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HUGGINS COLUMN: Fall sports, not just football, fast approaching


As you may have heard once or twice, or two thousand times, in recent weeks it is almost high school football season.

It's true enough, and hey, who isn't ready for some football? Though unofficial preparations have been going on for sometime now, Monday, Aug. 17 is the day it gets real, in the form of the first official day of practice. Bring it on.

But it won't just be football players getting to work in earnest on the 17th. Boys and girls soccer, field hockey, girls tennis, golf, girls volleyball and boys and girls cross country athletes will also begin their preseason preparations on that day.

With that in mind, here's a little news and a few notes about the non-football sports in Lebanon County as we get set to dive into fall.

Geez, it's August already? Really?

• The Elco boys soccer team is getting a head start on its season by helping, in conjunction with the Myerstown Soccer Club, to host the German club team Hochrhein FC during its two-week visit to Central Pennsylvania.

Hochrhein was set to arrive on Tuesday and will stay with host families from the Elco soccer community during its visit.

The team will also play three games in addition to taking in the culture, including a matchup with Elco on Aug. 15 at Jackson Rec Park in Myerstown. Hochrhein will also play at Exeter on Saturday, and at Tulpehocken on Aug. 12.

• Speaking of soccer, Cedar Crest finds itself in a last-minute search for a boys' soccer coach. According to Cedar Crest athletic director Rob Snyder, now former head coach Dustin Bixler, who guided the Falcons for five seasons and to the district playoffs last season, resigned for family reasons a few weeks back, leaving Crest scrambling to get a new coach in place in time for the start of practice on the 17th.

The next coach will give the Falcons two new head soccer coaches this season. Former assistant Jon Brubaker takes over the reins of the girls program from Lauren King, who stepped down after last season and moved out of the area to get married.

•In other coaching news, Palmyra is poised to fill the rather large shoes of cross country coach Barb Mellinger, probably at Thursday's board meeting.

The popular and highly successful Mellinger stepped down last month to take a teaching position at Milton Hershey. I will pass along the identity of her successor when it is made public.

Again, Mellinger, who guided the Palmyra girls to a state title in 2012, leaves big shoes to fill but a strong program for the new boss to inherit.

• It's too early to tell, of course, but the county's most successful non-football team this coming fall figures to be one of the usual suspects: The Palmyra field hockey team.

The Cougars, who shared the PIAA Class AAA state title with Penn Manor after the controversial draw in the championship game, lost irreplaceable team leader Katie Dembrowski to graduation and Penn State, but still return a wealth of talent.

Leading scorer Erin Huffman (29 goals in 2014) is back. Versatile midfielder Kiley Gallagher is back. Ace defender Carli Herman is back. UConn recruits Jess Dembrowski (midfield) and Cheyenne Sprecher (goalie) are back.

Yikes.

There is way too much talent at the Class AAA level to assume anything, but rest assured Palmyra will be a force to be reckoned with again this season. Too well-coached and too skilled and athletic not to be.

Huggins is a sportswriter for the Lebanon Daily News and GameTimePA.com. His column appears periodically.