Athletics

A strong sports program is a vital part of student life and provides a balance with academics, which the students need for a well-rounded high school experience. Young bodies need physical exercise, and students also learn to work together as a team in many of the sports programs offered.

DeKalb County Schools offers 25 different high school athletic participation sports including adapted sports, baseball, basketball (boys and girls), cheerleading, cross country (boys and girls), football, flag football (girls), golf (boys and girls), gymnastics (girls), lacrosse (boys and girls), soccer (boys and girls), fast-pitch softball (girls), swimming (boys and girls), tennis (boys and girls), track (boys and girls), volleyball (girls) and wrestling (boys and girls).

Basketball, baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, track, wrestling and cheerleading are offered at the middle school level, and eighth graders can participate on the junior varsity level at the high schools, if a sport is not offered for them in the middle school.

Elementary school sports, including flag football, basketball, competitive dance, soccer, and track and field, were instituted for fourth and fifth grade students in the 2025 school year.

DeKalb also has an American Association of Adapted Sports Program (AAASP) offering junior varsity participation in wheelchair handball, basketball and football throughout the school year. The program has won 4 junior varsity state championships and two varsity titles as the home of AAASP.

DeKalb County Schools is home to 321 state championships dating as far back as the 1938 literary state title won by Lithonia. Clarkston won the first athletic state championship in 1940, as the boys basketball title came home to DeKalb County Schools.

The school district went 11 years without a title until Druid Hills won the 1951 boys track title to start a string of 48 consecutive years with at least one state title coming home to DeKalb County Schools. The streak ended in 1999 as no state titles were won. A new streak began in 2001 as Lakeside won the boys tennis title to start the current streak of 22 years. The 321 state titles have come from 26 different schools, (seven of which are no longer in existence) and the Adapted Sports Programs.

Lakeside leads the way with 41 state titles, with Dunwoody a distant second with 29 state titles to the school’s credit. Southwest DeKalb is third with 25 while Tucker 21 and Druid Hills hold 20 to round out the Top five.

Boys’ track has outshone the other sports in the school system bringing home 49 state titles, while girls’ track follows with 31. Track has a 15-year run going with at least one state track championship and 19 total (10 girls, 9 boys) during this streak.

Wrestling has third highest total with 29 followed by boys’ basketball with 25 (boys and girls combined have 45) and girls’ gymnastics with 20 and boys’ cross country and girls’ basketball joined the 20 state title group in 2016 as part of the Top 5 athletics programs in DCSD.

A high of eleven state titles for the school system came in 1981. The school system won 10 in a year twice, 1970 and 1983. The school system won six state championships three consecutive seasons in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 and repeated the feat in 2013 with 7 total.

Miller Grove’s 2016 Class 5A Boys’ Basketball State Championship was a big one for DCSD as it marked the 300th state title for the district. Repeat state titles in boys’ track in 2016 by Southwest DeKalb (5A) and Cedar Grove (3A) gave the District 6 for the year.

A 13-year streak with at least 1 basketball state title came to an end in 2017. DeKalb won 31 basketball state titles (16 girls, 15 boys) from 2004 to 2016. That streak includes 7 by the Miller Grove Wolverines (6 consecutive from 2009-2014) along with five by the Columbia Eagles and 5 by the Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers.

DeKalb is home to 17 football state championships led by Cedar Grove with five (2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023). The Saints became the first DeKalb program to win five football championships. Cedar Grove was previously tied with Avondale (1958, 1963, 1976) and Lakeside (1970, 1972, 1991) with three each.

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Adams Stadium

2415 North Druid Hills Road
Atlanta, GA 30329
404.636.8448

• built in 1962

• seating capacity: 6,500

 

 

Avondale Stadium

1192 Clarendon Road
Avondale Estates, GA 30002
404.289.2275

• built in 1958

• seating capacity: 6,500

 

 

William “Buck” Godfrey Stadium

2817 Clifton Springs Road
Decatur, GA 30034
404.243.4737

• built in 1968

• seating capacity: 8,500

• Formerly Panthersville Stadium

 

 

James R. Hallford Stadium

3789 Memorial College Avenue
Clarkston, GA 30021
404.292.5626

• built in 1968

• seating capacity: 15,600 (both sides combined)

• formerly Memorial Stadium

 

 

 

North DeKalb Stadium

3688 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road
Chamblee, GA 30341
770.457.8392

• built in 1962

• seating capacity: 6,500

 Myss Jelks

Executive Director for Athletics | 678.676.1821

• Department Administration

• Department Budget

• Special Projects

• Sponsorships

• Procedures and Regulations

 Brandan Lane

 Director, Athletics | 678.676.1859

• Athletics Handbook

• Student Handbook

• HS, MS, ES Senior Coordinators

• Development of Policies, Procedures and Regulations

• Weekly Athletic Schedule

• Overall Inventory

• High School Athletic Liaisons

 Dr. Brian Montgomery

Senior Coordinator | 678.676.1858

• High School Lead

• High School Athletic Liaisons

• Hallford Stadium Coordinator

• GHSA Appeals

• Athlete Eligibility

• Football

• Golf

• Riflery

• Wrestling

• Inventory for above Sports; Uniform Orders for above Sports

• Uniform Ordering for Sports Listed Above

• Cluster II – SW DeKalb HS/Chapel Hill MS, M.L. King HS/Salem MS, Arabia Mountain HS/Champion MS, Miller Grove HS/MS

