The summer is the time for Bainbridge High School Lady Cats and Bearcats athletes to get in their offseason work and get ready for their seasons and the upcoming school year.

Coach Scott Miller’s 2011 Bearcat baseball team just returned from McEachern High School in Atlanta, where they won three of four games in their annual wooden bat tournament.

Coach Ed Pilcher’s 2010 Bearcats football team is busily working in the weight room in preparation for their upcoming season.

The Bearcats and Lady Cats basketball teams of Coach Rickey McCullough and Coach Latreisha Moon held team camps last week and looked very good.

The Bearcats have had back to back Region 1AAAA championships and state Final 4 appearances.

The Lady Cats won the Region 1AAAA championship and earned a state Final 4 appearance in 2008-2009 and won the Region 1AAAA regular season championship last season.

I was really impressed with the shooting and rebounding of returning Region 1AAAA player of the year Devon Baulkman, the leaping and rebounding of Shawn Samuels and the ball handing of D.J. Stubbs during the Bearcats team camp last Thursday.

The Lady Cats, who must replace two time Region 1AAAA player of the year and “Atlanta Journal-Constitution” 2009-2010 State Class AAAA player of the year Alexis Burke, got good camp efforts from April Thomas, Bria Harris and Brianna Wade.

Burke will be playing this season for the University of Illinois Lady Illini.

Highlights of the girls team camp last Wednesday were the outside shooting of Thomas, the inside scoring and rebounding of Harris and the ball handling and passing of Wade.

Middle Georgia College Lady Warriors and Warriors Soccer Coach Vinnie Gill, who led his ladies team to the Georgia junior college championship last fall, held a camp for Coach Chip Ariail’s Lady Cats last week at the Centennial Field practice field.

Former Lady who Aubrie Provence, who will be a freshman on Coach Gill’s Middle Georgia Lady Warriors team in the fall, assisted and took part in the camp as well.

I ended my week by covering Saturday’s 47th annual Inland Port Invitational Swim Meet sponsored by the Bainbridge-Decatur County YMCA Swim Team.

The meet, which for many years was sponsored by the Bainbridge Leisure Services Department and held at the city pool, is the only remaining activity from Inland Port Day which was held in the 1960’s.

It was begun by my good friend William Widener.

During his years as city of Bainbridge swim coach and Bainbridge High School band director, William had a positive influence on untold numbers of local youngsters.

Many of those youngsters are prominent citizens in Bainbridge and Decatur County today.