South Aiken High School to honor first principal with stadium dedication

At its beginning, South Aiken High School was the city's "other" high school, with a borrowed campus and athletic fields during a county-wide restructuring of the district.

Under principal James Dawsey, the school took shape toward what it is now - under his watch the T-Breds moved into their new home, and not long after his retirement another one of his visions was realized when the school finally opened its own stadium for athletic events on campus.

Friday, that stadium will bear his name.

Dawsey, who died last November at 88, will be honored during halftime of South Aiken's season-opening football game against Silver Bluff, with his name to be on display for all who practice, play, cheer and spectate there to see. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Dawsey was tabbed as the school's first principal when it opened for the 1980-81 school year, then on the Schofield campus while construction on the new South Aiken campus was being completed, and he was there to welcome students to their new campus in the fall of 1981.

For its first couple of decades, South Aiken used Aiken High's Hagood Stadium for football games and track and field meets, and soccer games were played at Odell Weeks.

Finally, on Aug. 24, 2000, their on-campus stadium was dedicated the night before the season-opening football game against Midland Valley. Dawsey, who retired following the 1994-95 school year, was on hand as a special guest to see that vision for the school fulfilled.

"You can't imagine how meaningful it is to me, to see it finished and to see 'em be able to actually get out here and participate," Dawsey said that Thursday night.

The T-Breds made sure their first true home game would be a memorable one, beating Midland Valley 42-14 to snap a 29-game losing streak in Dan Pippin's first game as head coach.

"It's been a long wait for a lot of people," Dawsey said that night. "It's a long time coming. This is great not only for football, for all sports. It's a great facility."

South Aiken couldn't have drawn up a better start to its first season in its new home, and Friday it will begin its 25th with Dawsey's name adorning the stadium.

Dawsey got his start in Aiken County after graduating from the University of South Carolina in 1957. He was a physical education and math instructor in addition to coaching football, basketball, soccer and track and field at Aiken Junior High, rotating between there and Kennedy Middle while fulfilling the same roles.

After five years at Kennedy he coached for another five at Aiken High, then began his career in administration as principal of Aiken Junior High before being named principal of South Aiken.

His name means many different things to those who played sports, went to school or had children who did during those years. Whether it was as Mr. Dawsey, Coach Dawsey, Mr. Thoroughbred, Jim, Dad or any others, it's a name that from now on will be there for everyone who comes to South Aiken to see.