Blaine Cable named NACA Player of the Year

Published 11:36 am Tuesday, August 15, 2023

STAR CORRESPONDENT

On August 11 senior home schooled Blaine Cable was named National Association of Christian Athletes, Male Athlete of the Year award in Knoxville. Cable – a point guard – averaged 10 points per game and eight assists and garners top honors in scholastic endeavors and Bible study as well.

“I am really honored to get this award. It means a lot to me,” Cable said. “When I’m playing, I really like distributing the ball. But I think what I enjoy most is the traveling. We play away games as far away as Asheville and I like hanging with my teammates and going out to eat. It’s a lot of fun and it makes for good friendships.”

Brian Cable co-founded the Independent Athletic Ministry league two years ago and the team plays their home games at Carver Recreational Center in Johnson City and they form teams from public and private schools.

“We started this ministry two years ago with the thought of bringing kids in from everywhere locally and it doesn’t matter if the player comes from public school, private school or wherever. We put out tryout dates and anyone who wants to tryout they are more than welcome,” Brian Cable said. “We promote it to the public and we have open gyms and we usually keep everybody that tries out. This year in volleyball, we got overwhelmed with the number of kids that came to try out.”

The IAM league plays basketball, volleyball and cheerleading and this past season the Cable led squad finished 22-6 on the season.

“The award isn’t simply for what you do on the court but has a lot to do with Christian values,” the younger Cable said. “I was asked a lot of questions from the panel that selects the finalists about things like that and I think that helped me get the award.”

Playing a travel ball style of play that mimics high school sports has its advantages in scheduling opponents but the IAM tries to have a level playing field where each team is competitive in its own right.

“We have a pretty level field of competition,” Brian Cable said. “Of course, some teams will be better than others of course but we try to have a pretty level field of competition. We use TSSAA officials for our games with Herb Greenlee being the one that is in charge of officiating for our home games.”

Blaine credits his family as being a major source of support for him and his mother Lora Cable is also his home school teacher and attends all his games.