Oglethorpe County athletes are wrapping up summer workouts as the countdown to fall sports reaches the final stretch with the acclimation period.
The week serves as a buffer to help athletes adapt to the high temperatures and humidity of the Georgia summer before the official GHSA practice window opens on Monday.
Softball is already feeling the crunch. The Patriots open regular-season play at Lake Oconee Academy on Aug. 1, nearly a week before school starts on Aug. 7.
"We’ve been working three to five days a week since June just trying to get live at-bats and game speed down,” softball coach Brianna Dickens said. “Once Aug. 1 hits, there’s no warm-up period — we're right into it."
The Patriots were 13-11 last year, finishing third in the region. Star pitcher Reese Campbell graduated, resulting in a young rotation. Sophomores Haleigh Baker, Devin Weaver and Rylee Stanley return, joined by freshman Aubrey Wisham.
In addition to regular summer workouts and conditioning, the team is participating in several preseason scrimmages and joint practices.
The Patriots traveled to Thomson on Tuesday and host the Bulldogs in Lexington on Thursday. They will also travel to Cedar Shoals and Tallulah Falls for their final preseason scrimmages next week.
“There were games (last year) where we’d get down a couple runs, or it’d be a close game, and they’d find a way to compete and come out on top,” Dickens said. “But you can look as good as you want to at practice, but until you play a live game, you really don’t see some of the things that you see in a routine practice.”
Inside Independence Hall, the defending Class A state champion volleyball team is experiencing similar shifts after outside hitter Elizabeth Cook’s graduation.
The volleyball team spent the summer acclimating to faster play through a series of play days, team camps and a region jamboree at Prince Avenue Christian School.
“I think we have a good attitude, and even though we got beat in some sets last week, they had a good attitude about it,” coach Brianne Harrison said. “We have the talent, we just need to pull together as a team and use our talent as best as we can.”
The cross country team spent its summer mornings running across the county and surrounding areas, frequenting the dirt roads behind the courthouse, Sandy Creek Park and on the new course at Oglethorpe County Middle School.
The voluntary workouts drew a strong turnout, particularly for the girls, allowing veterans and newcomers to put in the early miles together to build team and individual endurance.
“We've been kind of blessed with cool mornings,” coach Brandon Adams said. “The humidity is rough now, but once school starts, we’ll monitor the wet bulb temperature and adjust as needed.”
The team’s summer highlight was hosting the Fast Feet XC Summer Series, which served as the inaugural race on the new course.
“With cross country, you need to at least be doing something five days a week,” Adams said. “If you’re not, you start to lose.”
The first day of practice means full pads for the OCHS football team.
After a decade-best 6-5 season in 2025, coach Mike Holland and the Patriots spent the summer focusing on physicality while managing the summer heat.
“We’ve got to try to be smart,” he said. “We’ve got to be physical because of the nature of the game, and you've got to get them prepared for that. At the same time, we’re not the kind of staff that just beats them to death.”
The centerpiece of the offseason comes next week with the team’s annual “Survivor Camp,” a three-day lock-in focused on team bonding and mental toughness, capped off by an early-morning climb up Currahee Mountain in Toccoa.
The week will end with fully padded practices.
“You really get to see who’s willing to put their face on the line and who’s not afraid of contact, who you can count on at crunch time,” Holland said.
The Patriots will play two scrimmages: at Hart County on Aug. 7 and against Glascock County on Aug. 14.
“As long as our kids can show back up tomorrow, then we’ll keep working,” Holland said.
The football cheerleading squad, led by coach Morgan Williams and new assistant Courtney Patton, spent the summer attending camps and workshops, including the annual FCA Cheer Camp at Emmanuel University, where Lili Holt and Larsin Faust earned All-American honors.
“It’s a lot of team bonding stuff going on,” Williams said. “We work on stunt skills and they teach material like different sideline (routines) and cheers. We go through a supreme routine and a game-day routine. There’s a few competitions that we compete in. So it’s from 7 a.m. till about 8:30 p.m. We’re going nonstop.”
The team practices three times a week during the summer, and will transition to daily practice once school begins.
“We have a lot of new girls, so we’re really trying to work with them,” Williams said. “It’s a lot between camps and learning all of the cheers and dances, and then on top of that, our choreography and stunts and all the things. So it’s a lot for them to learn.”