Hemingway volleyball building for the future

Neill Kirkpatrick • October 6, 2024

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By Neill Kirkpatrick

Special to the HSSR

Hemingway – Head Coach Chakaris Thomas is looking more to the future for the Hemingway volleyball program as the 2024 season has been a trying year for the Lady Tigers program as they have had to play their home games at the middle school because of renovations being done on the high school gym and they are only playing region games.

“Coming into this year my expectation for this year are higher for my JV than my varsity,” said coach Thomas. “ I have five first year senior players that came out to help the team so we lack experience in every area of volleyball. We are teaching the game, the positions, how to move on the court and how to communicate with each other.”

Coach continued, “ It is hard because the other schools are more advanced than we are at this time. We are in a rebuilding mode for the next couple of years. Hopefully by the time the JV team moves up they will have played together for a couple of years and be able to compete at a higher level.”

The Lady Tigers have only four returning players from last season and one up from the JV so when practice started they did not even have a player for every spot on the court.

The returning Lady Tigers are Elisha Singletary, Shakiya Cooper, Zanyia Woods and Staresha Turner and up from the JV is Mariana Hanna.

Singletary, a junior, is a returning All-Region player. She is very athletic and plays all over the court for the Lady Tigers. She is quick and can get to every ball. She is the team leader and is arguably the best athlete at Hemingway.

Woods is the lone returning senior player and has the most experience of all the Lady Tigers. She is in her third year on the varsity squad.

Tuner and Cooper, both juniors, are in their second year on the varsity team.

Senior Jasmin Verner has been a good addition to the team. She has played awesome along the back line and coach Thomas said she should have been playing since her freshman year. She is very talented.

Kenyorah Priest, Shaesha Turner and Shiasia Palmer are all first-year players and have played hard all year.

Coach Thomas is changing the culture of Hemingway Volleyball one day at a time. This past summer she brought in a coach from Coastal Carolina to work with her. While they learned a lot about volleyball, how to practice and how to work on their skills.

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By David Shelton Senior Writer Charleston – First Baptist School has new leadership within its football program and athletic department for the coming 2025-26 school year. Kevin Mapp was hired as the new head football coach in the early spring and Jay Godbolt was hired as the new athletic director at the start of the summer. Mapp has extensive coaching experience on both the college and high school levels while also working in law enforcement. First Baptist is his first head coaching position. Mapp last coached defensive linemen at James Island Charter High and has had coaching stints at James Madison, Hampden-Sydney, Georgetown, Marshall, Missouri State and Coastal Carolina. Mapp graduated from James Madison and was a defensive lineman on the 2004 Division I-AAA (now FCS) national championship team. “Coaching has always been my passion,” Mapp said. “Ever since I was playing, I wanted to be a coach. I have always found a way to coach while working in law enforcement. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunities to do both.” Mapp has been with the Charleston County police department for the last 10 years. He took some time away from coaching to start a family. “I felt like First Baptist was the perfect fit for me and my family,” Mapp says. “It’s a great opportunity at a great place. The kids here work hard and there is a lot of support from the administration. I’m excited to be the head football coach at First Baptist.” Mapp has hired coordinators on both sides of the ball. Will McCombs , once the head coach of the program, will call the offensive plays. Chris Hart comes over from James Island as the defensive coordinator. “Our numbers are improving and the kids are working hard,” Mapp said. “I feel like we can be a competitive team. It’s year one of the building process.” Godbolt has been a coach and athletic director in the Charleston area for nearly two decades. As the boys basketball coach at Charleston Collegiate, Godbolt coached three state championship teams. He also has been a coach and athletic director at Lowcountry Leadership Academy. Godbolt has more than 450 career victories as a head basketball coach. Current First Baptist basketball coach Antoine Saunders was Godbolt’s assistant at Charleston Collegiate.