TAMUT Athletics 

Texas A&M Texarkana plans to make huge changes to the school’s athletic program next year. The school already has soccer, basketball, tennis, baseball, and softball teams for both men and women. Starting in the fall of 2022, the school plans to add men’s and women’s cross country and women’s volleyball. Both of these programs will compete during the fall semester.

The TAMUT athletic staff is constantly researching ways to grow the university. The university believes that adding these two sports will help grow the school in various ways for years to come. Michael Galvan, TAMUT’s athletic director, had several things to say about the expectations for the school’s athletic program in the upcoming years.

  “For both programs starting in Fall 2022 we want to make sure we meet our roster goals along with recruiting quality student-athletes who understand the standards of excellence we place on each and every one of the 200+ individuals who participate on our athletic teams here at TAMUT,”  Galvan said.

Galvan also mentioned how adding these two programs would enroll 45+ students for every upcoming school year. Sam Cannon, a senior at TAMUT, briefly mentioned his thoughts on the two sports being added.

Cannon stated, “It is great to see more programs being added to an institution that not only focuses on education, but is now showing a clear effort to reach even more students through the avenue of athletics. The opportunities that this will bring to TAMUT could be endless.”

Faculty, staff, and students are hoping for a bright future for TAMUT athletics. With the addition of two new sports, it seems as if they will get what they are hoping for.

Sam Cannon is from Paris, Texas and attended high school at Paris High. He moved to Texarkana, Texas after his dad took a job to be the head preacher at Walnut church of Christ. When his first school year in Texarkana began he enrolled at University of Arkansas Texarkana where he studied for two years. The next year he enrolled at Texas A&M Texarkana. His major is Business Administration with a concentration in management and he aspires to go into the field of Farm and Ranch Real Estate following his graduation in May of 2022. His long-term goal is to own his own business buying and selling farms and ranches in order to help people find the piece of land that is just right for their wants and needs for their families. Two interesting things about Sam are his love for deer hunting and sports. 

    Right after the interview started the conversation quickly came upon deer hunting. He explained how he grew up in a family full of hunters. Ever since then he’s fallen in love with the sport and looks forward to opening day of deer season each and every year. He mentioned that he has been hunting since he was three years old. He hopes to one day buy a large ranch in South Texas to raise his future family on. He also would love to eventually reach a point where he can become an outfitter and sell hunts to help people harvest the Whitetail Buck of their dreams. He mentioned that the person he looks up to most as a hunter is his grandfather. His grandfather has inspired him in many ways, whether it be as a hunter, as a Christian, or simply as a man. 

    Sam is also very passionate about sports. In high school he played baseball, basketball, and football.  He explained how his favorite teams were the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Oklahoma Sooners. He then began to go into deep detail about the players on his teams and how he expected their seasons to go. Sam often goes to games when he is not busy with school work on the weekends. He enjoys attending baseball games, but his favorite sport to watch in person is football.

    Sam’s ultimate goals tell me that he is a driven person that never gives up on a dream. I learned that he is a man of faith that pursues everything in life through the lens of a Christian. He is a God-fearing man that works hard to be a better person every day. I also learned that he is very passionate about four things in life: Faith, Family, Sports, and the Great Outdoors.