By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@thecitizennews.com

Our Lady of Mercy High School, Fayette County's first catholic high school, is preparing for their inaugural school year and athletic season.

The school will have a full athletic program and will participate in Class AA in the GHSA. Other teams in Class AA are Pike County and Northgate High School. Though they will most likely not field varsity squads for another two years, the Bobcats as they will be known, hope to field athletic programs like Lovett and Marist High School.

“We have a state of the art facility and are doing this the right way,” said Lee McDermott, baseball and softball coach and co-athletic director at Our Lady of Mercy. “It may be a rocky first year, but we're getting the ball rolling.” The other co-athletic director will be Alan Gordon, who will also serve as the football coach for the Bobcats.

McDermott, recently an assistant with the Starr's Mill High School baseball team, certainly knows his baseball. His coaching experience includes time with Lake Brantley High School in Orlando, which won a state championship in 1990 with a current pro player, Jason Varitek, the catcher for the Boston Red Sox, and a stint as head coach in Boca Raton, Fla.

The school, is a state of the art facility located on 54 acres practically across the street from Evander Holyfield's estate. There is a football field, a soccer field, a baseball diamond, a softball field, practice fields and weight rooms. The school is still taking enrollment and will open in August.

“It will be exciting to build a tradition,” said McDermott. “With an increasing number of Catholics in the area, it is also great to bring Catholic education to the southside.”

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