MCC Promotes Atkinson

For those that know Robby Atkinson, his love for Meridian Community College, and Eagles athletics in particular, is evident.
So needless to say, Atkinson is excited about his new role as the MCC sports information director, replacing Sean Covich, who recently left his duties as SID and golf coach to become assistant golf coach at Mississippi State.
"It's kind of a dream come true, being involved in athletics out here for so long," Atkinson said. A former MCC student, Atkinson has been involved with MCC athletics since 2000 when he began work with MCC baseball under Scott Berry. He has continued to serve as the public address announcer for the baseball and basketball programs.
"We're excited to have Robby on board full-time with the college," MCC president Dr. Scott Elliott said in a release. "He had already been serving in a part-time capacity as an announcer for our basketball and baseball programs, so this is actually a promotion for Robby, rather than a new hire.
"Robby has a wealth of experience in the radio and newspaper genres, so he comes to us well-equipped to do this job. And perhaps most important of all, he bleeds green and white as an alumnus of the college and a huge fan of Eagles athletics."
In addition to his work with MCC athletics, Atkinson — who worked for a year as an assistant SID at West Alabama — has worked for the Radio People since 2003 and has been a contributor to The Star, as well. That background will be handy as Atkinson will serve as more than just the SID at MCC.
With Clay and Laura Holladay of the Radio People recently giving the reigns of 106.9 FM to the college, Atkinson will work with associate dean Dr. Ray Denton in establishing and running the station, which will also aid the athletics program.
"We're going to try to put most of the games for most of the sports on the radio, so the radio end and the SID end kind of go hand-in-hand a little bit," Atkinson explained.
Added Elliott: "This is an exciting time for Robby to be coming on full-time at MCC. The college having its own radio station will usher in a lot of new opportunities, sports programming among them. Having people like Ray Denton and his staff, Robby now among them, with specific radio expertise will be a huge plus for MCC as we move forward with this project.
"Also, it's just an exciting time for MCC sports — period. We have some new, young coaches like Chris Curry and Dillon Sudduth (baseball), Clinton Hales (golf) and Nathan Courtney (men's basketball) on board to go along with our veteran coaches who have already established championship programs. I feel very positive about our teams, and it will be Robby's job to tell their stories to the public."
That task will be made easier by the camaraderie Atkinson has with the current MCC coaches.
"Being out here as long as I was, I just felt honored to be part of the athletic department here at MCC," Atkinson said. "We've got such great coaches, we've got new coaches coming in and we have a lot of big projects fixing to take place with our radio station and with soccer coming up. I'm just honored to be a part of it.
"That's what makes it so unigue. I've been involved with those two particular sports for so long, it'll make that transition really easy. I already knew most of the coaches on staff already, and I've been part of the family already in some aspects for a number of years. But now it really is complete now that I'm here full-time."
One opportunity that isn't new for Atkinson will be his role as the "Voice of the Wildcats", serving as the radio play-by-play announcer for Meridian High football. Despite his transition to MCC, the Radio People have asked that Atkinson retain that position on WJXM-FM 105.7 for his fifth season.
"That is the biggest bonus in this whole thing is I get to continue to do Meridian High football," Atkinson said. "I was very honored that the Holladays asked me to continue to do that because I also have a love for that. I mean who doesn't love high school football on a Friday night in Mississippi. That'll be good to continue to do that. That is kind of like the cherry on top of the whole thing, getting to continue to do that on Fridays."