Jennings County has tabbed a former Columbus North teacher and assistant football and track coach to lead its football program.
Justun Sharp, who coached linebackers at North from 2010-13, takes over the Panther program from Rick Zimmerman, who retired after last season. Sharp is a 1999 Jennings graduate who played football for coach Jerry Bland.
“It’s kind of late in the game,” Sharp said. “Most coaches start in November or December. I’m not scrambling, but I’m trying to put together a staff right now.”
Sharp joined the Army after high school and was stationed in Europe during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also was stationed in Afghanistan.
After returning to the U.S., Sharp enrolled at Indiana University and IUPUI and served as an assistant coach at Cathedral while in school. He became co-defensive coordinator under Bill Peebles at Southport for three years, then followed Peebles to Lawrence Central for two years and Cathedral last year.
Sharp takes over a program that has had only one winning season in the past 21 years. Since going 6-4 in 2015, Jennings has gone 1-10, 2-8 and 2-8 the past three seasons.
“The first step is getting the kids to believe in themselves and recruiting the youth in the community in the county,” Sharp said. “There is untapped talent there, and I think they become more competitive with a good youth program. You’re going to get a higher number of retention as far as getting the kids to play because there hasn’t been that recruiting pipeline with their own kids.”
Sharp talked about following that model that Howard Jones has established with the Panther wrestling program. Sharp said each assistant coach will be in charge of recruiting players at one of the six elementary schools in Jennings County.
“It’s more than just Xs and Os,” Sharp said. “It’s a logistical program. There’s many barriers to success, and we just have to eliminate them one at a time.”
East offers sports physicals
Columbus East will offer sports physicals for the 2019-20 school year from 5:30 to 8 p.m. May 20 in the school’s main gym. Registration begins at 5 p.m. and closes at 7:30 p.m.
Cost is $20. Athletes should wear a t-shirt and shorts.
A parent or guardian must be present and must sign pages 1 and 4 of the IHSAA Physical Form before the student can be examined, and also must sign the Concussion and Sudden Cardiac Arest form and BCSC Extracurricular Consent Form. Physical forms are available in the East athletics office or at ihsaa.org
East sets girls golf callout
There will be a call out meeting for all girls interested in playing golf for Columbus East this fall and their parents at 6 p.m. May 20 in Room 103 of the school.
Coaches will discuss summer plans and the upcoming girls golf season.
North boys to host camps
The Columbus North boys basketball team will host three camps in June.
The Elementary Camp will be from 9 a.m. to noon June 3 to 6 for boys entering Grades 2 to 5. The Middle School Camp is from 9 a.m. to noon June 10 to 13 for Grades 6 to 8. The Shooting Camp is from 9 a.m. to noon June 17 to 20 for Grades 3 to 8.
Cost is $100 for each camp. Signup forms are available on the Columbus North athletics website — columbusnorthathletics.org/ — under “Summer Camps.”
Patberg to talk at North camp
Indiana University senior and 2015 Miss Basketball Ali Patberg will be the featured speaker at the 2019 Columbus North Girls Basketball Camp, which will be June 3 to 6 for girls entering Grades 2 to 8.
Sessions for Grades 5 to 8 will be from 1 to 3 p.m. the first three days and 1 to 4 p.m. on June 6 for Patberg’s guest appearance. Sessions for Grades 2 to 4 will be from 3:30 to 5 p.m. the first three days, then going from 2:45 to 5 p.m. on June 6 to account for Patberg’s talk.
North head coach Pat McKee, assistant coach Brett White, several guest coaches and current players from the Bull Dogs’ program will work with the campers.
Cost is $65 for Grades 5 to 8 and $60 for Grades 2 to 4 and includes a Camp t-shirt, a $5 Subway gift card and two complimentary tickets to the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star basketball doubleheader on June 8 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The primary registration period ends May 23 to ensure there is an appropriate number of t-shirts and other items to distribute. Registrations after May 23 will be accepted, but a $5 late fee will be added and a Camp t-shirt will not be guaranteed.
To request a registration form, e-mail McKee at [email protected]
East to host girls hoops camp
The 2019 Columbus Lady Olympians Summer Basketball Camp will be June 10 to 12 for girls entering Grades 3 to 8. Grades 3 to 5 will be from 1 to 2:30 p.m., and Grades 6 to 8 will be from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Columbus East head coach and Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer Danny Brown will conduct the camp, which will stress fundamentals and team play. Olympian players will demonstrate drills.
Cost is $45 per player, and each camper will receive a camp t-shirt. A registration form is available at https://columbuseastathletics.org/main/teamcamps/id/113616/seasonId/4379917
