There are youth sports in which Charlotte County performs well, and when it does, it tends to pass beyond the realm of middling success to the territory of excellence.

Randolph-Henry High School’s (R-H) varsity golf team is regularly in the state title conversation, and the Statesmen varsity baseball team is a perennial district title contender and recognized regional power. Excellence in those sports is reflected in their corresponding programs at Central Middle School, where Golf Head Coach Mike Adams and Baseball Head Coach Brian Tuck provide valuable guidance in the early years of development before handing the baton to R-H Varsity Golf Head Coach Kelly Powell and R-H Varsity Baseball Head Coach Josh Barmoy.

The Statesmen varsity baseball team entered this week with an 8-3 record for the 2019 season.

In this space this week, we would like to particularly highlight another sport in which Charlotte County excels — varsity girls tennis. The Randolph-Henry Lady Statesmen regularly attain a special level of dominance at the conference and district levels, rarely if ever allowing an individual or doubles match victory en route to their routine 9-0 team wins during the course of the regular season.

The Lady Statesmen entered this week with an 11-0 record for the 2019 campaign.

Helping guide the team along in recent years have been an array of coaches, including Murrie and Gretchen Bates, Lindsay Webb, Shannon Feinman, Deborah Laine and more.

It is a particularly special thing to see excellence achieved by young people. True excellence requires an elevated level of maturity that can be rare to find in people prior to their adult years.

We commend the student-athletes of Charlotte County for reaching the territory of greatness and the faithful coaches who guided them there.