattahoochee Gold, has been swimming for nine years and qualified for junior nationals. A sport that most girls do is competitive cheer and competitive dance. Well-known cheer gyms are Stingrays and Rockstar. Madison Silverman competes on the highest level at Rockstar and has competed at a World Championship before. For dance, the most known studio is SOPAC. Madeline Fiscarelli, a senior dancer at SOPAC, has been dancing for 15 years and has won first-place overall many times and received scholarships to dance academies around the nation. 

“I love dancing because I love to see the growth. I love to look back and see how far I have come and enjoy expressing my emotions out by performing from my heart,” Fiscarelli said. 

There are many Eagles who accomplish many goals outside of Eagle Mountain and work diligently to be successful apart from Etowah’s teams.