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Nicholas Tyre is now an Enterprise State Boll Weevil. The senior Bearcat Soccer player signed his letter of intent with Enterprise State Community College Monday to further his athletic career.

“It feels really good,” Tyre said. “I put a lot of thought into [signing] with my family and friends, so now I’m just glad I’ve got everybody here, everybody together for the announcement.”

Enterprise head coach Cade Stinnett offered Tyre his soccer scholarship after his performance in Bainbridge’s 3rd-round playoff matchup vs Westminster. Westminster pressured Tyre and the Bearcat defense for most of the game, and Tyre played well to keep the Wildcats from earning too many scoring opportunities.

“Probably in the first 15-20 minutes of the game, [Tyre] stood out to me as far as ability and effort and just being all over the back line,” Stinett said. “He continued to play hard, play well, and impress me a lot.”

Tyre said he never planned to play soccer in college, but after receiving the offer and considering it for a couple of weeks, he decided to accept. 

“[My parents] were really stressed out about this decision,” Tyre said. “I was kind of dragging it out a little bit, stressing them out, so just to finally celebrate it with them is a cool thing.”

Tyre will be part of Enterprise’s first-ever soccer team. The Boll Weevils will start their soccer program in the 2024-2025 school year, and Coach Stinett said he’s glad Tyre will be around for their start. 

“We’re very excited to have [Tyre] around for our inaugural season,” Stinett said. “I know the type of guys we’re signing, the high level of quality that they bring, and [Tyre] is one of them.”

Tyre has played soccer his entire life and is glad his playing career isn’t ending after high school.

“I’m glad I get the opportunity for my dad to still come and watch me play games,” Tyre said. “I think he was pretty bummed out to see that my athletic career possibly wasn’t extending, so I know that whenever he saw that I was getting a scholarship, he really wanted me to take it. So it’s really cool to have him watching me.”

Tyre’s scholarship at Enterprise is for two years, and then he hopes to transfer to a bigger university to continue playing through his final two years of collegiate eligibility. 

“Hopefully, after two years, if I’m getting some looks, I can transfer to a four-year university and keep this going,” Tyre said

Tyre played sweeper for Bainbridge in the 2023-2024 season. He helped the Bearcats keep opponents to just 14 goals against, compared to the teams’ 87 goals for. Tyre set a new program record for career games played at Bainbridge with 69 appearances throughout his high school career.

“[Tyre] was a big part of us over all four seasons here,” Bearcats’ head coach Brian Hill said. “This year, we had one of the best seasons we’ve ever had, and [Tyre] was a big part of that.”