It's hard to imagine summer on the back nine as far as sports go, but the new fall lineup is gearing up for Monday's start.
High school sports in the state officially begins Monday, although some sports have held captain's practice that allows organized practices at a school without a coach being present.
There are several new head coaches for fall sports this season, several new faces among the varsity teams, new uniforms and even a new name for one of this area's school districts.
In football, Terry Karlsgodt of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City begins his 36th year as head coach and has already won 220 games in his career.
All but one of 19 head football coaches from the area return from last year, including Dan Essler, who guided New London-Spicer to the Class AAA state title and a perfect 14-0 mark last fall.
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Stewart has joined the Buffalo Lake-Hector school district and the pairing is now known as Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (BLHS).
The first area football games are scheduled for Sept. 2 and Sept. 3.
The first area volleyball match will be held Aug. 31. New London-Spicer was the lone area team to qualify for the state tournament in 2009.
Cross country kicks off Aug. 30 in the area, girls tennis Aug. 24 and girls swimming Aug. 28.
