Tis the season of hustle and bustle. We finally have winter temperatures. We have had our first snow of the winter come and go, which is the way I like it.
It is also the season of special occasions. In the four years I have been covering Newton High School athletics, I’ve admired how the administration, coaches and athletes work together on community projects.
One of those is the NHS annual Christmas In The Gym, which is Dec. 16 when Newton hosts Grinnell in Little Hawkeye Conference basketball games. Fans are asked to bring a toy to donate. Santa Claus is expected to make a visit. There will be a performance by the NHS Pacesetters and the NHS pep band will be playing during the varsity games.
On Dec. 17, the NHS boys’ basketball team is having a fundraiser — Newton’s Madden Challenge — at the NHS Center for Performance. NHS students are encouraged to sign up and pay the $20 entry fee to compete in a Madden video game tournament.
The competition is from noon to 8 p.m. There will be prizes for first, second and third places. It is open to the first 64 participants to sign up. Students can sign up in the high school main office.
The Madden Challenge is open for the public to be an audience. A concession stand will be open and the team will ask for donations.
Every athletic team has community projects. The NCMP Aquagirls raised funds for the Blue Lips Foundation in the fall. The Blue Lips Foundation is dedicated to early detection and treatment of pulmonary hypertension.
One of the big school and community wide projects comes up in 2017 — Coaches vs. Cancer. This year’s Coaches vs. Cancer basketball games are Jan. 20 when the Cardinal teams host Indianola in Little Hawkeye Conference play. Special activities are planned throughout the week and during the games to raise funds to fight cancer.
Back to the competition right now.
It’s tough to think about swimming in the winter, but we’ve got it for the high school boys. Newton/Colfax-Mingo/Pella — the NCMP boys’ swim team — has had five meets this season. They wrapped up a four meet home stand Thursday against Boone at the Newton YMCA.
The boys’ swim team has members from Newton, Colfax-Mingo and Pella high schools competing and decided to go by NCMP this season. The team did not have a mascot nickname similar to the NCMP Aquagirls until this week. Head coach Sarah Patterson said it was tough cheering out NCMP all the time so she asked the boys if they minded going by Cardinals.
So the rest of the swim season, it will be the NCMP Cardinals. They have one more home dual meet on Jan. 19 against Grinnell. NCMP will host the North Central Iowa Conference swim meet on Jan. 28 at the Newton YMCA with Boone, Decorah, Grinnell, Indianola, Oskaloosa, Vinton-Shellsburg and Williamsburg.
NCMP learned its district meet assignment Wednesday. The boys’ district swim meets are Feb. 4. The Cardinals are in the district hosted by Johnston. Also in the district are Ames, Atlantic, Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln/Thomas Jefferson, Des Moines Roosevelt, Lewis Central and Marshalltown.
Next week, Newton has two home bowling meets Monday and Saturday, two home wrestling meets Tuesday and Thursday and a home Little Hawkeye Conference girl/boy basketball doubleheader against Grinnell on Friday. Tis the season.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets
at jsheets@newtondailynews.com