Matt Cain Looks Forward to UGA
Matt Cain moved to Monticello when he was in the third grade. A Jasper County High School (JCHS) Class of 2020 senior, his family moved here for his father’s job, at the time as an assistant coach and teacher at the Jasper County Middle School.
Many years later and a few coaching jobs later, Matt is still here with his dad, Coach Buddy Cain now principal at JCHS and his mom Betsy Lynch Cain, a special education teacher at Jasper County PreSchool. His two older brothers, Jeff a University of Georgia (UGA) sophomore and Chad a UGA graduate student now live in Athens. His maternal grandparents, Larry and Nancy Lynch are from Jasper County and also live here.
Athletics run deep in the Cain family. Coach Cain, Mrs. Cain, Matt and his brothers are all athletes. His mom grew up in Jasper County and was a cheerleader and on the tennis team at Piedmont Academy. His brothers were both athletes at JCHS. Jeff played baseball and football for the Hurricanes and Chad was on the baseball team. “We got all the schools covered,” Matt shared.
Playing football and baseball all four years, if he had to choose, Matt would choose baseball. “I like it a little better,” he admitted. A quarterback and a safety receiver for the Hurricanes’ football team, he was a pitcher for the Hurricanes’ baseball team.
“Sports molded me,” Matt shared. He’s played sports since he was young, his dad as his coach at times helping him to develop. “It definitely built a good foundation. It’s helped me build a good friend’s group. Sports teach you how to be in the real world.” Though he won’t be playing collegiate sports, he does hope to play intramural sports.
Ms. Christie McAlum, his precalculus and calculus teacher, is a favorite of Matt’s. “She definitely made sure we got the concepts. She is definitely getting us ready for college,” he told me.
“A lot of people think I have it easier (since his father was his high school principal) but people could tell on me a lot to my dad,” Matt said. Mostly, according to Matt, he applied pressure on himself to do right, to set a good example for others so that he didn’t let himself or his father down.
He participated in loads of extra curricular activities throughout high school, including the Future Business Leaders of American (FBLA), the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Future Farmers of America (FFA), the Beta Club and he was a senior class officer.
His friends, he told me, would probably say he was athletic and outgoing and that he liked to play around a lot. He also likes to meet new people. Pretty sure he is going to prom if the school has one, the hardest part for Matt about the shortened on campus school year was missing baseball. It was one of his favorite things to do in school.
In the fall UGA will be home for Matt. “I always loved it and I stay with Chad and Jeff a lot,” he told me. He did have a back up plan, ‘Ole Miss, but he’s glad not to use it. He will stay on campus the first year to try and learn his way around. “I’m still thinking about it,” he said of which degree program to pursue. “The Ag program maybe,” he added.
Like many seniors of the Class of 2020, Matt found his UGA roommate on social media, through Instagram. “We have similar interests. He likes baseball and he’s from Forsyth County,” he told me. “College is a time to meet new people and get yourself out there, to learn new things,” he told me when explaining why he chose not to room with someone he knew.
A year ago this time, Matt would have been participating in summer football drills getting ready for his senior year of football. Instead, this year when he isn’t hunting, wake boarding, hanging out with his friends or fishing, Matt can be found working at Shady Dale Farms, his grandparents’ family farm.
Growing up in a small town has been a good thing according to Matt.
“The community always comes together. People here support you and watch the football games whether they have kids at the school or not,” he said. “It teaches you how to be nice to each other,” Matt said of living here.
Monticello Baptist Church has also been a strong community for Matt. A member of the church’s youth group, Matt credits the church and the youth group with helping to mold him into who he is, sharing that he has gained confidence and learned leadership in his youth group and at his church.
“I can’t wait to go,” Matt said of going to college. “I’ll miss home, but change is good. I love Athens.” The youngest of three and the last to be living at home, he admits his parents might be, in his words, super sad about him leaving while simultaneously being proud and supportive of him.
