Full Transcript for Jerit Roser Interview, Emerging Sports Media, Sportsmanship, & Six Divisions of Track?

every every year schools change enrollment. They either go up, go down a little bit. So for competitive balance, we reclassify our schools into one A, two, A, three, A, four, A, five A, and B and C every other year essentially. and that's to just create that competitive balance for postseason. Right. so that we don't have schools with five thousand enrollment playing a school in postseason with two hundred. Right. Right. So, in those there are variations in those because we divide them equally. and it turns out the the top end schools really have the largest discrepancy because you'll have schools with twenty two hundred competing against a school with eleven hundred in postseason. Right. And right now, as it stands, pretty sure tracks the only sport in the postseason that still competes by classification. We we are the last sport that is competing in their historical classifications, those seven. So one A through five A plus B and C. And everyone else competes by division, which essentially classification and division are the same thing. It's a different word. But it's very similar classification is just your basic and and I would just say this. We classify only for postseason purposes, right? Because in the regular season everybody plays everybody. And and that's kind of what we're getting to. So we know what classification is. This rule that was passed in January of twenty-sixt impacts classification for track and field postseason. That's right. So now explain that a little bit to us. So yeah, the the proposal to change track and field from its seven historical classifications into six divisions past this This past January. however, that's a classification proposal. So it actually it it doesn't go into effect until the classification year. So we just classified in the fall of 2025 for the 26, 27, and 27, 28 school years. So we classified then as track and field always does in seven classifications. Right. So the next two years are already spoken for. So Just because we passed this bylaw in January doesn't mean it goes into effect immediately. It's a classification proposal. So it's really only effective in the fall of odd years. So it's going to become effective in the fall of twenty twenty seven. Now it went into our handbook July one of this year because it's passed. It's now a rule. So it's in the handbook. So the confusion is coming from well, we see it in the handbook, but when are we doing it? Well, those divisions are already spoken for, or the classifications, I should say. From the fall of 2025. So in the fall of 2025, our executive committee and our membership passed classifications for the next two years. So 2026, 2027, which is what we're already in, that's already spoken for. 27, 28, already spoken for. So we'll actually see this track and field six division proposal come into play in the spring of 2029. we will make those classifications in the fall of 2027. Right. Right. But that'll be for the next two school years. So twenty twenty eight, twenty nine, and twenty nine thirty. And that would be the first period where we'll have this in place. So yeah, the first time that we will see six divisions of track and field will be the spring of twenty twenty nine. And and and look, we change it's like that because we passed that proposal way early on in the process. Right. And even if we passed it in January of twenty twenty seven, it would go into the book in July of twenty twenty seven, but we're still in the previous classification cycle. Right. So it wouldn't go into effect until spring of twenty twenty nine as well. So the the pr and all those proposals that get passed in January go into the book in July, but depending on what the proposal actually is, it may not go into effect until that time just because it's classification. And since it deals with classification, while those proposals can get passed and go into the book, we don't use them until the fall of odd years. Yeah. So schools, track coaches, you know Parents out there, everyone can plan as normal for the next two years. Everything's staying the same. Yep. but not until twenty twenty nine. We'll see that. Twenty twenty nine, yes. We'll see that state track meet go down into the six divisions. And and at this point, unless something changes, we're gonna do the smallest two divisions on Thursday. So division five, six Thursday, three four on Friday, and one and two on Saturday. That'll be nice to have two a day instead of cramming in three like we do now. