Hendersonville High School
Encyclopedia
Hendersonville High School (HHS) is one of two public high schools located in Hendersonville
, Sumner County
, Tennessee
. The principal is Joni Worsham, a former assistant principal at the school. Two middle schools fill into Hendersonville High: Ellis Middle School and Hawkins Middle School.
The school's colors have been black and gold ever since the first Commando football team in 1941, but then later added 2 more colors to represent class colors, where Silver is Freshmen, Black is Sophomores, White is Juniors, and Gold is Seniors. Vanderbilt's football program provided the first ever Commando football team with older, used jerseys. The black and gold colors have remained ever since. Hendersonville is known as the Commando
s because 54 men were sent to fight in World War II
. When they came back as veteran commandos the name stuck with the school and became the official mascot.
Hendersonville participates in 5A level sports as a part of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association
, and maintains continued success in its athletic programs, including track, swimming, softball, bowling, football, wrestling, lacrosse, hockey, soccer, football, marching band, and basketball. The school has a storied rivalry with two schools, Beech Senior High School
and Gallatin High School
. It also has a relatively new rivalry with Station Camp High School
.
According to a rumor passed down since the seventies, the original high school, located nearby on main street, was haunted. The current Hendersonville High School is not believed to be haunted, but the original supposedly haunted building is now the local Ellis Middle School.
Taylor Swift
attended until she left the school to begin homeschooling on her tour bus. The school's auditorium was renamed in Swift's honor after she contributed funds to refurbish the lighting and sound equipment.
The city of Hendersonville has also been named among the top 10 cities for families to live in the United States by Family Circle Magazine. The magazine gave Hendersonville High School a gold star for 315 seniors who logged around 20,000 hours of community service.
The above teams have played in 25 contests and won 12 state championships, the most in Sumner County Schools.
games are held at Paul Decker Field. The on-campus stadium is named after retired principal Paul Decker, and has a capacity of 5,500 spectators. Before home games, players walk around the field in what is known as the "Commando Walk". In inclement weather, the Commandos practice in the Steven Chaussey field house, a 60 by 40 yard (55 m by 37 m) practice facility. They also work out in their workout facility called the "Iron Bunker". The Commandos have also played in 14 post-season bowl games. Their record in those games is 9-5. The last time they played in a bowl game, the Commandos faced Father Ryan and beat them to 17-14 in the Bellevue Exchange Bowl. That win pushed the Commando's record over .500 to a 6-5 for the season.
The 2010/2011 HHS boys golf team won 64 of their matches while losing 4. They are the 2010 district golf champs, the 2010 Regional golf champs, And the 8 man team, consisting of 2 seniors, 2 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 2 Freshman. Went on to win the 2010 state Championship. Becoming the first team in school history to do so. By the margin of 5 strokes over Houston.
Hendersonville High School has a strong soccer tradition. The boys soccer team has now won five Tennessee State Championships as of 2010. The girls team won the 2008 the Regional Championship. The boy's team are the 2009 District, Region, and Sectional Champions. The boys made a sixth straight State Tournament appearance in 2009, with a loss in the first round. Hendersonville Soccer also has a soccer-specific facility, called "The Field of Dreams", located in Drakes Creek Park.
The 2010 Boys Soccer team capped off a great season by winning the state championship against Centennial 4-2. This is their first state final win since 1998.
The boys team has won the district championship 11 years out of 12 with a runner up finish in 2002. The team went to the State Championship game in 2005 and 2006 and lost in overtime on penalty kicks two years in a row. As of 2009, the girls team has won the regional championship every year since 1994.
Hendersonville Soccer Boys record:
Hendersonville, Tennessee
Hendersonville is a city in Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, on Old Hickory Lake. The population was 51,372 at the 2010 census. Hendersonville is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located 18 miles northeast of downtown Nashville. The city was settled around 1784 by...
, Sumner County
Sumner County, Tennessee
Sumner County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 130,449. Its county seat is Gallatin, but its largest town is Hendersonville...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. The principal is Joni Worsham, a former assistant principal at the school. Two middle schools fill into Hendersonville High: Ellis Middle School and Hawkins Middle School.
The school's colors have been black and gold ever since the first Commando football team in 1941, but then later added 2 more colors to represent class colors, where Silver is Freshmen, Black is Sophomores, White is Juniors, and Gold is Seniors. Vanderbilt's football program provided the first ever Commando football team with older, used jerseys. The black and gold colors have remained ever since. Hendersonville is known as the Commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
s because 54 men were sent to fight in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. When they came back as veteran commandos the name stuck with the school and became the official mascot.
Hendersonville participates in 5A level sports as a part of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association
Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association
The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association is an organization which administers junior and senior high school sporting events in Tennessee.-Description:...
, and maintains continued success in its athletic programs, including track, swimming, softball, bowling, football, wrestling, lacrosse, hockey, soccer, football, marching band, and basketball. The school has a storied rivalry with two schools, Beech Senior High School
Beech Senior High School
Beech Senior High School is one of the three high schools in Hendersonville, Tennessee. The current school officially opened on August 27, 1981, under the direction of Mr. Merroll N. Hyde. In 1986, the first female principal in Sumner County, Mrs. Mary Clouse, became the principal. Mr...
and Gallatin High School
Gallatin High School
Gallatin High School , located at 700 Dan P. Herron Drive, Gallatin, Tennessee, is a public high school. Ron Becker is the current Principal.-History:Gallatin High School has a storied rivalry with Hendersonville High School...
