Today’s interviewee is Kevin Grooms, the athletic director for Bibb County Schools. Grooms started this year’s first Gridiron Classic, a six-game event Friday and Saturday at Fort Valley State. Bibb County’s six schools are playing along with six out-of-district programs, including defending Class 4A champion Perry.
1. How did this event come to be? “It started when I was the athletic director at Northeast and I wanted to do it here in Macon for the local high schools and have an opening-day game for everybody in the district. I met with Dr. Renae Payne, the former AD at Fort Valley State, and she and I sat down, and I gave her my vision. The Mercer deal with the Macon TD Club [the Macon Kickoff Classic played from 2016 to 2023] was in its last year, and I wanted to keep that going. She said Fort Valley would be happy to host it. So I can’t give Fort Valley more thanks for opening their doors to us to make it happen.” [Grooms became Bibb’s athletic director in 2021, succeeding Barney Hester.]
2. What do you hope coaches, players and fans will get from it? “The first thing is that it’s a win-win partnership between Bibb County and Fort Valley State. Next, it’s about exposure for our student-athletes to play on a college field and experience the university and see their campus and stadium because a lot of people don’t know the things Fort Valley has to offer there. We’ve built in campus tours. A lot of kids may not have stepped foot on a college campus before. Then to play on a college field, I wish I could’ve done that when I was in high school. Those are stories kids will tell and remember for a lifetime.”
3. How did you get the teams that are playing in it? “I sent emails to the surrounding high schools, those that would bring a crowd. The response was good. They called me or emailed me right back and said, ‘We’re in. It will be great for our students and community.’ Once other people found out, they wanted me to do it like the Corky Kell [more games, more days], but it’s a lot just having six games. I know that after I get through this [two-year] cycle that people will ask about Thursday or Wednesday because we had a lot of south Georgia schools reach out to me as well.”
4. What goes into putting on an event like this? “I was a basketball coach, so putting on Christmas tournaments or summer games, it wasn’t quite like this, I’ll tell you that. This is a whole lot harder, especially not playing at your location. You’ve got to really sit down and plan day-to-day what it looks like at that given location, plus deal with teams outside your district. We’re talking facility, security, custodians, emergency-action plans, making sure we’ve got proper dressing rooms for athletes. MT’s are there. AT’s are there. There’s a whole lot that goes into making it a successful event.”
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