Excel Christian Academy decides to delay the start of their new football program

June 25, 2025

Excel Christian Academy Head of School, Rodney Stewart, announced this past weekend that the school will delay their start for fielding a high school football program until the 2026-27 school year.

ECA had initially planned to start playing nine-man football in August as part of the Georgia Association of Private and Parochial Schools (GAPPS); however, the challenges of launching a completely new program forced school officials to reconsider.

“It is mostly a question of logistics,” stated Stewart. “Getting everything together in such a short amount of time was more challenging than we expected. We decided to start with more planning and organization.”

Veteran head coach Marty Durden was hired in the Spring to lead the Eagles and will remain on staff with Excel as the preparations continue.

“Coach Durden is in this with us for the long haul,” added Stewart. “He recently moved into the community and will continue teaching at Shorter University. His schedule is flexible enough to devote the right energy to the development of our program. We’re a little disappointed that we couldn’t get things going this year, but this plan will be better overall in the long run.”

“Our overall enrollment numbers are up for the first time since Covid, so we believe this is a great time to enhance our athletic offerings,” he added.

Durden noted the additional planning time was a necessity.

“We are starting from scratch. That means building an inventory of equipment, a weight room, and having a proper practice facility are essential. We will get all that organized better with this additional time. We have good athletes and excellent support, so we want to get this right. 

The new head coach also indicated they will begin team development this Fall.

“We will be touching base with the athletes and organizing some practices. We must begin building a trust relationship, and the kids get to know me. I’m thrilled to be involved with Excel and looking forward to what we can accomplish.”