Who could imagine a community without FHC Sports Report? It’s a group of student journalists who work day in and day out to provide all the information regarding athletics at FHC and more. What started as only an idea has now become a resource that is used by many throughout Ranger Country, the state, the country, and the world.

As The Central Trend created its website and began to increase in popularity, it came to fruition that a large amount of the followers the group had created was interested in the sports stories that were being provided.

“It got to the point where the sports stories were beginning to overwhelm the regular stories,” said The Central Trend teacher/advisor Mr. George. “We looked at the views and saw that there was a serious following for sports.”

It was at this time that Mr. George decided it would be a good idea for FHC Sports Report to become a group of its own. This would be a way for sports stories and non-sports related stories to thrive on their own, without one overpowering the other.

“Coach George brought the idea to a small group of us who were interested in writing,” quoted former FHC Sports Report editor-in-chief Jake Heilman. “He mentioned that it would be cool for FHC to have an “ESPN” that covered all things Ranger sports.”

Along with Jake Heilman, writers such as Sam Hopkins, Joe Freihofer, and other writers saw the opportunity that was presented to them and took it to another level. While FHC Sports Report’s first year did not look as organized as it does now, the fact that a new group was created with the sole purpose of covering sports was huge.

After the first year on its own, FHC Sports Report began to cover more and more athletics at FHC. In order to cover those sports, more writers were needed to get all of the work covered, written, and published. Each semester, the class saw more and more students willing to become members of FHC Sports Report, thus allowing them to cover additional teams on the varsity and lower levels.

“I took over as editor-in-chief for FHC Sports Report’s third year,” former editor-in-chief Molly Donovan stated. “At the time, we were still a branch of The Central Trend. My goal as editor-in-chief was to make FHC Sports Report a name for itself. We focused on increasing our social media presence, providing coverage for all sports at all levels, and prioritizing live Tweeting for score updates and game information while they were happening.”

Live Tweeting was a game changer for the FHC Sports Report group, for the play-by-play coverage allowed those who weren’t able to make it out to certain events to feel as though they were actually there. As the popularity of FHC Sports Report increased rapidly, so did the demand for more sports coverage, more live updates, more everything Ranger athletics related. An enormous amount of credit needs to be given to all of those involved in the early stages of FHC Sports Report; a lot was asked of these students, and they did not fail to provide it.

At this point, it was clear that FHC Sports Report would be able to thrive on its own. The standards were very high, and they were being met. Keeping up with the most current events and posting a game recap no later than twenty-four hours later was a strict guideline for staff members, and the writers handled the challenge like champions. With reliable standards and a solid grip on how to organize the group, Matthew Mahoney and Jacob Ervin decided to take FHC Sports Report up yet another level.

“Matthew and I put together a plan to make FHC Sports Report its own website outside of The Central Trend,” said former Sports Report editor-in-chief Jacob Ervin. “Our plan was to raise money for the website and spread the word about our new resource to the public.”

With the creation of the new website, the public was provided with two very distinct ways of getting updated about things happening at the school: one being The Central Trend and the other being FHC Sports Report. Having its own website allowed FHC Sports Report to finally dominate its own space. The popularity of the website began to spread like wildfire, and views were going up like never before. Yet, there was still a way to make it better.

“I joined FHC Sports Report my sophomore year,” former Sports Report editor-in-chief Tommy Spaletto stated, “and later on in my years at FHC, Matthew Mahoney and a couple other of my friends decided it would be a good idea to diversify our reporting through audio, so we brought back the Ranger Rundown podcast where we would give our thoughts on the sports at FHC.”

Taking advantage of your resources in any given situation is key to finding success in what you do. I don’t think there are any resources that these former editors-in-chief didn’t use. Adding a podcast to what was already a district-wide information resource was like icing on the cake. A final addition to what would finish the masterful piece that is known as FHC Sports Report, and yet new additions are being added to the class every year. FHC Sports Report isn’t something that says I think I’m good enough, but rather it’s something that is constantly evolving and being driven by students who have an unbreakable passion for what they do.

It’s hard to believe that FHC Sports Report ever found its way to having the successes we know today. From where it began to where it is now is due to the hours of hard work put forth by past journalists and maintained by current journalists. The influence that these former high school students were able to create from thin air is nothing short of remarkable.

“The FHC Sports Report is a big part of the community,” said former editor-in-chief Matthew Mahoney, “and the staff should not take that lightly. Because of what we have built over the years, there are high expectations, but what is special about the FHC Sports Report is that it continues to meet and exceed those expectations.”

FHC Sports Report means something to these past students who put in all of the work without expecting any credit. FHC Sports Report means something to the school, and a way for us to share our athletic prowess with the world. FHC Sports Report means something to Ranger Country, as it is the means for informing the community on everything that is FHC athletics. What began as a vision in a classroom has turned into something that is now used by hundreds to thousands of people every day. FHC Sports Report symbolizes what it means to be a Ranger: maintaining high standards, never being satisfied with one’s ability to perform a task, constantly improving, and always striving to be the best version one can be.