GRANTS and CASA BLANCA - There is just two weekends left in the summer for the Grants and Laguna-Acoma High School athletes.

Practice usually starts the first week in August, but the New Mexico Activities Association moved back the starting date by one week this year.

The Grants/Cibola County Schools released the fall sports schedules and according to the documents, in just four short weeks, the Pirates and Hawks each kick off the football season away from home on Aug. 31.

Grants will head northeast to take on Capital, and the Hawks will head east for its yearly battle with Crownpoint. The Pirates have their first home game on September 7 when the take on Interstate-40 rivals - the Gallup Bengals.

Laguna-Acoma plays on the road another week before making its first home field appearance on Sep. 14 against Cuba.

Meanwhile, the soccer season will be in full swing under new Head Coach Mike Hatfield. The new coach has already taken to the soccer field with some of his players as they get a head start on the season.

“I'm enthused and these guys have done a great job getting these players ready. It's really nice to be able to come in here and not have to do much to get them prepared,” Hatfield said between gulps of air.

Hatfield will get the chance to put his soccer knowledge to the test on Aug. 24 when the Pirates head down south for the Soccoro Invite.

The Grants High School soccer team plays at home on Aug. 28 against Pojoaque, and it will be a girls and boys varsity match.

Hatfield is not the kind of coach who is content to yell instructions from the sidelines. Instead, he raced many of the players from one end of the soccer field to the other.

Another coach who does not sit idly by is Laguna-Acoma cross country coach Dan Otero.

The participates in the workout that he puts his runners through. The Hawks and Pirates cross country teams have several extra weeks to prepare for their seasons.

Laguna-Acoma heads to the Gallup/McCurdy Invite on September 1 and the Pirates head to the University of New Mexico Invite on Sept. 8.

The Grants High School Lady Pirates volleyball team will open its season on Aug. 31 at the Belen Invitational alongside district mates Laguna-Acoma.

The Grants volleyball team will break in the new Port of the Pirates on Sept. 11 when it hosts the Tohatchi Lady Cougars, while Laguna-Acoma kicks off its home court season on September 4 it host the Estancia Lady Bears.

The Los Alamitos Bucs kick off their football season with coach Bobby Alexander on Sept. 17 at home against Belen, while the Lady Bucs hit the court for the first time on Sept. 4 against Sarrcino. Their first home game is on Sept. 13 against Belen.

By Will Kie

Beacon senior sportswriter