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's I think what people don't understand too is we're getting six track meets done on that Thursday. Wow. You know, it's the three girls and then the three boys' track meets. and it takes an abundant amount of officials and volunteers to to pull off all those And it just it just happens to wanna rain every year we're there on Thursday, so that's always fun. We have had the worst luck at the state track meet in the in the past few years. so we're we're hoping this year we're gonna get a good dry weather day. I will say being at those, you do a great job managing with what you're given. I mean, we've seen you out there squeegee in the track just trying to get it ready. We might throw that video up on here. please don't. Just showing that I get PTSD. You're doing whatever you can to make sure those kids can get everything ran that day and not have to cancel it 'cause there's really nowhere else we could put it. Yeah. I mean that's that's my MO is you know, we only have the three days to get those track meets done at LSU. they pack up right after that and head off to SEC's wherever that might be. Whoever might be hosting that. So there is no Sunday to get it done. We don't have any officials for Sunday. Can't get it done on Sunday. Monday the teams pack up for the SEC championship. So we don't have LSU, we don't have their staff. they're all gone. and they're they're, you know, they provide most of our volunteers. And that's that's a great

example of one of the things we try to highlight on this podcast is there's a lot of things that people may not see or understand that go into these events and the things that we do that they're not thinking about that we have to deal with to make sure the best thing happens for the student athletes. Yeah, absolutely. And and look, when I'm when I'm done and gone from this position, somebody's gonna need to figure that out because, you know, my goal is to get the meet in, to make sure that teams are crowned champions, that those individuals have a chance to compete in those individual events and get that state championship medal. you know, that could be their last track meet that they do in their entire lives. And I think most people probably would just say, you know what? It's rain and lightning, we're just gonna call it. It's done. No state track meet. I don't operate that way. I'm gonna do whatever I can do within my power, whether that's combining races, it it's it's not great. But if it's if the alternative is to not do anything and not have the meet, no question. I'm gonna do it. So rest assured, if you're at our state meet, we're gonna get it in. Those kids are gonna be crown champions, the teams are gonna be crowned champions, and we're gonna get that done Saturday night. Yep, all good stuff. Looking forward to that. State track meet in May and we'll have six divisions in twenty twenty nine. That's right. That'll do it for this FAQ segment. If you have an FAQ, please leave us a comment down below so we can answer your FAQ on future episodes. Welcome back into the Beyond Pod where we go inside the LHSAA. Today I'm joined by Mr. Jarrett Roser with Louisiana versus all y'all. Thank you for being here, Jarrett. Yeah, man. My pleasure. first of all, where did you get the idea of Louisiana versus all y'all? so I guess both in terms of a a concept as a whole and the naming dynamic of it. you know, I I worked at newspapers for years. My most recent full time newspaper job was at the Times Pickyuninola.com. which I guess I left in twenty sixteen for a job that kind of fell in my lap working with international students at LSU and helping recruit more students to LSU from around the world. And whenever that happened, like the second interview in that process, I said, Hey, I'd I'd really love to still be involved on the sports side. I have a lot of great relationships around the state, like telling those stories. And so I wanna make sure that there's not going to be any any you know, ill feelings if I'm doing some sports media stuff on the side as well. But I didn't know if I'd have enough time to commit to someone else's schedule. And so initially it was just kind of, you know, a passion passion project side outlet. When I had time to be able to spotlight some sports stories, I would do so. And in the naming dynamic, really, you know, inspired by my affinity for For hip hop and Detroit versus everybody was kind of the original of that style that I had ever seen. of you know, it end you end up seeing Ohio versus the world or whatever and stuff like that. And so I I knew Detroit versus everybody is a clothing brand up there, thought what could be a cool localized vernacular is some of that, and and so we end up Louisiana versus all y'all and then it just kinda kept growing from there into a full fledged and everybody knows it and I I I like just the shirts alone, you probably could sell not to even sports people. But just people hear it and wonder what that is. but no br really cool name. So you were in traditional media before that and kind of kept that into this now, but so what, over a decade now doing this full time? Yeah, so I mean we're just getting to the point where I'm more full go Louisiana versus all y'all. I'd been able fortunately with some other opportunities, not just when I was with you know, Shorelite Education and L S U Global, but when I after the pandemic, when a lot of that company was laid off worldwide and I started getting back more into full time media and, you know, worked for Rivals and on three or prep red zone Louisiana, was still able to to keep growing Louisiana Versoyo on the side. And so now, you know, it ha it has been around for a decade and the the time that I'm putting into it continues to grow every year and, you know, month, day. So you And you've been in high school the whole time. Like you have like gone and go covered LSU and other pro stuff, just Louisiana