It's football time in Tennessee, and for one Scott County school that means more than ever this year.
Five
middles schools packed Scott County High School's football stadium
Saturday afternoon for the area's middle school football jamboree. Among them, one team was new: the Winfield Bobcats.
Winfield
Elementary previously never had
a football team. The Scott County School Board gave the school $15,000
to buy cleats, uniforms and other equipment in November so the Bobcats
could field a squad.
Winfield Principal Sharon Stanley said the 19-player team is excited to play a full season.
"Our boys are just over the hill with excitement," she said.
According
to Stanley, 92 percent of Winfield's students are on a free or reduced
lunch. She said having a football team allows her students to participate in a team sport that might not be ordinarily available to them.
"They have wanted a football team," she said. "And, it's made a tremendous difference in their behavior, [and] their academics."
The Bobcats had a successful showing during their first Jamboree. The team won its first game and tied its second.