ANDREWS
Signup for soccer now
Registration is open for the Cherokee County Soccer League, which will field teams for ages 4-18 for the spring season.
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Online registration is open until Sunday, Feb. 25, at Play4ccsl.org. In-person registration at the Murphy Public Library will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. In-person registration will take place at the Andrews Public Library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24.
Details: Contact Christa Blackman at 828-361-3828 or visit the group’s Facebook page.
GREER, S.C.
Native joins hall of fame
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Eddie Hughes, a native of Murphy, N.C., has been inducted into the S.C. Coaches Association Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023. He is the head coach of the boys and girls swim team at Riverside High School.
Hughes has coached at Riverside since 1997, leading the team to 19 state championships and being state runner-up 14 times. The girls team won seven straight state championships from 2001-07, while the boys team won four straight state championships from 2013-16.
In 2016, Hughes was in the inaugural class inducted into the S.C. Swimming Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame. He has also been named S.C. Athletic Coaches Association Swim Coach of the Year four times and has been recognized as South Section Swim Coach of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations three times.
Hughes serves on the board for USA Swimming, advisory committee for the National YMCA Swimming & Diving and meet committee for the National YMCA Swimming & Diving Championship. He is a 27-year member of the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association.
He graduated from Murphy High School in 1971 and the University of Tennessee in 1975.
ANDREWS
Mites win tournament
Andrews defeated Hayesville 27-26 on Feb. 3 to win the Smoky Mountain Youth Conference Tournament in the Mites division.
Murphy was in all four of the third-place games in the tournament, but only won in the Mite boys game against Ranger.
Murphy finished fourth to Robbinsville (Termite girls), Andrews (Termite Boys) and Snowbird (Mite girls). Hayesville was in all four championship games, but came up short in all four.
This year’s tournament was held at Ranger School.
RALEIGH
Mobile sports betting nears
At noon Monday, March 11, mobile sports betting will go live in North Carolina. The State Lottery
Commission made the announcement, which sets the date about a week before NCAA March Madness begins.
The announcement also said that starting at noon Friday, March 1, “licensed operators can begin registering accounts for new players and accepting account deposits.”
In June, Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 347: Sports Wagering/Horse Racing Wagering, which legalized mobile sports betting. The bill allows for wagers to be placed outside of casinos and at certain facilities, such as in-person sportsbooks at Spectrum Center and Bank of America Stadium in
Charlotte.
Like with sports betting at sportsbooks in North Carolina, players must be ages 21 or older to place a wager.
SMOKY MOUNTAIN
Playoffs get ready to start
The regular season ended with local teams playing Tuesday night. Murphy hosted Hayesville, Hiwassee Dam hosted Blue Ridge Early College and Andrews headed to Swain County.
The Big Smoky and Little Smoky Conference tournaments are set to kick off Monday, Feb. 19, and wrap up Friday, Feb. 23.
The state playoffs will begin the following week on Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Compiled by Sports Editor Cannon Crompton.