specific. But what is so special about the high school coverage that you do? I think the the lower the level, the more personal a lot of the relationships and story opportunities are, and the more significance to me it can carry, not in the way that, you know, I think some people maybe are wired that they want the most the most views on a given story or to to be the viral Instagram reel or whatever. But for me, the opportunities to tell the stories of kids that maybe aren't getting told, or the opportunity to put a a kid's name out there that maybe that's the only story that's ever written about them in their athletics career, or maybe they're a legitimate kind of smaller college prospect that hasn't gotten attention from from bigger entities and you being able to put out some highlights or a story a little bit more about them. I hear from college coaches all the time that are are checking out some of the things we're doing with Louisiana Versailles and and see a kid for the first time because it's an under the radar kid that that we spotlighted. And to me, the significance there and I you know, I say for me, but I know for our entire group of of guys that are involved with what we're building, that's more meaningful to us than Yeah. The thing that gets a million views or whatever. I it's pretty cool and it's a it's a great place to do it 'cause you could throw a rock and hit a D one receiver here. Yeah, no. But what do what do you think it is about the state of Louisiana, just the pipeline of pro

athletes, not only football, but mostly football. I know you do a lot with football. but w why do you think that is? Yeah, it I I don't know, honestly. I mean, I think there's such a great culture. I think obviously football is is king in the South and in Louisiana is is right in line with that, the the same as it is around round the Gulf Coast and we we grow up with whether you're playing or not, it seems like everyone in some capacity is around the game and and sees a level of significance and then the guys that are playing, the the competitive nature and the leadership of of some of the great coaches and and great legends of years past that continue to stay around the game and give back and sew into the next generation. You just you see the the meaning that's there for it and everyone always kind of striving to be a part of of that next group and and they kind of see the the blueprint of how to do it in a big way. Yeah, just that history of seeing guys play on Sunday, like people like, that guy's he's he's from an hour away. I I can do that too. I think that's really special and really important for our young student athletes. what it maybe like tell a story or just some moment you have from, you know, the decade you've done this on a sideline, someone you saw that was just like, I know that guy's gonna be good or something special like that that you've you've seen. Yeah, you know. I don't do a good job, especially in the season of remembering past. I'm pretty tunnel vision, but I mean, even just looking at some of these seniors that have become exceptional prospects right now, you know, for for their colleges. You got Nike deals now. Yeah. I mean these guys are making more money than me and respect to them because they're they're far more talented than I am. But I you know, I think back to the first times that And this isn't from the sideline, this is because his his dad, Peyton, Pop Houston's dad, Sean, knew that he was a pretty special young athlete. And I had kind of known Sean a little bit because of their relationship with with Devin White, who ended up playing at LSU and on to the NFL. But I I mean, I think the first video I maybe got sent of Pop was when he was like six years old running around. And so you saw some of it there. when I was doing more work on the the seven on seven side with the old bootleggers, which you know, for folks that aren't familiar, was a a nationally recognizable seven on seven organization in the off seasons. And we took a group when I guess they were freshmen a a fifteen U group that had pop and Easton Royal and some of these other players around the state that have become some of the top w seniors now. And I remember Easton at that point was a really good player, young for his grade, which is, you know, for whether it be Texas or if if Florida or L S U can flip him, that's another level of blessing that he's still young for his grade and and has that much more potential ahead of him. But Easton was a really

