Offering a heartfelt thank you

Fall sports are coming to a close; just one local volleyball team has anything left in their postseason, two football games are happening this Friday, the cross country state championship was Saturday, and women’s golf has finished, as we turn our eyes to Thanksgiving turkeys, Black Friday shopping, and the beautiful winter weather… or at least North Carolina’s version of that.

But, as I mentioned, some of those seasons aren’t over yet — and this isn’t me writing those teams off yet, either. My team, who I couldn’t do this job without, and I will still be there covering those games. Instead, this is just a bit of reflection from your local sports editor before we quickly transition from fall to winter sports seasons.

You’ve probably seen me at one of your kids’ games. If you haven’t, I apologize. If you’re an athletic director or coach, you’ve received an email, text, or phone call from me by now. My signature “Hey, Coach —” intro lets you know that it’s me, Brandt Young, who is texting or emailing you. I give everyone the respect they deserve, because they make what I do easier, and a lot more fun.

I pride myself in my passion for sports. I write this column on a Sunday evening as I have NFL Red Zone on my second monitor and the sound coming through my headphones — so I never miss a touchdown. I brag and I brag about how cool my job is. I tell everyone who will listen to me that my job allows me to just… watch sports. And, with that, I get to tell the stories of those sports and those who play them.

That JV lineman that didn’t see the field but for two plays? I saw him. I tried my best to get his name into my story. Your team’s goaltender that pitched another shutout? You best believe I’m going to highlight him. A freshman is starting varsity for your volleyball team? Let me check MaxPreps for her name and stats so I can put those in there, too.

I’ve learned the storylines of Sampson County sports. I’ve learned the rivalries, who is the best in what sport, historically, who has new coaches, and just the general pulse of each program. My goal is to eventually compile the all-time win/loss records of each school in each sport, but that is a passion project that will take some time.

It’s not just all me, though, like I mentioned earlier. I have a great team to help me out. Daron Barefoot and Robert Taylor help me out with their stories about local youngsters like you wouldn’t believe. I’d put our sports team — regardless of how small we are — up against any sports team in the state, and we’d produce better content 10 out of 10 times.

But, I’m not perfect. I’ve failed you and your kids at points. And I’m here to be transparent about that. I’m new to this — both Sampson County and sports editing. My passion pushes me to be the best I can, but that doesn’t come without errors. Sure, I might have had some grammatical or spelling errors — and if the latter happened on a name, I do truly apologize — but I’ve also failed in the area of overall coverage, too.

There were key matchups I didn’t attend, stories that didn’t fit the paper, and just games or matches my team and I couldn’t get to. Don’t think I just brushed this off as “part of the job” or anything of the sort; I take these kinds of things to heart. I care about every sport and athlete in this county. These are things I think about when my head hits the pillow at night.

I’ve had remorse for not making a game. I’ve had it for less coverage for a sport than others. I’ve even had it for who my Game of the Week was in a Saturday edition. I am not exaggerating when I say that I take these things to heart. I was that kid that didn’t have his name mentioned in the paper. My name wasn’t called on Friday nights. I didn’t get any post-season awards. I know what that’s like. And I’m here to do everything I can to make sure no student-athlete in Sampson County feels the way I did.

This isn’t supposed to just highlight my failures, either. I want to celebrate my own personal wins — regardless of what happened on the field or court.

I’ve gotten to experience a lot in the last few months. I’ve worked for 12 hours straight in a day to make sure a volleyball team’s game got covered. I drove to Sampson County early on a Saturday morning to cover a football story in the pre-season after being at the school until 10:30 the night before. I’ve worked against very tight deadlines to make sure when you woke up on a Saturday morning, your team’s game was on the front page of the sports section. I’ve been to three straight Monday night soccer games which saw the home team win. I’ve been on the radio, a dream of mine as a child, multiple times now — whether on Tuesday nights to cover all of the area sports, or on Friday nights to lend my expertise to Coach Sawvel and the team over at WCLN.

All of that, I can truly say, is a dream for me. As a child, I played five sports a year, with two seasons having two sports apiece. I’ve only ever known sports. Sure, I’ve “made it my personality,” but I don’t care. I love sports. Never once does this feel like work to me, nor am I truly bothered by “having” to cover a game at the last minute. I’ll even drive to St. Pauls to cover the SAC-6 championship on a Friday night if I need to.

So, I write all of this to tell you — the parents and student-athletes, plus anyone I have had the pleasure of working with in my time here so far — thank you. Thank you for trusting me and my team to cover your teams. Thank you for understanding that we don’t purposely not cover a game. Thank you for reading all of the stories we put out. Without you, we are non-existent. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I hope I have served you well so far. I am always open for criticism, corrections, or just to talk about sports. I don’t care who you are — the CEO of Amazon or an aspiring athlete that has a passion for sports. I’m always reachable, personable, and I can take whatever you give me.

Things are going to wind down just a little bit here shortly, but that doesn’t mean the stories will. Let’s finish out fall and get our local basketball seasons underway. And ask me about my basketball career if you ever catch me out-and-about if you want a chuckle.