Back to School Issue: Let The Games Begin

Robinson football team emerges in the rain.

With a new head coach and several star players gone, the Knights football team is starting this season with a fresh mindset. This summer, they had to overcome adversity with not only the new coaching staff, as well as finding a field to practice on.

Michael “Mike” Williams, the new head coach, is a Plant High alumni. After graduating high school, he went on to play Division 1 (D1) football at the University of Southern California, then played in the National Football League (NFL) from 2005-2011. Williams wanted to replant his roots in Tampa by contributing to his hometown with his passion.

“I’m excited, I grew up in this community, I learned how to swim in Bobby Hick’s pool and grew up on Rembrandt every summer. I played with the Barrier Raiders for my last season of youth league. I’m happy in the sense of being in a familiar community ‘cause I never coach in a community that I came up in before,” Williams said.

Preparing for the 2023-2024 season has been a different environment for the coaching staff and the players. The Jack Peteers Field was closed over the summer due to a much-needed renovation. Using their surrounding resources, the team has been practicing mainly on the RHS softball field, at Chiaramonte Elementary and at the CrossFit gym just down the street from Robinson. Not to mention, Williams has implemented a new practice regimen that he believes will lead to a successful season.

“We [have] been preparing this group by making the important things the most important. Effort, focus, teamwork, just really building on those variables that are necessary to make a good team,” Williams said.

Running Back Allan Lewis (‘24) believes that this new area of focus will be good for the team overall.

“Our first off-season has been a big change from what we’ve seen in the past and for the better. Coach Mike and our coaching staff are training and conditioning us to be a dominant team this season,” Lewis said.

Despite the challenges, players like Starting Quarterback Eric Archield (‘25) aim to continue to grow his skills and hopes to build a stronger brotherhood within the team.

“The coaches set a standard for us and we got to make it. We are going to find people that can and a lot of us responded to that challenge because we are the Knights,” Archield said.

This fall, on Thursday, Sept. 14, the Robinson Knights will face off against the Plant Panthers in the most anticipated game of the season. Despite the high stakes, the players themselves are walking into the game like they would any other.

“Even though Plant is our rival, they are like any other team, an obstacle towards our ultimate goal. We obviously plan to beat them, but both mentally and physically we need to win,” Lewis said.

About the Contributors

Araya Stearns, Senior Staff Writer

Araya Stearns is a senior at Robinson and a senior staff writer for Knight Writers. This is her second year on staff. An essential part of Stearns is her love for sports. At Robinson, she plays both flag football and softball. She loves the flag team she's a part of, aiding her love of the sport overall. The same applies to softball, which Stearns has been involved in since her early years. "Softball, I've been playing since, like, the age of four, so meeting new people and having more friends due to softball is a really big thing for me," Stearns said. After her time at Robinson, Stearns plans to keep moving forward on the softball track, hoping to pursue the sport throughout college and strive for the pro-leagues. Wanting to stay active even after college, a career in physical therapy or training is in her sights. Besides sports, Stearns loves her share of country music. Artists like Kane Brown and Morgan Wallen are common in her everyday playlist. Like many right now, Stearns has been enjoying the new volume of "Stranger Things," eager for the new season to come out in her senior year. Dialing down on the intensity, her favorite movies are typically from Disney, considering that she's surrounded by younger siblings. She finds movies like "Luca" fun to watch by herself or with others. This year, Stearns wants to keep her focus on the sports section, mainly attending sports games and taking pictures for our galleries. She loves the atmosphere of any sports game, keeping her ambitious to improve her photography skills throughout her junior year. (Profile by Faith Rowland)

Ashlyn Miller, Sports Editor

Ashlyn Miller is a junior at Robinson and the Sports Editor of Knight Writers. This is her second year on staff and first year as an editor. Miller's favorite part of journalism is taking photos of all of the sports at Robinson and improving her photography skills. "We don't exactly have press at Robinson so it's rewarding to me to take photos of people doing what they love," Miller said. Outside of the journalism room, Miller stays involved in school with an array of hobbies. She enjoys staying involved in school by participating in swimming, photography and orchestra. She enjoys playing the violin and loves learning new pieces. "If you're able to make the violin sound good, it's a such rewarding accomplishment for such a difficult instrument," Miller said. Miller also likes spending time with her dog in her past time. Out of cats or dogs, she instantaneously chose dogs. "I prefer dogs. I actually own a German Shepherd named Leia and she's the light of my life, but I have nothing against cats," Miller said. Prepared for the future, she plans to attend journalism school, preferably at Duke University and join their ROTC program. Miller is passionate about media and sports although how competitive positions are. "I want to specialize in the media realm and possibly be a sports commentator for ESPN," Miller said. "I love watching, covering and even playing sports because of the environment that surrounds them and the gratification that comes with doing well." (Profile by Briana Garcia)

Keirra McGoldrick, Opinion Editor

Keirra McGoldrick is senior at Robinson and the Opinion Editor of Knight Writers. This is her third year on staff and her second year as an editor. McGoldrick, as an editor, must provide a sense of direction and help for those coming into newspaper who may not quite know what they need to be doing. She must also make sure that all stories written by staff writers are up to par with that of the standard for the newspaper. “I edit all the opinion stories and make spreadsheets for opinion writers," McGoldrick said. McGoldrick may like writing in journalism, though nothing trumps her love of photography. She lists photography as one of her favorite hobbies and pass times outside of journalism. “I like photography," McGoldrick said. "I take pictures of anything I find interesting." Though McGoldrick has to keep up a balance of her academics and the needs of newspaper, she hopes to have enough time to join the photography club. She wishes to do this in order to interact and convey her love of photography with other like-minded students at Robinson. Being the academic achiever that she is, McGoldrick keeps up with all of her classes. The two of these classes that she holds closest to her heart are journalism and history. However, she probably favors journalism a little more because it has her favorite teacher, Ms. Webster, who leads her to improve herself in all manner of things, especially photography. Outside of journalism, one of McGoldrick’s pastimes is to listen to music. As we know everyone needs a little bit of music to pull them through a slow school day, or just a slow day in general. “I like R&B and pop," McGoldrick said. “Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, etc." High school isn't all McGoldrick has mapped out to do. Seeing as she is an academic achiever, McGoldrick already has plans for her future. She plans to keep her academic streak going through college. “I plan on going to university and majoring in criminal psychology and then after I graduate from normal college, I’m going to go get a PhD,” McGoldrick said. (Profile by Coleton Rone)

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Back to School Issue: Let The Games Begin

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