Championships are big part of the Middle Georgia sports scene, and that continues on a yearly basis.

From Little League baseball and softball in recent years to high school teams throughout the area and adding Mercer University to the mix, championships are expected in Middle Georgia.

The Warner Robins American Little League teams recently have become world powers in both baseball and softball. Warner Robins teams in baseball have made three trips to the Little League World Series, including winning the championship in 2007. The Warner Robins softball teams won world titles in 2009 and 2010.

But the championships don’t end there in Middle Georgia; they work their way up the athletics ladder.

Mercer University

The Bears have 16 intercollegiate athletics teams, eight on the men’s side and eight on the women’s side.

The eight men’s teams are baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer and tennis. The eight women’s teams are basketball, cross country, golf, sand volleyball, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Mercer competes in the 10-team Atlantic Sun Conference, an NCAA Division I conference, and the Bears’ basketball team captured its first postseason non-conference tournament last season when it won the CollegeInsider.com Tournament title.

The school will return football to its program in 2013 as head coach Bobby Lamb’s team plays its first game, ending a 70-year hiatus. Mercer’s facilities are: men’s and women’s basketball (Hawkins Arena), football/lacrosse (Moye Family Complex), baseball (Claude Smith Field), softball (Sikes Field), men’s and women’s soccer (Bear Field), sand volleyball (Mercer Sand Volleyball Complex), men’s and women’s tennis (LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center), men’s golf (Brickyard at Riverside), women’s golf (Idle Hour Course) and cross country (Georgia Industrial Children’s Home).

High schools

There are 22 high schools that have athletics teams in the five-county area, and those teams are split into the Georgia High School Association and Georgia Independent Schools Association.

In Bibb County, the GHSA teams are Central, First Presbyterian Day School, Howard, Northeast, Rutland, Southwest and Westside. The GISA teams in the county are Covenant, Central Fellowship Christian, Mount de Sales, Tattnall Square, Stratford and Windsor academies.

In Houston County, the GHSA teams are Houston County, Northside, Perry, Veterans and Warner Robins, while the Westfield School competes in the GISA.

Jones County, Peach County and Mary Persons (Monroe County) also compete in the GHSA.

Warner Robins and Northside have built powerhouse football programs in the GHSA throughout the years, and Peach County has joined them recently. Mary Persons is a traditional power as well.

In the GISA, Tattnall Square has won 11 championships in football since 1998, but the school also routinely adds championships in baseball and basketball, while Stratford’s girls basketball team and tennis and soccer programs are also powers.

Golf

Bibb County

Barrington Hall Golf Club: (478) 757-8358

Bowden Golf Course: (478) 742-1610

The Brickyard at Riverside: (478) 477-6765

Healy Point Country Club: (478) 746-2411

Idle Hour Club: (478) 477-1724

Oakview Golf & Country Club: (478) 785-1833

Houston County

Houston Lake Country Club: (478) 218-5253

Houston Springs Golf Club: (478) 988-8200

International City Golf Club: (478) 322-0276

Perry Country Club: (478) 987-1033

Pine Oaks Golf Course: (478) 923-7334

Landings Golf Club: (478) 932-5222

Waterford Golf Club: (478) 328-7533

Jones County

Lake Jonesco Golf Course: (478) 986-3206

Monroe County

The Club at River Forest: (478) 974-0974

Forsyth Golf Club: (478) 994-5328

Peach County

Pine Needles Country Club: (478) 825-3816

Tennis

Bibb County

John Drew Smith Tennis Center: (478) 474-5075

Tattnall Tennis Center: (478) 751-9196

Houston County

Tanner Park: (478) 929-1916

Ted Wright Park: (478) 929-1916

Jones County

South Complex: (478) 742-3535

Peach County

North Peach Park: (478) 956-1891

South Peach Park: (478) 825-5197

Bowling

Bibb County

Gold Cup Bowling Center: (478) 781-2096

Houston County

Gold Cup Bowling Center: (478) 922-3054

Robins Bowling Center: (478) 926-2112