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Oak Mountain fans got fired up for the upcoming football season at Eagle Day as the youth and high school programs took the Heardmont Park field during a day of family fun. (Reporter Photo/Andrew Simonson)

(For the Reporter/Priscilla Fitzgerald)

(Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain community packed the stands at Heardmont Park for a day of family fun and to get its first glimpse of the Eagles ahead of the season at the 26th annual Eagle Day on Saturday, Aug. 10.

“I thought it was awesome,” Oak Mountain High School athletic director Chris Blight said. “I felt like it was a really good community event with football, with bands, with all the supporters and community stakeholders.”

Throughout the four-hour event, attendees could visit local vendors selling Oak Mountain merchandise, various clubs like the OMHS bass fishing team, cheerleaders and boosters and even area churches while making their way to the Heardmont bleachers.

They could also grab a snack from the various food trucks at the event as well as the Heardmont concessions stand.

Kids had plenty of fun activities to entertain them including two bounce houses, a kid-friendly axe throwing booth, a face painting station and a dunk tank that gave them the chance to send coaches like Blight and Oak Mountain head varsity football coach Shane McComb into the water.

The entire event spotlighted all aspects of Oak Mountain’s football program from the youngest youth football and cheerleading teams to the varsity football team and the OMHS Spirit of Cahaba marching band.

The festivities kicked off with the youth players and cheerleaders running through the Oak Mountain tunnel onto the Heardmont Park field. They were then joined by the Oak Mountain Middle School football and cheer teams before the JV and varsity teams took the field.

Afterwards, the youth, middle school and high school cheerleaders stayed on and collectively led the crowd in a short pep rally with multiple chants.

Blight said it’s key to include the entire youth program in Eagle Day to help get them excited about playing and also let them meet the high schoolers that they look up to.

“It’s huge,” Blight said. “The young community are the future of our sports programs and a number of our sports do a tremendous job of including them and getting them involved in the game and our coaches here have a big part of those youth programs to help guide them to help create excitement for the future and create excitement for the sport right now. The little kids love seeing the big kids and getting to interact with them, so it’s really, really cool.”

Later in the afternoon, the varsity team took the field for an intra-squad scrimmage, showcasing their skills for two quarters and giving the players a chance to adjust to game speed against their teammates ahead of their Aug. 16 jamboree at Oxford.

In Blight’s eyes, getting the team out in front of the fans early also helps build up the excitement for kickoff on Aug. 23, and that excitement then carries over into other fall sports like volleyball, flag football and cross-country.

“I think it’s just a great start to the season,” Blight said. “It gets everyone excited about the start of football season and really all fall sports and it gives us a great opportunity to connect the younger programs and the younger kids with our older kids so they can see what to look forward to in the future.”

After the two quarters finished, the football team took a seat on the sideline while the OMHS Spirit of Cahaba marching band took the field to perform its halftime show, “Imagine,” for the players, parents and fans in attendance.

To Blight, it’s always a special part of the day because it’s the one time that the football team gets to watch the band during the entire season since it is normally in the locker room during halftime.

He believes that shows the football team’s support for the band as it returns the favor for how the band supports the team each week.

“The band means a lot to the football team when they travel with them every game and play for them and they got a chance to reciprocate that kind of support which was awesome to see,” Blight said. “It really is just a great kick-off to the season and a great event for us all to have a bit of fun and then enjoy it.”

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