LAURINBURG — The Fighting Scots kicked off the 2018 season with 100 young men turning out for the teams first official pratice.

The number of players trying out for varsity and JV positions was split right down the middle — 50 vying for each, which is a smaller number than in past years, but according to head coach Richard Bailey it’s a sign of the times.

“We’re a little bit down, but that reflects the community which overall is getting smaller,” Bailey told WLNC.

The heavy rains forced the team to move practice into the gym on Monday as the newest crop of Scots got to work. This season will be different than in year’s past according to Bailey as the coaches will be doing more evaluations since most starting positions are up for grabs.

“Often times at this point we knew who was going to play what and there might have been one or two positions available,” he said. “It’s not that way this year, we have a lot of competition. Every team is different, we have a new group of kids, new challenges. The expectations are always the same but how we go about getting there might be different. I look for them to do a lot of growing and developing because we’re pretty young.”

All players practiced together on Monday, the remainder of the week the JV and varsity players will practice separately to allow coaches the opportunity to better evaluate their respective crop of players.

“It allows all of the coaches to have eyes on the JV players to allow us to do our very best to make sure we don’t get rid of anyone who might help us down the road,” he said.

Bailey, now entering his seventh season with the Scots, said the 2018 Fighting Scots line-up will be established by Thursday or Friday of this week.

As the calendar flips to August the number of days the Fighting Scots have to prepare for their season opener dwindles.

The Scots begin their journey back to the ‘ship in Charlotte on Saturday, Aug. 18 against David W. Butler.

Scotland will participate in the sixth annual Charlotte Kickoff Night presented by OrthoCarolina. The Fighting Scots will be the first game of the night taking on Butler at 5 p.m. the nightcap will feature Dutch Fork taking on Mallard Creek at 8 p.m.

Amber Hatten-Staley can be reached at 910-506-3170 or [email protected].

Amber Hatten-Staley | Laurinburg Exchange Coach Paul Adams and John Parker watch as members of the Fighting Scots football team participate in the “county fair.” Players rotate to various stations for conditioning, known as the county fair.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_IMG_5198.jpgAmber Hatten-Staley | Laurinburg Exchange Coach Paul Adams and John Parker watch as members of the Fighting Scots football team participate in the “county fair.” Players rotate to various stations for conditioning, known as the county fair.

Amber Hatten-Staley | Laurinburg Exchange Members of the Fighting Scots varsity football team work on their foot work during the second day of practice.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_IMG_5160.jpgAmber Hatten-Staley | Laurinburg Exchange Members of the Fighting Scots varsity football team work on their foot work during the second day of practice.
100 players attend first practice

By Amber Hatten-Staley

Sports editor