High school sports in Beaufort County and eastern North Carolina yields some of the most passionate fans in the country. Without an NFL, MLB and NBA team in close proximity, people have the option of watching Carolina Hurricanes hockey during the NHL season, or simply driving a few minutes down the road at virtually any time of the year to be entertained by their local high school’s athletes.

Traditionally, sports like football, basketball and even cross-country require coaches to put in long hours. Here in Beaufort County, the passion residents have for high school sports is evident. Even the newly hired Washington athletic director, Jon Scharpenberg, admits that the close-knit community surrounding athletics was one of the primary reasons he accepted the job here.

Drive by Washington High School on a Tuesday evening. You’ll likely see Sport Sawyer conducting his football team, Miranda Whitley taking her girls tennis team through some hitting drills and Kelly Slade practicing with not only the varsity team, but also junior varsity.

The same can be said for the Yeatesville-Bath area. Northside head football coach Keith Boyd, along with his small coaching staff, is at the fields until 8 p.m. coaching both teams separately.

Whether it’s Rosalyn Grimes and Jeff Carrow at Southside, or Kayla Maddox at Northside, these coaches put in more time than you might think and all share a common goal: to produce the best teams and even better people. Their pay for coaching a sport hardly comes close to the time they spend working with their teams, so it’s important to give credit where credit is due.

With football season kicking off tomorrow, the stands at Washington, Northside and Southside will be packed, as local teams and their coaches lay it all on the line, fighting for that crucial first win.