 Paris Burd

Senior Coordinator | 678.676.1839

• Middle School Lead

• Athletics Department Handbook

• Athletics Student Handbook

• Cobb (Avondale) Stadium Coordinator

• Middle School Basketball (B & G)

• Baseball (MS & High School)

• Football (Middle School)

• Softball (High School/Middle School)

• Athlete Eligibility

• Development of Policies, Procedures and Regulations

• Inventory of Middle School Sports

• Inventory for above Sports; Uniform Orders for above Sports

• Uniform Ordering for Sports Listed Above

• Cluster I – Cedar Grove HS/MS, McNair HS/MS, Towers HS/Bethune MS, Columbia HS/MS

 Clifton Spears

Senior Coordinator | 678.676.1860

• Middle School

• North DeKalb Stadium Coordinator

• Cheerleading (Middle School)

• Soccer (Middle School)

• Track (Middle School)

• Volleyball (HS & MS)

• Wrestling (Middle School)

• Uniform Ordering for Sports Listed Above

• Cluster III – Stephenson HS/Stephenson MS, Lithonia HS/Lithonia MS, Redan HS/Redan MS

 Mike Harwell

Senior Coordinator | 678.676.1823

• Debate

• Flag Football

• Lacrosse

• Soccer

• Swimming

• Inventory for Sports Listed Above

• Uniform Ordering for the Sports Above

• Adams Stadium Coordinator

• Assist with Weekly Athletics Schedule

• Cluster V – Druid Hills HS/MS, Cross Keys HS/Sequoyah MS, Chamblee HS/MS, Dunwoody HS/Peachtree MS

 Henrietta George

Senior Coordinator | 678.676.1856

• Cheerleading (High School)

• Cross Country

• Dance

• Track and Field (HS and MS)

• OAP/Literary

• Inventory for Sports Listed Above

• Uniform Ordering for the Sports Above

• Godfrey Stadium Coordinator

• Cluster IV – Clarkston HS/Freedom MS, Lakeside HS/Henderson MS, Stone Mountain HS/MS, Tucker HS/MS

 Oliver Dean

Senior Coordinator | 678.676.1844

• Elementary School Lead

• Basketball High School

• Inventory for Sports Listed Above

• Uniform Ordering for the Sports Above

Curtis Jones

Coordinator – ES | 678.676.1857

• Tennis (High School)

• Inventory for Sports Listed Above

• Uniform Ordering for the Sports Above

Johnny Potter

Coordinator – ES | 678.676.1865

• Basketball (High School, Assist)

•  E-Sports

Keith Johnson

Coordinator – ES | 678.676.1851

• Wrestling (High School, Middle School Assist)

• Gymnastics (High School)

• Uniform Ordering for the Sports Above

Chris Chilton

Athletics Specialist | 678.676.1825

• Media Guides for Individual Sports

• First Aid Orders

• Baseball (High School, Assist)

• Softball (High School, Assist)

• Uniform Ordering for the Sports Above

• Title IX Information

• Baseball Stats

• Softball Stats

• Adams Stadium

Mark Brock

Athletics Specialist – Media Relations | 678.676.1827

• Athletic Media Releases

• Media Pass Requests

• Fulfill Requests from Media and Colleges

• Photography for Web and Media Use

• Content Provider for DCSD Athletics Website

• Twitter/Instagram

• Statistical Data for the Following:
  Basketball, Cross Country, Flag Football, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball, Wrestling

• Middle School Sports (Season Standings, All-Sports Award)

Lorenzo “Keith” Sewell

Athletics Specialist – Finance | 678.676.1830

• Invoicing

• Work Orders for Repairs

• Concessions at Stadiums

• Godfrey Stadium

 Valerie Gilbert

Executive Administrative Assistant | 678.676.1822

• Athletic Event Staff Payroll
  (DeKalb and non-DeKalb)

• Equipment & Uniform Requistions

• Equipment & Uniform Purchase Orders

• Equipment & Uniform Invoices

• Bank Deposits

• Bank Payment Entry

• Bank Reconciliation

• Departmental Payroll

• Meeting Scheduler

• Meeting Coordinator

• Handle Confidential and Priority Matters

• Interface/Communicate with Internal and External Customers

• Assist Executive Director with Preparations and Development of Reports and other Correspondence

• Office Contact for Lexmark

• Write and Maintain Office Receipt Books

• Athletics Liaison for Payroll and Finance Departments; Overseeing Compliance and Procedures

Alethea Webb

Administrative Assistant | 678.676.2019

• Online Ticket Sales — GoFan

• Weekly Athletics Calendar

• Facilitate CPR Training

• Athletic Eligibility Applications

• Record/Track Online Ticket Sales

• Collect/Submit Athletic Supplements

https://gofan.co/app/school/GA3487