After a year filled with many wins, accolades and signings, Eastside Athletic Director Champ Young believes the Eagles will continue the momentum going into 2025-26.

Young just wrapped up his third year as the school’s athletic director, and shared how this past year’s success is really a culmination of what they have been doing for years.

“We had a fantastic year last year,” Young said. “It has really been the last few years. We are starting to see the benefits of being in a building that suits [our size]. It is what our kids deserve with having those facilities and even then it is expanding. At the same time, we have seen consistency with our coaches and our personnel here. It is not common for us to go through coaching changes. It does happen, but it is not very common.”

Whether it is football, softball, track and field or volleyball, the “Eastside Standard” is what each coach has preached for their respective programs.

For Young, this is a consistency held by both the players and the coaches.

“When you put on the green ‘E’ and you put on the Eagle emblem in any sport you are held to a higher standard,” Young said. “It’s the classroom, it's the community, it’s everything. We expect higher of them. We expect them to be disciplined, we expect things like that.

“It’s not lost on me that I have coaches that have been here for almost 20 years, some for 15. Even for some that have been here for four or five [years], even one — they understand what that standard means. It is amazing to have that camaraderie with our coaching community here that I can have my brand new coach of soccer look to my boys basketball coach and understand how he does his things and why he does things and they can have that communication about why.”

As for last year, many of Eastside’s sports had success.

The year started with the school’s softball and football teams claiming the Newton Cup. Both teams went on for extended playoff runs as the Lady Eagles finished as the Class AAAA runner up while Jay Cawthon’s Eagles made it to the Elite Eight.

Sophomore Micah Mostek secured a state title on the wrestling mats while Kendall Bryant took home a state title for the track and field team.

After what seemed like a record-number of signings in 2023-24 the Eagles went on to sign another large number of seniors to the next level last season.

“These kids come in here with a desire, and their families as well, to contribute to our sports programs here,” Young said. “Our coaches do an amazing job from an athletic standpoint to the collegiate level of getting them the necessary information so they can go and compete at the next level.”

One sport in particular that had success for Eastside was one that Young is well-familiar with.

Both of Eastside’s soccer teams had strong seasons that ended with both making it to the second round of the state playoffs.

In fact, the boys team won the region for the first time since 2001 as they completed an undefeated regular season.

With two new coaches at the helm for both squads, Young was ecstatic when discussing the sport he both played and coached in.

“I am really proud of not only the teams, but the coaches too,” Young said. “We knew a little bit about the boys coming in because they had so many returning starters, but the girls had some great players as well. Having two brand new head coaches jump and do their thing. They were in my office a lot, and that was so fun. They wanted to bounce ideas off and want to learn and grow, and I welcome it. Coach Vega and Bennett did great as far as managing the situations.

“Even when Joel [Singleton] was here, it was pretty consistent that they got to the second round and it is fun to be able to see that continue with a new person.”

Two sports, girls basketball and baseball, will enter this upcoming school year with new head coaches.

Long-time girls basketball coach Gladys King stepped down after the 2024-25 season, which led to the promotion of assistant coach Rod Baker to lead the team this year.

“Rod Baker has been here every single day,” Young said. “His key group of girls that I have seen in the summer program with him have been working their tails off. They are here all the time.

“The joy of being in a program is that you already have that relationship. Now it does change when you go from assistant to head coach, but he has jumped in and he has put in the time. It is fun to see him accept that challenge in front of him.”

For baseball, the school named former assistant coach Shane Griffin, who played and graduated from Eastside.

“With Coach Griffin, he is another one where he has been in the program [before],” Young said. “He took a year off last year for his own reasons and this year I sat in the parent meeting and they were really excited. A lot of the discipline he preached, a lot of accountability and with what he is trying to do promoting young men, I think he is going to do a lot of great things.”