Three St. James athletes sign scholarships
Three student athletes from St. James sign college scholarships on Wednesday, including Ava Card (basketball), Katie Brightwell (soccer) and Katie Irving (soccer). (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Wednesday was a special day for St. James’ athletics as two of the program’s most prolific scorers, along with one of its top defenders, gathered to announce their collegiate choices on signing day.
Ava Card, the 2022 and 2023 Capital City Conference Player of the Year in girls’ basketball, and Katie Brightwell, the 2023 Capital City Conference Player of the Year in girls’ soccer, joined with Trojan goalkeeper Katie Irving to celebrate signing day with family and fellow students in the school gym.
Card, the second-leading scorer in school history, signed with UT-Chattanooga on Wednesday, joining the school’s all-time leading scorer, Leslie Claybrook, as the only two girls’ basketball players from St. James to sign with a Division I-A program.
“It’s been an amazing journey watching her grow and mature and becoming the young lady that she is on and off the court,” said her coach, Katie Barton. “It’s just a pleasure that I get to coach her every day. She is currently, in school history, the second all-time leading scorer with 1,563 points. There are 11 girls in 1,000-point club, there is one lady in the 2,000-point club and I get the feeling Ava is going to go after that this season. Today, she becomes only the second Lady Trojan basketball player in the history of our program to sign a Division I-A basketball scholarship.”
Card plays power forward for the Trojans, but projects as a wing in college and had several offers to sort through before deciding on the Mocs.
“It was just the environment and the staff,” she said. “The environment was so uplifting. It just felt like home. And the staff had a really good vision. It just felt right.
“Not only did it feel good as a person, but as a player. I feel like my athletic abilities can go and play there. They gave me a vision of what it could look like as an athlete.”
Brightwell, the leading scorer in school history with 188 goals, needs just 44 goals to become the leading scorer in Alabama High School Athletic Association history.
“KB just sees the game differently than most,” said her father, St. James soccer coach Charlie Brightwell. “She’s able to find the game inside the game, she finds the openings when none appear to be there, she has a knack for finding the goal and the vision to see passing lanes to set up her teammates for success.”
Brightwell elected to continue her career at the Division I-A level with the Lipscomb Bisons.
“It truly ended up between South Alabama and Lipscomb,” Brightwell said, “and I think the environment at Lipscomb just seemed more like home. It’s a Christian college and that’s really cool to me. They combine serving the Lord and playing soccer together, so you’re an athlete but you’re also a daughter of Christ.”
Her teammate, goalkeeper Katie Irving, was honored on Wednesday as well.
“It gives me great joy to watch her make her commitment to Florida Southern after weighing numerous offers from multiple D-I and D-II schools,” Charlie Brightwell said. “She has amassed 35 career shutouts with a 0.78 goals against average while anchoring our defense. She’s always worked to help whichever team she’s on be stronger not only through her play but through her work with others.”
Irving was happy with her choice of the Division II Mocs from the Sunshine State Conference.
“I had a lot of offers from other schools,” Irving said, “but Florida Southern was the one that most felt like home. I felt like I could push myself there and make a lot of connections there. Athletically, I was looking for a place where I could push myself but still succeed and make an impact on the field.”
All three contribute to the girls’ basketball team that opens the season on Thursday, so getting Wednesday’s signing day out of the way was a relief for the trio.
“I’m so excited,” Brightwell said. “It’s well overdue. I feel like it’s taken forever to get here. I’m just glad to make it official.”