Developing a winning attitude: Tigers’ AD says program working to establish tradition of success

COVINGTON, Ga. — When Thomas Lowe was first hired as Alcovy High School’s athletic director in 2019, he told The Covington News he wanted the program to have a “winning tradition.” 

But the biggest obstacle that has stood in the way of establishing a winning tradition is the mentality of the players. 

Now, over two years later, it seems the mindset is changing. 

“When I first got here, I felt like it was OK to lose here at Alcovy,” Lowe said. “Now, the athletes don’t expect to lose. The athletes feel like this is their year to start making a difference and to start winning.” 

Lowe stressed he didn’t want spurts of success. He aims for long-term achievement for the program as a whole. 

It starts with softball, which didn’t graduate a single player. Then, football has a lot of continuity with coaches and players coming back. 

The biggest change from a season ago will be in volleyball. There’ll be almost a brand new coaching staff at the helm of this year’s program. 

Across the board, though, there was very little turnover in coaches and players, which plays into what Lowe is wanting to build at Alcovy. 

“We have taken [that winning attitude] to more of a program standard,” Lowe said. “We’re not looking at just having one good season. A lot of our major contributors are young. So, we’re looking at years to come, being successful and developing our students.” 

Lowe continued to state that he expects all of Alcovy athletics to “become state competitors.” 

Another factor of Lowe’s plan has been branding for the athletic program. Specifically, he mentioned the use of social media as a great tool in accomplishing that. 

Alcovy High School, baseball, basketball and football in particular can all be found on Twitter. A few athletic programs can be found on Instagram as well. 

For the most part, the feedback about rebranding Alcovy athletics has been positive, but there have been naysayers. That hasn’t deterred Lowe in his mission one bit. 

“The only pushback I have gotten has been ‘well, it’s been this way for years,’” Lowe said. “I always say if this is the way it has always been and you’ve gotten the same result, you got to try something different. So, why not trust the direction we’re going if it has proven to work time and time again.” 

Lowe plans to continue going this current direction with branding as long as it shows it works. He stressed that he’s a firm believer in sticking with an idea as long as it still works. 

As a matter of fact, the negative feedback was expected by Lowe, but he’s pressed on for the good of the students. 

“It’s a new day and a new leadership,” Lowe said. “We’re here for the best interests of our students and putting them in the best position to be successful. My goal is for every student to have post-secondary opportunities regardless of what they pursue.” 

With that, Lowe isn’t forsaking the student half of the student-athlete. 

He, along with all of the coaches, have bought in to help developing students into more all-around successful students. 

Their main focus concerning that is to help provide opportunities for the students to be more successful. 

Despite all the setbacks and changes, Lowe is still excited about the 2021-22 year in athletics. His expectation is for all of the teams to be competitive and for a few programs to make deep playoff runs. 

Now, Lowe has recognized that Alcovy has mainly been an underdog, but that doesn’t worry him at all. In fact, that challenge excites Lowe tremendously. 

Which, according to Lowe, is what being an Alcovy Tiger has always meant to him. 

“There are a lot of people who go to programs that are already established and just build on their legacies,” Lowe said. “ I’m one that likes to build. I’ve always liked taking a program that everyone will always look over and put that program in place. Then, before you know it, we come out and shock the world.”