It is with great pleasure this column is penned annually at the end of every school year and we take a tally of the local athletes who are headed to the next level to continue playing the sport they love but more importantly parlay it into a way to get an education.

In the big picture that’s far more important. After all, getting your education is what counts the most.

The kicker: If you can use sports as a vehicle to get an education, that’s great.

There are few things healthier in life than exercising and playing a sport you love. Throw in developing life-long friendships and lessons learned along the way and it’s a win-win.

Bottom line: The virtues of playing sports and getting an education are worth it in every sense of the word.

That’s why I’m proud to announce once again the local town and county has exceeded the 20-athlete mark, again. The past 11 or so years that has been the case every time except for one, last year when there were 16.

As you can see from this list above, three Spalding High football players signed in August - too late for last year’s list, but in time for this year’s. So I guess you can safely say the area averages more than 20 a year.

Throw in the fact three athletes - Whitewater High’s Miles Head (baseball-Georgia), Luella High’s Victoria St. Clair (softball-North Georgia) and Salem High School’s Precious Elkins (basketball/Lenoir-Rhyne) - with strong Griffin ties, who aren’t enrolled in the local school system, also signed and it’s easy to see talent in the area is plentiful.

To all who have signed, the Griffin Daily News says congratulations for a job well done. Never forget where you came from. Carry it like a badge of honor. For it is most honorable.

Good as Gold: The signed-

No. Player (High School) Sport College

1. Bernard Goodrum (SHS) Football Ft. Valley

2. Marcus Duvall (SHS) Football Ga. Southern

3. Tavares Jackson (SHS) Football Ft. Valley

4. Cameron Scott (SHS) Baseball Armstrong-Atlantic

5. Telvin Nash (GHS) Baseball Kennesaw State

6. Kentorius Jackson (GHS) Football Georgia Military

7. Greg Worthy II (GHS) Football Furman

8. Najee Leftwich (SHS) Football Alabama State

9. Patricia-Anne Upson (SHS) Soccer Mercer

10. Tedra Alford (GHS) Softball Tennessee State

11. Will Ficklen (SHS) Running Wake Forest

12. Matt Himel (SHS) Running Darton

13. Ken Gates (SHS) Football Concordia

14. Nate Baker (SHS) Football Concordia

15. Greg Murphy (SHS) Football Concordia

16. Cortez Puckett (SHS) Football Concordia

17. Shun Wiley (GHS) Football Feather River

18. Nhyjal Sims (SHS) Football Clark Atlanta

19. Travis Lee (SHS) Baseball Darton

20. Matt Turner (SHS) Soccer Gordon

21. Shaq Barber (GHS) Basketball South Carolina St.

22. Willie Hamm (SHS) Football Ventura

23. Pete Driver (former GHS) Basketball Gordon/Life

24. Leon Berry (former GHS) Football Mississippi State