Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1143175
JULY 17-23, 2019 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Isaiah Fultz currently relies on a rented chair for racing. Jarrod Britt, pictured, replaces long- time Colt head coach Wendell Smith. South View track athlete Isaiah Fultz made history and won a state championship earlier this year in a rented wheelchair with a flat tire. Now the school is trying to get him a chair he can call his own. Fultz, who was left paralyzed after a childhood car accident, became the first Cumberland County athlete to compete and win an event in the wheelchair division of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4-A track meet this spring. He won in the 100-meter wheelchair division with a time of 21.91 seconds. So far, Fultz has been competing in a rented wheelchair that costs $150 a month. In addition to the cost of renting the chair, he had to spend addi- tional money for repairs during the recent track season. The week of this year's state championship meet proved to be a nightmare for Fultz, South View athletic director Chad Barbour and South View track coach Jesse Autry. The Monday of the state track meet, Fultz had a tire to blow out on his wheelchair. Barbour took it to a local vendor, who promised to have it repaired in time for the meet. The day of the meet, the vendor had not received the new tire for the chair, and it wasn't ready. Barbour and Autry picked it up and did the best they could to patch the tire so Fultz could race. "He actually could have raced a lot faster,'' Barbour said after Fultz won in his broken chair. So this summer, Barbour began pricing racing wheelchairs and found one that sold for $3,055. Barbour started a fundraiser for the chair, but so far has only raised $150. Barbour said the investment in the chair on Fultz's behalf would be worth it to potential donors. "He's the type of kid, if you get him what he needs, he's going to be out there putting in the work,'' Barbour said. "He's as determined a young athlete as I've ever seen. He's just a great kid who inspires me to do my job better.'' Donations of any amount are welcome and can be dropped off at South View High School dur- ing normal summer business hours or mailed to Barbour at the school mailing address: 4184 Elk Rd., Hope Mills, NC 28348. Barbour said checks should be made out to South View High School/Chad Barbour. The apprenticeship is over for Jarrod Britt at Pine Forest High School. Now he's ready for the spotlight at Cape Fear. After 10 years helping Tom Willoughby with the Trojan baseball team and another four guiding girls tennis to success, Britt has been named the head baseball coach at Cape Fear. He replaces longtime Colt head coach Wendell Smith. Britt said that when he began his coaching career a decade ago, his ultimate goal was to become a head baseball coach. When the Cape Fear job came open, he conferred with Willoughby and then applied for the position. Cape Fear's tradition in baseball, which includes a state 3-A championship in 1994, had a lot to do with his decision. "There's a lot of excellence (there) when it comes to baseball,'' Britt said. "I have a lot of friends that teach there, too, so I knew it was a really good place to work.'' Cape Fear is in a transition phase with its administration. Former South View and Scotland High School Principal Brian Edkins will be coming aboard to replace current Cape Fear Principal Lee Spruill. "It was a plus when I found out Brian Edkins is going to be the principal,'' Britt said. "He's just a good guy, (a) really down to earth, honest person that I think I'm real- ly going to enjoy working for.'' The only bad thing about the timing of Britt's hire is it won't allow him to get in any summer work with his new team. The week of July 15-20 is the final dead peri- od for high school coaches in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association to work with athletes this summer. By the time they return from that, the official start of football practice on Aug. 1 is looming. "You don't want to run into football season," Britt said. "You've got guys that want to play foot- ball, and they want them to be able to throw their full attention to that. "Once the school year gets started and the first dead period is over, you get started with workouts. I want to make sure I have a chance to meet all the guys and kind of figure out what the program is going to look like.'' Britt said he has high expectations for his first season at Cape Fear. "I've heard really good things from the people that were in the program and from the Mac Williams (Middle School) coach that had a pretty good class last year,'' Britt said. "I'm excited about some of the guys coming up.'' Britt said his first job will be to make his players understand they need to dedicate themselves to the game, while reminding them that it is a game and they shouldn't let baseball alone define them. "You play the game because you enjoy playing the game,'' he said. "When you don't enjoy play- ing the game anymore, you get off the field. If you don't have fun, you're not going to be successful.'' Britt said he hopes to build relationships with his players and let them see how hard he works so they'll be motivated to give him everything they have as well. "Players want to play for guys that they enjoy being around and that they respect,'' he said. "It's building a foundation with them so right off the bat they know what I'm all about.'' South View seeks wheelchair for champion Fultz by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Britt named head baseball coach at Cape Fear by EARL VAUGHAN JR. & 6-8pm MONDAY Congratulations to the 126 scholar-athletes earning college scholarships in 2019! BRINGING YOU THE BEST IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS