My oldest daughter Gretchen and her family live in a small town in west Tennessee called Adamsville.

Movie buffs may remember Adamsville and McNary County as the home and setting for the movie “Walking Tall” about legendary Tennessee sheriff Bufford Pusser.

Gretchen has 3 children, Jordan age 16, Anderson 12, and Eli age 4. Husband and father Steven Lambert is a teacher at Adamsville High School and the school’s baseball coach.

With a father professionally involved in sports, family involvement runs high. Jordan and Anderson both play basketball and 4 year old Eli has taken up officiating. Yep, at age 4 Eli is a budding basketball referee, at least in his mind.

eli lambert adamsville high school tennessee

eli lambert adamsville high school tennessee, copyright, jacksonsun.com

Gretchen bought Eli an official referee shirt and one of her friends cut it down (a lot) to fit Eli. All the local referees have taken to Eli and gave him several whistles, an official TSSAA patch, and some other referee goodies.

Eli knows not to blow his whistle while the game is going on but he does get down on the sidelines and mimic the official calls. The big referees take him back into their locker room during halftime to have a chat. They are all very impressed with his knowledge of the game and all the calls he can make.

Eli Lambert runs the sidelines during a local basketball game

Eli Lambert runs the sidelines during a local basketball game, copyright, jacksonsun.com

Eli has been featured twice now in area newspapers.

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