The last month has been a very busy time in the high school calendar.

The football season has come to an end, and basketball is now in full swing. Local schools just completed Thanksgiving break, and they are only a couple of weeks away from Christmas break and all the holiday basketball tournaments that come with it.

But it’s a busy time of year for another reason.

It’s signing season.

This is the time of year when many high school athletes sign with colleges to continue their athletic careers at the next level. It’s a very special day for those athletes, because a college scholarship is a huge reward for a lot of hard work and extra effort put in by those athletes.

For some, an athletic scholarship is the only way he or she will be able to attend college, and sports has helped many people become the first in their family to graduate from college.

The joy of signing a college scholarship has been felt by several local high school athletes in the past few weeks.

A total of nine locals have signed at either a two-year or four-year college in the past month, with three of them signing with Division I schools.

Ardmore had three softball players — Sydney Hall, Madison Lewis and LB Smith — sign with two-year colleges Nov. 12. Hall and Lewis signed to play at Calhoun Community College, while Smith signed with the College of Central Florida.

Hogan Whitt, another Tiger, put pen to paper Nov. 20 to sign as a baseball player with Calhoun.

Athens baseball players Dylan Johnson and Tucker Reed signed Nov. 14. Reed, who transferred from Ardmore in the summer, signed with the University of Tennessee at Martin, while Johnson signed with the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Athens also had a girls basketball signee as Alaina Taylor signed with UAH Nov. 14. She will join former Golden Eagles star Alexis Woods on the Chargers roster.

On the boys basketball side, Lindsay Lane Christian’s Tommy Murr inked a scholarship with Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. Murr, the leading scorer in Alabama high school basketball history, had several options to choose from but said Lipscomb was the best choice for him.

The latest signing happened earlier this week, as Elkmont softball standout Haven Kirby decided to stay close to home and sign with the University of North Alabama in Florence.

Kirby, who has been named an All-State player the past two years as a shortstop and leadoff hitter, is joining a program that is new to Division I but only four years removed from a Division II national championship.

Signing a college scholarship is a great accomplishment for our local athletes, and it’s thrilling to see so many of them realize their dream of playing their sport at the collegiate level.

Limestone County has a rich history of athletic achievement, and the nine athletes who recently signed are a testament to that.

Expect more to be added to the list in the coming weeks and months. Football’s early signing day is later this month, with the main signing day for football and other sports is in February. It will be fun to see just how many 2020 Limestone County graduates will head off to college by taking advantage of their athletic talent.

— Edwards can be reached at jeff@athensnews-courier.com