Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coach Ed Pilcher’s 2010 Bainbridge High School Bearcats football team began their first camp workout in full pads at their new on-campus practice field.

I was in attendance and was duly impressed.

The one-on-one hitting was hard and the team looked very agile and ready to go. Rain that fell earlier Saturday evening had cooled things off somewhat, but it was still a little hot and muggy.

Then on Monday, the first three-a-day workouts of the Bearcats annual football camp got underway.

I have worked with many outstanding Bearcats football coaches in my 40 years as sports editor of this fine newspaper, and there is one thing they all agree on.

It is simply this: You cannot really get a good evaluation of a team until they go into full pads.

Coach Pilcher’s evaluation of his 2010 Bearcats’ first practice in full pads was a good one. He thought his team reported ready to work hard and really did a good job of hitting and getting after it.

After watching Sunday’s early morning session, I couldn’t agree more.

It is said that, while basketball is a contact sport, football is a collision sport.

Well, there were definitely hard-hitting collisions taking place on the Bearcats home practice field early Sunday morning.

The beginning of another Bearcats football season is always a big event in Bainbridge and Decatur County.

While many of us might have different college and professional football team loyalties, we are all Bearcat fans. The team members are our Decatur County kids and we need to support them in every way we can.

The Bearcats will open their season Friday, Aug. 27, against the Early County High School Bobcats in Blakely. Kickoff will be at 8 p.m. They will host the Cairo High School Syrupmakers Friday, Sept. 3, in their home opener at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Field.

I also enjoyed going to last Thursday evening’s final band camp performance of the award-winning Bainbridge High School Marching Bearcat Band.

Director Paschal Ward and his assistant James Sewell always put together halftime shows that are both outstanding and entertaining.

After watching it Thursday night, I can assure you that this year’s performance will again live up to those high standards.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a Bearcat Friday night at Centennial Field without the annual outstanding performances of the Bearcats football cheerleading squad coached this year by Pam Bland.

Coach Sheri Dunn-Ulm and her assistant Lauren Turner, who coached the outstanding football and competition cheerleading squads for many years, now exclusively coach the competition squad.