On November 29 and 30, 16 teams from the Land of Lincoln will converge on Northern Illinois University’s Huskie Stadium to vie for Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state football championships.
When that two-day post-Thanksgiving smorgasbord of prep gridiron action in DeKalb ends, eight teams will emerge as 2013 IHSA state football titlists.
From exultation to despair.
That time-honored phrase was probably never so appropriate than when used to describe the paradoxical events that occurred last weekend in Washington, Illinois.
The heights of joy were perhaps never greater than when the Washington Community High School (WCHS) football team soundly defeated Normal University High School, 41-7, on Saturday, November 16 to advance to an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class 5A semifinal game with top-seeded Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.
It had been 28 years since the 12-0 Panthers had last advanced to that playoff round – long before the players were even born. As such, the cause for their great celebration was more than understandable.
However, that joyous feeling went abjectly sour less than 24 hours later when a massive EF-4 tornado with winds of 170 to 190 miles per hour ripped through Washington, leveling everything in its path. More than 400 homes were damaged or destroyed, including the homes of seven WCHS football players, coaches and teachers. In addition to mere physical damage to buildings, the human element was also was tragically scathed, as 120 people were injured and one person died from the horrific tornado.
While it probably would be easiest to simply throw in the towel and feel sorry for themselves, several members of the WCHS football coaching staff and players instead did a very remarkable and selfless thing.
Those individuals banded together, lifted themselves up by the bootstraps, and did everything they could to clean up the community that 15,410 tight-knit denizens have long called “home.”
Under the direction of WCHS head football coach Darrell Kroch, on Monday, November 18, that steadfast group dug the community out of the debris, piled up the resulting tons of garbage, and generally cleaned up everything in sight.
Making the story even more remarkable is the fact that members of both the team that WCHS defeated (University) and the team that it will now play in the upcoming semifinals (Sacred Heart-Griffin) have joined in the effort to assist the devastated Washington community.
Taking into consideration the fact that many of the Washington vehicles are either destroyed or inaccessible, Sacred Heart-Griffin will provide two charter buses to transport Washington fans to the November 23 semifinal game in Springfield. In addition, Sacred Heart-Griffin will feed both the WCHS team and the fans, and has organized other fundraisers and drives associated with the game to help their opponent.
And responding to the fact that WCHS’ home field is no longer practice-worthy, the University High School football program invited the Panthers to Normal, providing them full access to top-flight athletic facilities at Illinois State University. In addition, they gave them some new clothes, and provided them a lunch at ISU’s Horton Field House that not only nourished their bodies, but their souls as well.
Under the leadership of Executive Director Marty Hickman, the IHSA has also become involved, as it will donate $1.00 for each ticket sold at the Washington-Sacred Heart-Griffin game to the American Red Cross’ relief effort for this disaster.
While sports are indeed an integral part of the high school experience and friendly rivalries are a component of that dynamic, through their many acts of humanity, these three schools, the IHSA and many others have selflessly helped their fellow man by lifting the Washington, Illinois community out of the ashes of despair. And as a result, everyone is clearly the better for it.
The contest, scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on November 23 at Sacred Heart Griffin’s campus in Springfield, will be aired live by Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Springfield’s WCIX and WAOE & WYZZ in Peoria. Click here to watch the game on the NFHS Network. Viewers are encouraged to use the hashtag #TeamIL in social media to help raise awareness.
This week’s School of the Week is Sycamore High School from Illinois. Spartan TV joined the NFHS Network School Broadcast Program this past spring. In that short amount of time, they have streamed senior night, graduation and numerous sporting events. David Olson, co-advisor to Spartan TV with Ralph Helm, shared a little bit about the program and his students with me:
Sycamore High School joined the SBP in April of 2013. During the remaining portion of that school year, we used it as testing for various events. We streamed most softball and baseball games during that time, and many concerts. We also streamed our Senior Awards Night and Graduation Ceremony. During the summer we worked to improve our program and market it as SpartanTV. Our workload has increased with the start of this year. During the fall season, we streamed all of our varsity and sophomore volleyball games, as well as all home sophomore and varsity football games. Our football team has advanced to the semi-finals of our state championship. During this time, we traveled to their away playoff games. We have had many people in our community who just love the service we provide. They love being able to cheer on our [teams] from the comfort of their living rooms. We also streamed soccer games when the schedule allowed and all of our concert series in our auditorium. With the start of the winter season, we will be streaming all varsity level basketball games (both boys and girls) and as many sophomore level games. Next week alone we will be hosting a basketball tournament where we will be producing 16 events! We also will be streaming all home wrestling meets.
SpartanTV is an extra-curricular activity that is ran by our schools Technical Entertainment Crew. We have about 30 students in that organization and they all volunteer for SpartanTV positions. This group is open to any of our 1,300 students. We have found as the year goes on, we are having more student interested in joining our team.
Our students have benefited greatly from the SBP, they basically are running a production themselves. Myself and our co-advisor, Ralph Helm, are there to answer questions. The student take pride in their work, and are always working to do a better job on the next production.
We recently started using Social Media a lot to promote our events. We have Twitter and Instagram accounts and we encourage people to interact with us throughout events. We use both @spartvn and #spartantv on both of them. This really has allowed our students to realize that people are actually watching their work. We also have started off with the single camera and are now looking at expanding to multiple HD cameras. This will allow for us to have more students involved in every production. Myself and fellow students also look at other SBP schools to see what they are doing and how we can improve. One in particular we constantly are watching is CHS Live in Cleveland, TN.
On November 22, six teams will vie for Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state football championships in historic Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
When the smoke clears, three teams will emerge with Badger State gridiron crowns. Interestingly, all three matchups are between teams with identical records.