talented kid at that point. Just a great feel for the game, really smooth route runner, had a h a way of finding windows and and defenses and and caught anything you threw to him. But he wasn't the kid that he is now in terms of running ten one seven or whatever and the the hundred. That was to this date one of the best things I've seen since I've had this job. It's incredible. I it it's just you You thought it was a superhero on the field. And the kids what? Seventeen? Yeah. It's amazing. The the work he's put in to get to this point and how hungry he remains to continue being better. I I feel like he's the best receiver prospect since I've been around that I've seen come through, which as you mentioned a minute ago was saying quite a bit 'cause we've had some excellent receivers come through this state. But those are two that stand out just kind of because of their the magnitude that they've reached now. But I feel like every year there's whether it be guys that are gonna reach that level or as I mentioned, maybe some some more under the radar players that don't become household names quite the same way, but do prove themselves to be college players that, you know, you show up to some of these high school games on a Friday night and it's he may be a s a sophomore getting into varsity for the first time and you haven't heard of him yet and immediately are asking the coach, who's that kid? Like who's number seventeen? Because he's probably gonna be someone we're talking about in the years ahead. That's pretty cool. You know, we you know the hotbeds of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, you know, even up north a couple of places. But what is an area of Louisiana that you think is on tap that people don't give enough credit to? I think there's always challenges for and I think, you know, the timeline may not always be what some of the kids or even their coaches want, but I I think most of the guys at some point the colleges will find, especially if if they're doing their side of hitting the road and getting to some of these college camps. But it can take a little bit longer, you know, for a rural name to pop up because they maybe don't have quite the same level of, you know, you go to some of these New Orleans games and there's a million cameras and so someone's probably gonna catch those guys doing something, if if they're that type of player. But it may take a little bit longer to get out to the the rural areas, in terms of a a recruiting attention or a a media spotlight type dynamic. and in terms of, you know, the different regions of the state, I think we see a lot of just ebb and flow of, you know, certain years. One's up and and another is is a little bit down, but then three years later that's completely reversed. Like I you know, I've been talking a lot about your neck of the woods out there in southwest Louisiana. Obviously, everything y'all went through a few years ago with the storms, it feels like we're starting to see that area come back in a way that it hadn't been over the last five years with obviously the the Iowa State Championship and some guys from that program going on to the next level. Sulfur this year was four and for the first time in two decades. Barb, we're gonna both see Friday night as five and right now. Some great talent on that team and exciting Albert Simeon maybe as as good of a prospect as has come through the area. So that area is on the the upswing right now. Yeah and I feel like that that's Southwest Louisiana, you know, they don't have the hardware in football to, you know, name it. But I mean there's so many good kids that come out of there. And just because they don't win state championships doesn't mean there's people not coming out of there. So many people after the hurricane left the area and just didn't come back just for whatever reason. They just couldn't. And so you're finally now, six years later, actually getting to build that through whatever reasons. And another name that kind of fits that conv some of that conversation as well as you know, a previous question that we were talking about, Javon Vital Jr., who's at Lake Charles College Prepping right now. I saw him for the first time as an eighth grade basketball player for Hamilton Christian at a a Christmas tournament, so, you know, three months into his eighth grade year of school and was impressed with him. I don't even know if he started that game, but was just impressed with his kind of wherewithal and competitiveness and holding his own in that setting and asked Coach Dexter Washington after about him and he said, Jeremy, I tell you, you gotta see him on the football field 'cause as good as you think he is right now as this little backup point guard or whatever, he's phenomenal there and now he's a US C commit. That's pretty cool. And a lot a lot of those football guys are, you know playing in State James and basketball. Last year we saw, you know, Javon, we saw Ahmad Hudson, we saw Elijah Haven. You know, it it's pretty cool. But one thing you mentioned earlier was the influx of media on the sidelines now. You know, there's a hundred cameras on the on a high school sideline now. how have you seen that change from your position, you know, starting so long ago and now how the media space has changed? Yeah, I I don't know if whenever I first realized, hey, I can take a a clip with my iPhone and, you know, put that on Twitter, that was still pretty new at that point. and then we kind of started using some things with the newspaper where they expected us to go do little video interviews and stuff that I don't know that there were any other people doing that other than meet a couple people at the time's pic or or whatever. and now there are so many people with ca I mean, I'm still using my iPhone, which thankfully the iPhone keeps evolving and and you know, is is passable with some of that stuff. But now there's there's all these young guys with cameras. I say guys, but y I mean y kids with with

