Less than 24 Hours to Start of NC HS FB

PHOTO COURTESY OF DON CALLAHAN

Football version 2012 is just about here!  Yet another off-season has sped by and in less than 24 hours student-athletes from across the state of North Carolina will begin their first official practices of the 2012 season.  The last few years have been good for the local area when it comes to participation deep into the state playoffs.  Garner made it to the 4AA finals before falling short to a talented Summers'-led Greensboro Page squad, while the year before Hillside took home the 4A title and Wake Forest-Rolesville represented the East in the 4AA final against Butler.  As we look toward this season there is a lot of talk about possible deep playoff runs this year as well with a good bit of buzz surrounding the Hornets once again as well as a bit of chatter out of the CAP-8 where a very talented offensive juggernaut in the Wakefield Wolverines led by South Carolina commit Connor Mitch are garnering early attention [Choice plan helps Wakefield football]. It's real early still and even talented teams on paper have to benefit from a lot of things working out to reach the opportunity in the end to play for a state crown.  Regardless of how December turns out I have a feeling we'll see some exciting football here in the area so be sure to get out there and support our local student-athletes when you have the opportunity!

Our area is fortunate to have a number of news-outlets that work hard to support and report on prep student-athletes from around our area and as I understand it two of the larger outlets, WRAL-HighSchoolOT [HighSchooOT Coverage] and The News & Observer [N&O Prep Coverage] will both be accelerating into high gear to provide extensive coverage of the fall season and specifically the beginning of prep football.  HighSchoolOT is advertising 24 hours of coverage beginning at 12:01 AM on Monday, July 30 to follow the start of practice at Leesville Road High School [24 Hours of HSFB kicks off...].  Leesville Road's plan to have an early morning start were reported in the News & Observer by Tim Stevens earlier this week [Leesville Road to start football practice early].  Look for both outlets to provide extensive coverage with the start of practice through the end of the playoffs.  On the Durham scene, look to the Durham Herald-Sun to provide insight into local PAC-6 play.  As always, you can jump over to our FB News Now [FB News Now] page listed at the top of the page and find links to all of these outlets.  Finally, if you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to venture over to CarolinaPreps.com operated by Chris Hughes.  This site has developed over the years and Chris continues to work to introduce ways to interact with the North and South Carolina communities and is looking toward having a weekly radio broadcast focusing on football coverage news from throughout the state [CarolinaPreps.com].


How about BCF4S and the 2012 season?  Well, what I can tell you is that when we can provide some content we'll do just that, but as for the extent of the coverage as it's been over the past two years we'll just have to see how it goes.  So stop by when you have a moment and see what's new - you'll see more coverage than you saw in the off-season and we'll see to what extent coverage develops on a weekly and daily basis this season.  As always, your comments and interaction are appreciated through emails, our Twitter feed, comments after the stories and all of those +1 and other social-media elements.

Finally, I'd once again like to extend our appreciation to those at the News & Observer for providing us over the past two years with access to the use of their incredible photography!  The photogs at the N&O do a great job of capturing the moment which is so important in athletic settings and having the ability to place them within our posts has been incredible.  Thank you again!  For all those that might have seen a photograph that you'd like to have a copy of be sure to head over to the N&O site or simply click on the photograph and you'll find information of how you can own a copy of that or many other photographs taken by the staff associated with the paper.  I'd also like to extend thanks to Don Callahan over at InsideCarolina.com for allowing us the routine use of his photography.  Don for many years has provided some of the most in-depth and in-the-know information on local prep recruiting and specifically in regards to the Tarheel program.  If you happen to be a Tarheel or simply are interested in knowing more about local recruiting take a moment to head over to InsideCarolina and look for Don's work! [InsideCarolina.com]

Photographs courtesy of newsobserver.com (The News & Observer)

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