I was sorry to hear of the death of Claude Porter. Claude followed Gilmer McLaurin as superintendent of schools in Natchez-Adams County and guided the system during some turbulent times.

Having been an athlete and coach, Claude realized the importance of solid athletic programs to the discipline and morale of the general student body of a school system. The successful football teams coached by Ed Reed at South Natchez, the late Tom Williams at North Natchez, state championship basketball teams at both schools &045; especially the girls’ teams coached by Mary Irving at North Natchez &045; and Buddy Wade’s great baseball teams at South Natchez were all a source of pride not only for the schools, but for the entire community.

I freely admit to being of the age when memory is sometimes elusive, so the following may not be entirely true. I know the incident happened, but the date, and maybe the coach, may have eluded me.

It seems I remember a school bus carrying the Natchez High basketball was on the way to a game somewhere up U.S. 61 North. A driver, whose car was headed south, veered into the bus’ lane, resulting in a head-on collision, which was fatal to the car’s driver.

The Natchez High coach, who I think was Claude, suffered a broken arm in the wreck. The entire incident must have been traumatic to the entire team.

This is a slow time for high school sports. SEC baseball teams have a week remaining in the regular season, then eight of those teams will participate in the tournament, with a few of those teams moving on to the NCAA regionals hoping to advance to the College World Series in Omaha.

Ten Mississippi high school baseball teams remain in contention for state titles, including Greenville St. Joseph in Class 1A. As St. Joseph eliminated Cathedral from contention in the semifinals, I am sure CHS fans are pulling for St. Joseph.

It is always better if the team that beat you goes on to win the whole shebang.

Noteworthy in Sunday’s paper was a section devoted to the many athletic camps available for young athletes. Featured this week were five baseball camps, 17 for basketball, two for football, three for soccer, three in softball, four for volleyball and at least one each for tennis, cheerleading, recreation and a pair for conditioning.

Some were day camps, and a few involved lodging. There are likely many more than those listed.

With school almost out, many boys and girls are now involved in select or travel baseball and softball. Tournaments seem to be held every weekend, so the travel and expense is significant.

Often selection of players for a team is made on criteria other than pure ability. Often the organizers of a team will select players with parental cooperation in mind, and the attitude of a kid is also usually considered. With limited practice and season time, a coach of a group like that doesn’t have time to devote to player relationships and attitudes.

I have more on the &uot;select&uot; team situation, but it will wait.

And that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. Reach him at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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