COVINGTON, Ga. — Before building anything, a foundation has to be laid. Whether it’s a house or any other type of structure, the seemingly most important aspect is the foundation. 

The same holds true for Cousins Middle School’s athletic department. 

Maurissa Blackshear has been the school’s athletic director for the past two years. And, over those two seasons, Blackshear has seen a lot of development in Cousins Middle’s athletic programs. 

“We’re still moving forward with making sure that all of our athletes have those foundational skills to be successful. That’s our main goal,” Blackshear said. “Of course, we love the wins. But are we actually teaching them the skills they need to be successful beyond the field?” 

The foundation began in the 2021-22 school year and continued on to last school year, too. 

According to Blackshear, year No. 1 was beneficial to the coaches learning the ins and outs of the behind the scenes of their responsibilities. 

Placing an emphasis on educating the coaches paid off in year No. 2. 

“Last year was a foundational year — we had all of our procedures and coaches had the knowledge they needed to get through the different sports — so this year was definitely better than last year as far as ensuring the kids were getting the proper skills training and working with parents,” Blackshear said.

There have been some coaches to emerge as leaders of the core, too. 

Andrew Gawlik in his second year coaching football and wrestling. Kidada Holtzclaw is the newest coach heading up the girls basketball team while Nikisha Shields is a cheer coach.

Each individual program at Cousins Middle experienced success under the coaches leadership. 

First, the wrestling team made it second place in individuals and had a player who made it to state and ranked No. 1 for middle school in his weight class. Both the girls basketball and girls soccer squads finished runners up in the NewRock league. 

Cousins’ football team had the same record as the year prior with the boys basketball team showing improvement in their skills. The Cardinals’ boys soccer team featured new faces in their season as well. 

No matter the result, Blackshear’s biggest enjoyment comes from sitting in the stands as a fan. 

“Seeing the kids actually on the field and doing something that they truly enjoy doing is my favorite part,” Blackshear said. “Seeing them in action and seeing their talent displayed in a different way outside of academics is always fun.” 

Some of those players Blackshear enjoyed watching play may be making some noise on the high school level soon. 

Jamari Cole is the aforementioned wrestler who ranked No. 1 in state for middle school and played football. Amond Sands was named the most valuable player for the Cardinals’ football and basketball teams. 

Luke Almand showcased his wrestling talents, too, along with Kenneth Bryant’s football talent on display. 

For the Lady Cardinals basketball team, Ari Carter and Asia Sanford were ranked No. 1 on the NewRock League All-Star team. 

Cousins Middle has plans in the works to add girls flag football and volleyball to the athletic offerings soon. And, this year, the Cardinals added a dance team that is considered a club for now. 

On top of enlarging the program, Blackshear and the coaches want to continue enhancing the sports currently offered. Plus, the Cardinals have a desire to do more things outside of just the field or court. 

“We’re probably going to add one of those as a club to help prepare them for high school. As far as our current sports, we just want to make sure our coaches continue to receive training to help bring up the student-athletes,” Blackshear said. “We do continue to put academics first here. We have a bulletin board where we continue to highlight the player of the week. We keep track of that, behavior and sports. We had an end of the year banquet where we celebrated our athletes with a sneaker ball. 

“In the future, I want us to be consistent with those things. I’m always open to new ideas.” 

Now, the 2023-24 school year is on the horizon and a brand new athletic calendar will commence shortly. 

The first day of school is Aug. 1, 2023 and students will return to the classroom. A good portion of last year’s student-athletes will be on to high school from Cousins Middle School, though. 

So, as a result, Blackshear has a point of emphasis going into the new school year. 

“We had quite a few eighth graders on many of our teams. So, coaches are going to have to rebuild for next year,” Blackshear said. “So, that’s the biggest thing. I’ll probably encourage my coaches to put more rising sixth and seventh graders, that way, as you’re teaching them, you at least have them for two years. As opposed to putting so many eighth graders because, once they leave, then most of the program has to start fresh.”