Developing great people and great athletes is the name of the game for Eastside and its athletic director Champ Young in 2024-25.

The Eagles are coming off a school year in which many of their teams — such as football, basketball, baseball, soccer, wrestling, track and cross country — made the state playoffs.

To be specific, Eastside’s softball team along with a handful of track athletes finished their seasons as region champions.

As a whole, the Eastside athletic program was honored for how its teams carried themselves throughout the season — the award was one of Young’s personal favorites.

“We won the sportsmanship award for our region this year and, for me, it just goes back to the people we have in the building and how they work with the kids,” Young said. “I am surrounded by great, great people. We have great people in those types of avenues and kids that just work their tails off for their coaches.”

With a new region and a different set of challenges on the docket, Young’s goal is still what it has always been.

“Working with the community and the kids we have — and the parents that we have,” Young said. “That is always one [thing] you want to build on.”

After spending years in Region 8-AAAAA, Eastside will reside in Region 8-AAAA with the start of the new school year.

According to Young, the teams are embracing the obstacles that will come their way.

“We welcome the challenge,” Young said. “I remembered when we were in the [same] region for four years, that gets dull and old after a while. You do build a rivalry, but we are pretty familiar with these groups, we played quite a few of them over the years in different capacities. I know soccer, basketball and football, specifically, have already started corresponding with the other schools. It is something that we welcome anytime. Our kids and coaches are excited for the challenge.”

Along with what they do on the athletic side, Young emphasized the program’s importance of academics.

Ensuring that each athlete is not blindsided by the next level is a top priority across the board.

“[For the] academics, it is all hands on deck — our whole school works on that one. It is awesome the way they do it all,” Young said. “For being prepared for college, high school and college — in terms of preparedness — is so close now with the way some of the programs run themselves from a high school standpoint. That way, when they get to college there isn’t as much of a learning curve as there used to be.”

One change that occurred inside the athletic program over the offseason was the promotion of two coaches.

Former JV soccer coaches, Yulisa Vega and Jabari Bennett, were promoted to become the next head coaches of Eastside’s varsity soccer teams.

Vega will coach the varsity girls team while Bennett will coach the varsity boys squad.

As a former Eastside soccer coach himself, Young feels like the teams are in a good spot going into this transition.

“I think they are both very eager, that is the amazing thing,” Young said. “They want to put the time in, they want to put the effort in and they want to be involved with the program and the kids they have. The kids already have a familiarity with them too. It is something that I joked about when I talked to them, ‘When Joel and I were in that position years ago, you don’t find many that have game knowledge and can teach in the classroom everyday.’ 

“So, getting somebody internally that has game knowledge and can go out and run a program like Jabari was with me for five years and played for me for three — that is huge. Vega is fun, she has been in the office asking questions. I am thrilled for them, they are going to do great.”

Young wanted to ensure that future high schoolers understand the challenges and expectations inside the walls of Eastside.

More importantly, Young discussed how the student-athletes already on campus are the perfect representation of that.

“There is a certain level of expectation for our student athletes here. They are the example,” Young said. “There is a reason the student part comes before the athlete. They are expected to be pillars in the classroom as well as role models on the playing field and out in the community.”

As a whole, Young hopes each student leaves Eastside better than when they entered it — regardless of if they are an athlete or not.

“My hope is that if you play here for four years, not only do you grow as an athlete, but also as a person,” Young said. “You grow in your maturity, you grow in your ability to work with people, you grow in your networking, you grow your skill sets from a sporting standpoint and you also grow as a leader. There is so much that we want to have for them while they are here because we want to put so much into them but also make sure that once they have all that, they go out there with those tools and be productive at the next level — regardless if it is sports or not.”