BANNER ELK, N.C. – Director of Athletics and Club Sports,
Ed Winters and Avery County Chamber Executive Director and Director of Spirit / Head Dance Team Coach, Victoria Bowman spoke on the WATA 1450AM and 96.5 radio station earlier this month discussing the exciting things coming to Lees-McRae athletics and Fan Fest returning to Banner Elk.
Question: Who is Ed Winters and what brought him to Lees-McRae?
Winters: ""So I'm going into year three as the director of athletics at Lee's McRae. I come from New Hampshire. So three years ago, I moved down here a couple of months before Hurricane Helene. I tell everyone the same story. It made me feel really good about my move after the hurricane, seeing the small town Banner Elk in particular, how they rally around everyone and how they helped the college out. So after that, it was it was a tough time, right? We regrouped, we rebuilt, but it really made me feel good about the small community in New Hampshire where I came from. It was a similar community. We were by ski resorts. Really nice area, really mountainous. So really feels at home."
Question: Why is this an exciting time for Lees-McRae Athletics?
Winters: "We're going into a year where we're going to have the biggest incoming class in school history collectively, but also the largest incoming class for student athletes. Super excited about that. We just added baseball and we have some really nice things going on at the college that we're going to be jumping into this year in terms of facility renovations and turf fields. So it's a really good time to be a Bobcat and to be at Lees-McRae."
Question: How does Lees-McRae have 33 sports?
Winters: "It's kind of a sign of the times right now. We're a small college. We're thriving right now, but we're trying to see what we can get people excited about to come and visit Banner Elk, visit Lees-McRae. Some of these things we're finding with some of our majors, wildlife sciences, different things, outdoor recreation, some of these new additions that we have, disc golf, cornhole, ultimate frisbee. Those are really meant to tie into the people that are already coming, being attracted to the college and another way to get them involved and keep them engaged while they're on campus."
Question: What does the addition of baseball look like?
Winters: "Baseball right now is going to recruit this entire academic year. The field will be ready for the Fall of 2027 and the spring of 2028 is when they're going to play. In that whole time, we're also constructing a field so they can play on. We're going to be constructing a different turf field and we're kicking around a couple of sports that we're going to add."
Question: What other sports could Lees-McRae add?
Winters: "Last year, if you remember, we added women's flag football. So we're probably going to have a shared space, a turf with flag football in this other sport. The one leading the way right now is field hockey, but we're exploring that. It's not super huge in this region as it is in the Northeast, but we're going to see if it's viable here. We have a couple others that we're kicking around, but we will be adding on top of the 33. We'll make it 34 at some point here, but super excited for the expansion of the facilities and the turfs."
Question: How does the growth of high school sports help Lees-McRae?
Winters: "So North Carolina just added flag football as a varsity sport along with boys volleyball. So for us, we have both of those sports. We're super excited to see it ,because now we can recruit in our backyard and we can go out to the likes of Watauga and see some of their athletes and say, come on down the road. It's exciting times for us because we've been out a little further trying to recruit these sports that we play right here in Banner Elk. So to have them locally now, that's a fantastic thing."
Question: What is FanFest?
Bowman: "So Fanfest, which actually is an inspiration and a nod to how wonderful that App State Athletics does theirs. My husband and my kids and I have been going to theirs for years and last year was the first year we were able to uplift our very first. So this will be our second annual Fanfest and it's going to be Saturday, August 22nd from 2 to 4 p.m. on our soccer field on Tate Field. Completely free, family friendly, but we're doing bounce houses and cotton candy and face painting. All of our athletic teams will be out there with activities for the kids and get to meet and greet. We'll have a DJ, our voice of the Bobcats, Mr. Jeff Knight will be on the mic. It's just meant to have a lot of fun and bring in our fan base before the seasons get started."
Question: What is Victoria's role at Lees-McRae?
Bowman: "With all of my hats, probably my favorite hat, at least right now, because he's sitting next to me, is is my role at Lees-McRae. I have had the absolute privilege to serve as the director of spirit programs there and the head dance team coach."
Question: What happened at the Summer Theater event?
Bowman: "It was phenomenal. It was absolutely phenomenal. I believe I won't quote for a fact, but I was actually getting my nails done the other day with one of the dancers that was in the show. I think on her text message, they said they were up to over ten thousand dollars raised between the tickets and the donations. It was it was really just this glorious review show. They had this wonderful bluegrass band that opened up the show and then these dancers were so impressive. So this troupe is 50 year old or older, retired dancers or cheerleaders, which is very near and dear to my heart since I am a dancer as well. The closing number was like 10 minutes long. There was multiple costume changes. I was tired watching it. I was like, this is amazing."
Question: Could the Summer Theater event become an annual collaboration?
Bowman: "So, ironically, when I'm getting my nails done with Miss Vicki, who's in the cast, I was like, we need to make this an annual thing, because also coming into the 50th year next year of the Wooly Worm, I was like, we could do something there or I was texting my girls on the dance team while we were going through the show. We should collab this feel. You know what I mean? We do stuff for the younger generation, like how amazing would it be to do something with the veterans in the community as well."
Question: What was your involvement with the veteran performers?
Bowman: "I interviewed them all summer long for every one of their shows." When they were here, the last show, of course, was Sister Act and when they were here that day, after we went off the air, somebody said something about that scholarship. I was like, why don't y'all come back and talk about it? So they brought two of the ladies. It was so crazy because I had different music. I was wishing it was television because they didn't have a lot of room over there. They were choreographing and dancing and just jiving and shaking. They've been all over the freaking world. They went to Normandy. They're like going to D.C. to do this Veterans Day performance and they learn all of their choreography via Zoom. I know. That's insane. So they're and as a performer, I'm like, they only get one day to block. Like that's crazy. That's a big deal."
Check out the full interview by clicking on the link below:
https://on.soundcloud.com/pz8C6SCjFBYYeBcQgB
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