8-MAN FOOTBALL: Ballard’s Hammock limits roles for good of team

Buddy Hammock coached more than 800 games in his 19 years leading Ballard Christian’s basketball program.

In 19 years as a boys coach, he tallied a 341-205 record and went 181-84 in 11 years with the girls for a 522-289 overall record.

“I couldn’t believe we had played that many games,” Hammock said.

Hammock announced recently that he is stepping down as head boys basketball coach and will be replaced by Jeff Sluder, a former player of his. Sluder played for Hammock in the late 1990s, and spent two years playing college basketball at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.

Throughout his career on the hardwood, Hammock won three Independent Christian Schools of Georgia and Alabama championships with the girls, one with the boys and back-to-back National Association of Christian Athletes titles with the girls in 2004 and 2005.

Hammock amassed a 109-8 record with Ballard’s girls team from 2003 to 2006 and was the NACA National Coach of the Year in 2004.

The coach said his favorite part of the job was working with his players.

“It’s about trying to help kids get ahead in life,” Hammock said. “Athletics teaches kids what they can never learn in a classroom. It teaches them what life’s about.

“There’s ups and downs and wins and losses, and what we teach them is how to respond to that.”

Hammock will remain with Ballard’s athletic department as the athletic director and head football coach.

He said the main reason why he chose this time to scale back his basketball duties was so he could devote more time to the Eagles’ second-year, 8-man football program.

“If we’re going to have a successful program, we’re going to have to put time and effort into it,” Hammock said. “We used to not have to worry about that when it was just basketball, but now we’re trying to put more work into football.”

Last year, Ballard was 7-3 in its inaugural football season, missing out on the playoffs by one touchdown.

This year, all the numbers are going the Eagles’ way.

The number of bodies Hammock has to work with is up from 19 to 28. The number of Hammock’s assistants has grown from three to seven, including Hammock’s son, Kyle, who was the starting quarterback and middle linebacker last season.

The number of players weighing in at more than 200 pounds has risen from two to eight.

The Eagles are also going to be able to put in a full offseason of strength and conditioning this year. Not to mention the fact that most of Ballard’s players this year have actually played the sport before.

“When we started spring training last year, we only had two kids that had ever put on a helmet before,” Hammock said. “You don’t really know what football is until you put on a helmet and pads and figure out whether you want to play or not.

“The biggest thing is they have more confidence in themselves.”

Ballard ends its spring season with a three-way jamboree tonight at Sluder Field.

The Eagles take on Lafayette Christian (Ga.) at 4 p.m. and Heritage Christian (Ga.) at 6:30. Both games will consist of two 12-minute quarters with a one-minute break in between.

BALLARD CHRISTIAN EAGLES
COACH: Buddy Hammock (second year, 7-3)
LAST YEAR: 7-3 (3-2 region)
KEY LOSSES: QB/LB Kyle Hammock, LB Jordan Rumfelt
KEY RETURNERS: RB Judson Butler, WR/DL William Cahill, RB Jacob Hall, QB/DB Judson Scott, LB T.J. Turkington
QUESTIONS FOR THE SPRING: 1) Can Scott pick up where Hammock left off at QB?
2) How much of an advantage will those bigger bodies up front provide?
3) How much of a difference will one year make for the Eagles?