By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

LAGRANGE – It was a change of pace.

During June, the seniors on the Callaway High football team have been busy participating in various activities, from daily workouts at the school, to camps across the state.

On Thursday, the players traded in their pads and cleats for golf clubs.

The Callaway seniors participated in a clinic at The Fields Golf Club that was led by Charlie Vincent.

The players, most of whom were swinging a golf club for the first time, spent time on the practice tee, the putting green, and in the clubhouse learning about the rules of the sport.

Former Callaway football coach Claude Giddens, who now works at The Fields, worked with Wiggins to set things up, and Vincent volunteered to be the teacher.

Also helping out was Blakely Arp, a standout golfer at LaGrange High.

“We’re coming out here and finishing the month of June with something a little different,” Wiggins said. “We wanted to give the seniors an opportunity to experience golf. And it’s a sport they may play down the road. Football’s not always going to be there. We wanted to expose them to the game, and we really appreciate Mr. Vincent, and coach Giddens for helping us out and making this day happen.”

After the golf clinic, Wiggins treated the seniors to a dinner of chicken wings and fries at Jim Bob’s.

“I think things you can do with a football team, building chemistry and continuity, is just as important as practice,” Wiggins said. “And we’ve had a good time today. And we’ll go eat wings together at Jim Bob’s. It’ll be a big day for the kids. I think it’s great for our football team.”

Like all teams in the state, the Cavaliers won’t be doing anything next week.

The week of July 4th is set aside each year as the so-called “dead week” by the Georgia School Association, so teams aren’t permitted to have organized activities.

After the week off, the Cavaliers will get back to work as they prepare for a season that begins on Aug. 18 against LaGrange.

On Aug. 11, Callaway and Northside-Columbus will get together for a preseason game in Hogansville.

Wiggins said June was a fruitful month for his team.

“We’ve had a productive summer,” Wiggins said. “The kids have worked hard. Our participation in the weight room has been where we want it. We had a 7-on-7 at Georgia that I think helped us get better. We had the Hodges quarterback and receiver camp, and the offensive-line camp was good to us. And we’ve had a lot of kids go to individual camps and got really good work in. The month of June was really good. We had right at 30 workouts, counting the camps.”

With the help of a talented senior class, the Cavaliers will be looking to build on the best season in school history.

Callaway went 13-1 last year, and it reached the Class AA final four before losing to eventual state champion Benedictine.