Julie Mealer Seabolt

Julie Mealer Seabolt is all about teamwork. At Fannin County High School, and before, Julie certainly enjoyed a large portion of success at the team level. Her individual accomplishments, however, have earned her a ticket for admission to the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame, class of 2015. Julie grew up in Mineral Bluff on the eastern side of Fannin County. She began playing organized basketball and softball in the first grade and never stopped until a knee injury ended her playing career at North Georgia College. Julie’s first organized basketball team was the East Side team in the Fannin County Training League. She began playing for East Side when she was seven years old. The coach of the team was her mother, Johnnie Mealer. It was at East Side that the nucleus of the 1992-93 Fannin County High School state championship team of nearly 10 years later began playing together. Julie’s teammates at East Side included Tina Davis, April Pack, Melissa Pierce and Shannon Dillinger, all of whom would play vital roles in the success of the Fannin County High girls teams of the early 1990s. Those early teams were quite successful, advancing to the state tournament for girls 10 and under one season. The tournament was played in Savannah and, while the girls did not bring home a championship, they did pick up valuable experience in competing against the strongest competition available to them. Julie made the varsity squad at Fannin County High School in her freshman year of 1989-90. At mid-season of that first year she became a starter and was a starter for the remainder of her high school career. During her four years at the school, the Fannin County girls won a total of 91 games and lost only 21 for a winning percentage of 81%. On a team level, her career reached its apex in 1992-93 when the girls had a record of 27-4 and won the first team state championship in any sport in the history of athletics in Fannin County. When asked about the highlights of her high school career, Julie immediately talks about the team accomplishments. She quickly cites the four victories over Gainesville High during the 1992-93 season as a high point of her career. When pressed about individual highlights, Julie reluctantly reveals that she did score 41 points during her sophomore year in a game vs Fairmount High. Julie Mealer Seabolt’s individual accomplishments at Fannin County High are legendary. In three and one half years, she scored a total of 1403 points, a school record. And in the same period she snatched a total of 1096 rebounds, also a school record. During her senior season of 1992-93 she averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds per game leading her mates to the state title. In 1992-93, Julie was named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Atlanta Tip-Off Club Class AA all-state second team. The Rome-based Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club selected her as the Northwest Georgia girls Most Valuable Player that season. At the end of the season, she was selected to play in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star basketball game. Fannin County High School honored Julie by retiring her jersey number following her high school career. Considered a solid college prospect, Julie accepted a full scholarship to play basketball at North Georgia College. She competed there for one season, but her career was cut short when she suffered a serious knee injury early in her second year at North Georgia. Julie and her husband James make their home in Epworth. She continues to stay active by playing softball and tennis. She has one daughter, Josie, attending Mercer University in Macon and another daughter, Kyla Grace Seabolt, who is currently in the 8th grade. Julie is quick to pass along her opinion that Kyla will soon be the next girls basketball phenom at Fannin County High School. Julie is employed by Wind Stream Communications, a company who provides a number of voice and data network communication services to businesses throughout the United States. There will soon be two plaques celebrating the accomplishments of Julie Mealer Seabolt on the wall at the Fannin County Recreation Center. Her 1992-93 Fannin County High School girls basketball team was inducted in the class of 2014 and Julie, the consummate team player, will soon have her own plaque as an individual member of the class of 2015.