TAAPS opens new world for FOCA

Dec. 11—Through its induction into the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, First Odessa Christian Academy leaders are excited about being noticed and the students are ready to take on new competition and experiences.

TAAPS not only covers athletics, it includes academics and art.

Freshmen Austin Ramsey, 14, and Peighton Looney, 15, are all in. Ramsey is playing basketball and seven-on-seven flag football while Looney is on the cheer team and volleyball.

Ramsey mostly plays quarterback and wide receiver in flag football and mostly shooting guard in basketball.

In addition to athletics, Athletic Director Richard Jordan said TAAPS covers academics and arts so students will have a chance to compete in a variety of activities. Previously, they were in a local Odessa-Midland league.

The seven-on-seven man flag football and cheerleading have been added this year and soccer is on the list. Jordan said they will ultimately go to six-man football, but he doesn't know how far off that is yet.

Improvements also have been made in conditioning opportunities. Ramsey said they have a gym across the street where they can lift weights and Looney said they have a throwing exercise for volleyball that is enabling them to hit the ball harder and faster.

Looney said being in Division 1 TAAPS opens up opportunities for students.

"I think it's definitely more open to people who, if they're not in athletics, then they can do fine arts. But then considering you can go to state championships for TAAPS, it definitely allows us to show more of our skill in the athletics department," Looney said.

Ramsey agreed saying they'll be able to play more teams and possibly move up to higher divisions sooner.

TAAPS goes up to 6A. Jordan said they are a 1A school.

"We're not the smallest 1A in the state of Texas, but we're pretty small. A lot of the 1A schools go from, I think it's 11 to 65 is the top on a 1A school. Once you go above 65, you become a 2A school ... so they are small," Jordan said.

TAAPS follows National Federation of High School rules so all the rules are standardized, they get certified referees and the students get to travel. Jordan said they can play University Interscholastic League (UIL) teams, "if they let us."

The number of teams in the local league was 10 to 12. Jordan said now they can potentially play about 65 squads from private Christian schools.

"Of course you understand some of them are way on the other side of state. We're not playing them. But in the local area, we found a lot more teams like Lubbock, San Angelo. That's a whole lot better. We're going to play Buena Vista. They're going to allow us to come down Tuesday night," Jordan said in a Dec. 6 interview.

That's one example of a UIL team FOCA will get to face.

Jordan said basketball is the only team that has traveled so far. Volleyball is undergoing a rebuilding year, but they went from eight to 12 to more than 20 girls. Unofficially, they have more than 30 girls signed up, Jordan said.

Looney said the high school volleyball team had about nine girls. Jordan said middle school had 10 or 11 girls and they are running two independent squads, just like for basketball.

Looney said they cheer at all the home basketball games and some football games.

"Football, it was my first year ever trying the sport and I just wanted to because my little brother was doing it. I decided to go in. It was going kind of slow at first. I didn't think we were going do very (well) because a lot of us had never played football before. But then we kind of got our act together and we got some more coaches to come help and we ended up winning a few games," Ramsey said.

In basketball, they only have ninth and 10th graders, so it's harder for them because they are going against teams with older kids.

"But I think we've been able to hold our own pretty well," Ramsey said.

Getting to play teams from outside the local area also lets the students see how other places play.

"With volleyball, we can see schools that we've never played before and see like some of the techniques that the other teams have and be like, oh, hey, I might want to try that or her jump is really high. I want to see if I can get that high. Even just watching their form to see how they react to the ball and how they react to their teammates and how they treat their teammates. ...," Looney said. "... We're looking up to them and seeing what can we do that they do that could probably make us better."

In January, plans are to have a volleyball camp with Odessa College.

"It's pretty exciting for the girls. They went to watch the game (at OC) and then we worked a camp. ... The first camp they're going to do here in our gym, so now we're sharing that with other schools. The reaction's unreal. It's like a whole new acceptance level," Jordan said.

Since becoming a TAAPS school Nov. 8, Jordan said they have been contacted by teams as far away as Fredericksburg and El Paso and a number of places in between. They haven't played Holy Cross High School in Midland yet, but now that FOCA is a TAAPS school, they are talking to them.

Ramsey said being able to play a larger number of teams in football will be a "huge help."

"We played like three or four small schools that we usually only play basketball and so I think we can start branching off to other schools that we haven't ever played before in any sport and we can see how they train and what their facilities look like. In basketball, it could be pretty much the same thing. We could go against teams that are way more established than us, so we can see how they managed to get things done. The plays that they run because most of these teams that we're going to they've been around for a lot longer and they've been exposed to much more than we have," he added.