. It also has a relatively new rivalry with Station Camp High School
Station Camp High School
Station Camp High School , located at 1040 Bison Trail, Gallatin, Tennessee, is a public high school that opened in 2002. In 2006, a little over 1,250 students attended the school...
.
According to a rumor passed down since the seventies, the original high school, located nearby on main street, was haunted. The current Hendersonville High School is not believed to be haunted, but the original supposedly haunted building is now the local Ellis Middle School.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
attended until she left the school to begin homeschooling on her tour bus. The school's auditorium was renamed in Swift's honor after she contributed funds to refurbish the lighting and sound equipment.
The city of Hendersonville has also been named among the top 10 cities for families to live in the United States by Family Circle Magazine. The magazine gave Hendersonville High School a gold star for 315 seniors who logged around 20,000 hours of community service.
Athletics
Hendersonville is known state-wide for its very successful sports teams. Year(s) in parentheses indicate the year(s) the team played for a TSSAA state championship. Year(s) in bold indicate year(s) the team won a TSSAA state championship.- Baseball (2000)
- Boys' Basketball
- Girls' Basketball
- Bowling (2002, 2003, 2004, 2008)
- Girl's Bowling (2008)
- Football (1998, 2001, 2010)
- Boys' Golf (2009, 2010, 2011)
- Girls' Golf
- Boys' Soccer (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2010)
- Girls' Soccer (2003)
- Softball (2000)
- Boys' Tennis
- Girls' Tennis
- Boys' Track (1974)
- Girls' Track
- Wrestling
- Volleyball
- Boys Swimming
- Girls Swimming
The above teams have played in 25 contests and won 12 state championships, the most in Sumner County Schools.
Football
Hendersonville's football team is decent. They can be very good, however, they always manage to crack when it comes to state titles, and have yet to win one. Hendersonville's home footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games are held at Paul Decker Field. The on-campus stadium is named after retired principal Paul Decker, and has a capacity of 5,500 spectators. Before home games, players walk around the field in what is known as the "Commando Walk". In inclement weather, the Commandos practice in the Steven Chaussey field house, a 60 by 40 yard (55 m by 37 m) practice facility. They also work out in their workout facility called the "Iron Bunker". The Commandos have also played in 14 post-season bowl games. Their record in those games is 9-5. The last time they played in a bowl game, the Commandos faced Father Ryan and beat them to 17-14 in the Bellevue Exchange Bowl. That win pushed the Commando's record over .500 to a 6-5 for the season.
Golf
The 2009/2010 HHS boys golf team won 58 matches and lost only 1 match in the state of Tennessee. They are the 2009 District golf champs, the 2009 Regional golf champs, and the seven man team, consisting of 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 2 Sophomores, and 2 Freshmen went on to become the 2009 State Runner-Up for boys high school golf in Tennessee.The 2010/2011 HHS boys golf team won 64 of their matches while losing 4. They are the 2010 district golf champs, the 2010 Regional golf champs, And the 8 man team, consisting of 2 seniors, 2 juniors, 2 sophomores, and 2 Freshman. Went on to win the 2010 state Championship. Becoming the first team in school history to do so. By the margin of 5 strokes over Houston.
Soccer
The 2010 Boys Soccer team capped off a great season by winning the state championship against Centennial 4-2. This is their first state final win since 1998.
The boys team has won the district championship 11 years out of 12 with a runner up finish in 2002. The team went to the State Championship game in 2005 and 2006 and lost in overtime on penalty kicks two years in a row. As of 2009, the girls team has won the regional championship every year since 1994.
Hendersonville Soccer Boys record:
- State Champions: 1983, 1986, 1989, 1998, 2010
- State Runner Up: 1984, 1985, 1990, 2005, 2006
- State Final Four: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2010
- State Tournament Appearances: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- Region Champions: 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
- Region Runner Up: 1995, 2000
- District Champions: 1997 1998, 1999, 2000 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
- District Runner Up: 1990, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2010
Notable alumni
- Taylor SwiftTaylor SwiftTaylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
, Pop-Country music recording artist (Swift attended Hendersonville High School, but graduated from the Aaron Academy's home schooling program.) - James WilhoitJames WilhoitJames Howell Wilhoit II was the placekicker for the University of Tennessee football team between 2003 and 2006.- High school :...
, Professional football kicker for Team Tennessee of the All American Football LeagueAll American Football LeagueThe All American Football League was a proposed professional American football league. The league, which was to combine a professional pay structure with the requirement that all players be college graduates, had originally been scheduled to start in the spring of 2007, but later postponed its...
, former University of Tennessee placekicker. - Carlene CarterCarlene CarterCarlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....
, Singer-songwriter, daughter of June Carter Cash - Dewayne Dotson, Retired Professional Linebacker, Drafted by the Dallas CowboysDallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
in Round 4 of the 1994 NFL Draft1994 NFL DraftThe 1994 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 1994. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and...
. - Aaron Farmer, Keyboardist and programmer for various CCM and Pop artist.
- Max T. BarnesMax T. BarnesMax T. Barnes is a country music singer, songwriter, studio musician, and producer. He is the son of songwriter Max D. Barnes. He has written songs on albums that have sold over 20 million records. He currently writes for Ray Stevens Music publishing and lives in Hendersonville,...
, Songwriter, record producer, studio musician