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VALLEY — Adam Hunter, the head football coach and athletic director at Valley High, was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s noon hour meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Valley. He brought with him next year’s starting quarterback for the Rams, Caden Foreman, reviewed how sports played out this year at Valley High and talked about how the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules of college football has filtered down to have a major impact on high school sports.

Foreman transferred to Valley from Beauregard High School last year and finished the year as the team’s starting quarterback, leading the Rams to wins over Beauregard and Dadeville.

“He’s a tremendous player,” Hunter said. “He’s very athletic and an excellent pocket passer. We have a deep and talented group of receivers he can throw to. We won’t be one dimensional in our offense next year. We will be opening it up.”

Hunter said he wants the school’s home games to be more fan friendly next year. “We will be bringing back the game-day programs and we will have a shuttle to the stadium for those who need it,” he said. “We will also have season passes and reserved seating this coming season.”

Most of the team’s offensive line will be returning from last year. It will be up to them to protect a passing quarterback, but Hunter believes they will be up to the task.

The squad has gone through five practice sessions heading into a spring game this coming Thursday at Ram Stadium. They will be taking on Eufaula in a 7 p.m. EDT scrimmage.

Hunter said Valley High had good seasons in baseball and softball. He was especially pleased with some of the performances of Valley High track athletes at the recent 5A meet in Gulf Shores. The girls basketball team had a very good season as well.

After spring practice wraps up, the football team will be going through seven-on-seven meets this summer in preparation for the 2025 season.

Something that’s been a long time coming is the air conditioning of the Valley High gym. Two seven-and-a-half ton units are in place. “This is a big deal,” Hunter said. “I know our volleyball players will appreciate it. It gets pretty hot inside the gym when they are playing in there.”

Hunter said the state of Alabama is going to have to do something with all the transferring from one school to another that’s taking place. “There are times when this is appropriate and times when it’s not,” he said.

NIL is a sore subject for Hunter and many other high school coaches. “It has really messed things up,” he said. “There needs to be some guidelines to control it. It’s a good thing for this state that Alabama does not have NIL in high school sports, but that’s not true of all states.”

NIL allows athletes to collect money for the use of their personal brand. It gives them a legal right to control how their image is used, including commercially.

Hunter said he’s like to see some upgrades at Ram Stadium, possibly a new scoreboard and a resurfaced track. He’s pleased with the playing surface. “With the high school, middle school and Point University games, there were 17 games played there last fall,” he said, “but it’s a pretty doggone good field to have held up as well as it has with all that’s been going on there.”

One thing Hunter and many other high school coaches would like to see is more parental involvement. It’s just not like it once was. “We’d also like to have more sponsorship,” he said. “We’d like to see the names of local businesses being displayed at the stadium.”