This football tripleheader will begin at 10:00 a.m. with the WIAA Division 3 state title game between Greendale (13-0) and Monona Grove (13-0).
The Division 2 state championship will be decided in a 1:00 p.m. game between Oshgosh North (13-0) and Kimberly (13-0).
At 4:00 p.m., 12-1 Arrowhead will tangle with 12-1 Franklin in the Division 1 state championship game.
On November 20 and 21, 24 teams in six enrollment classifications will compete in the Virginia High School League (VHSL) girls volleyball semifinals, all hoping to punch their tickets to the November 23rd state championships.
Those Old Dominion State matchups will be held in the Stuart C. Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Click here to view the complete VHSL Volleyball Championship schedule and watch all of the matches live.
Congrats to Cleveland High School in Cleveland, Tennessee, this week’s School Broadcast Program School of the Week!
Cleveland High School’s program, CHSLive, has been a member of the School Broadcast Program since 2010. They have been an excellent example of how the program can work and consistently push the envelope in their coverage. Currently, CHSLive streams all home and away football games, all home basketball and wrestling matches, select volleyball, soccer, baseball, and softball games. They also stream events such as graduation, Veteran’s Day events, the band Christmas concert, and other activities.
Below is a quick Q&A with teacher advisor, Jon Souders.
* Is the SBP part of a class or club at Cleveland? Who can participate?
The School Broadcast Program is part of the Broadcasting Courses at CHS. We offer three levels of Broadcasting under the Tennessee Career and Technical Education course standards. Any student wishing to be in the Broadcasting Program has the opportunity to register for the intro level. The 2nd and 3rd level students are the ones who work directly with the SBP and CHSLive.
* How many students participate in the program?
Per year, over 150 students participate in the Broadcasting Courses, with at least half of those somehow working with CHSLive. For away football games we typically take 4-5 students. Home games require 12-14 students since we have a much larger setup.
* Have any of your students gone on to broadcasting programs in college or related jobs/internships?
We currently have students studying broadcasting at Full Sail University, Savannah College of Art and Design, Emory University, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Middle Tennessee State University, and various other colleges. They have told me how well prepared they are based on the experience of live production they received in high school. One of the students was able to get an internship at MTSU as a sophomore since she had participated in live production already. Several other students are working with local television stations and producing independent films. Since the launch of CHSLive, we now have more students than ever wanting to go into Broadcast Journalism or Television Production in college and future careers. Also, we now have a Dual Enrollment agreement with Lee University, a local fully accredited private university. Junior and Seniors who are in the Broadcasting 3 course and working with CHSLive, are able to receive full college credit that can be transferred to any university.
* How has your school/students benefitted from participating in the program?
Our school has benefited tremendously since we joined the SBP. We have had numerous articles and news stories written about the program. Schools across the county have called asking how we stream and produce live events. We received the 2012-2013 Tennessee Outstanding Career and Technical Education Program of the Year award, in large part due to the SBP. This is an award given to only one CTE program in the entire state. The SBP has given our school state and national recognition.
The students in the SBP are getting amazing hands on experience which will prepare them to be better problem solvers and communicators regardless of the college major they choose. Our students’ families have probably benefited the most by being able to watch their children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc., play sports throughout the year. Recently we heard a story about a woman who lives in Argentina who was able to watch her granddaughter play soccer for the first time via the live stream. We have another student who plays football and his family watches from four different states every Friday night.
* Anything else unique you’d like to share about your program?
This year we added a Blimp Cam to our live stream. 
We have a 13-ft remote controlled blimp that has a camera with pan/tilt controls which can capture any outdoor event for a really unique view on the live stream. In preparation for basketball, we just added a camera behind the basketball goal and are experimenting with wireless HD transmission systems to put cameras in more unique places. We also have a mobile production trailer in which we broadcast from for our larger events. This trailer is completely equipped for live production and has room for a director, graphics operator, and producer.
This season we added a full-time sideline reporter for football. She provides us with score updates around the region, injury reports, interviews with students, and a coach’s interview at halftime and the end of the game.
The School Broadcast Program is entirely student produced from the commentary to graphics to camera operators. I simply provide the students with the tools, and they take it and go.
The Westminster Schools was this week’s School Broadcast Program School of the Week!
Westminster’s program, also known as WCAT, has been a part of the School Broadcast Program since the beginning in 2010 and is currently in its fourth fall season.
WCAT is offered as an extracurricular program and any student from third to 12th grade can get involved. WCAT produces more than 150 events a year with the help of teacher advisor Daniel Searl who oversees the program.
“I help coordinate the operation,” said Searl. “But it’s truly a student-driven program. They decide, direct, create and deliver the WCAT programming.”
In any given year, 40-50 students may be involved with the program. A group of 15 core students make up the Varsity Broadcast Team that is responsible for premier events, such as Friday night football games.
“[The School Broadcast Program] is a fantastic hands-on experience,” Searl continued. “Students learn real-world skills. It’s also a great opportunity to work across age groups. Watching the high school sophomore “coach” up the sixth grader on camera or on directing is fun to see.”
Two of WCAT’s alumni are currently working in media at their respective colleges. Wiley Ballard is a director and play-by-play for Georgia Tech baseball on campus radio station WREK. Sam Bondurant works in Sports Information at the University of North Carolina.
To learn more about how your school can join the School Broadcast Program, email sbp@nfhsnetwork.com.
Want to be featured as a School Broadcast Program School of the Week? Tag your behind the scenes pictures of your broadcast team at work during a production with #WeAreHighSchool on Twitter, Instagram or send them to us on Facebook. The selected School of the Week photo is then featured as the face of the School Broadcast Program for a week on the NFHS Network home page.
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