cameras. we have a couple that do work for us and do a great job that are either you know, college freshmen or sophomores or high school juniors or seniors. And I have and I think a lot of people do, some kind of mixed feelings about some of it. Cause I think one, it's it's awesome for them to kind of get some experience early on. And for me it's also been great because I mean for years and years we've we've talked about how this school or that school this kid or that kid on the field or court or wherever. needs more exposure, needs more attention. And so the more eyes and cameras and and platforms out there, it it can be the better. But y you also need to have a level of right integrity with what you're doing and wherewithal and respect for for the role that you're starting to play and and realize that just because you bought that camera maybe doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to be in that setting. And that might not be an indictment of the quality of photo or video you're doing, but just the way that you handle yourself in a what is a professional setting if you're there to be a media member. Yeah, and a lot of a lot of that work that those young people do is so good. I mean they are so talented because they've grown grown up with this technology at their fingertips since they've been young. but you know the term media gets thrown around loosely. You know, you see someone with a camera on the sideline, general population seems they're just they're media. But that isn't always a good description of what a true media person is or media professional. You know, you have your traditional newspaper, radio, TV, you have your digital platforms like yours, website, social, podcast, and then you have this group of media who are, you know, taking pictures and videos just on social or working for an athlete or giving them footage, whatever it may be. But what what is your advice as a seasoned vet in this space on how do those young people difference themselves from one side to another if they really want to do this at a professional level? Yeah, I I think I think a lot of a lot of the thing that to me, and I talk to our young crew about it a lot and have had other other young content creators that have reached out to me that that haven't done work for Louisiana Versaillo but are just kind of curious, like they may see me post something like I did the other day about stop using vulgar music on your reels that you're putting out there to represent these high schools and then being surprised if a high school denies you access later or if when they're trying to apply for state championships and you're looking at the way that they're representing not just themselves and their work, but everyone involved with with with their shooting. I think those type of little things that they don't always think about beyond just, man, I'm gonna get the dopest shot here or whatever. the way that you're packaging that and putting it out there in a way that is appropriate

for in a lot of cases high school athletics that you're covering and for a largely high school audience that you're presenting it to, a as well as just the way that they're interacting with with their surroundings and the people around them and having a level of respect for the job, level a level of respect for the the game they're covering. You can't be going into the team box trying to get players dancing because it's gonna be a cool Instagram reel when they're in the middle of a a game. you need to be aware that, hey, there's a game going on and just 'cause you got a couple of cool shots there and you're gonna go get a couple in in the end zone now, you need to be aware that you're walking halfway on the field or across a bunch of T V or photo cameras. And you're just kind of in your own world with headphones in dancing around or whatever, not thinking about it. There's a lot that really jumps out jarringly like that. Yeah. I d we we don't want to discourage those people especially now with the way media is. So it's just learning how to do it the right way is really important. So you can go to a championship and that's one thing that is misunderstood is like our office, we only credential media for state championship events. regular season, postseason is up to the host site wherever it is. so the host schools, school boards have their own policies and they have that power to do what they want. but, things that I look at that I think people could learn from are covering multiple sports really helps. Mm-hmm. And if you're not ju i if you're just going to football games every Friday night to get the, D one out the five star recruit clips of them, yes, that's great. But you're not you're not showing a range of what you're capable of. That's and you might be about to say this, but to piggyback on that, that's something I've thought a lot about with the the young generation is as much as I said, it's always great to have more cameras, more eyes. They don't all need to be on the same game, man. Like s if you spread it around and maybe you don't cover the top game in the state that week because the five star is in that game and you might not get as much traction on that video, but you can build yourself a far better reputation if you go, you know, find the the next game or just spread around and and get more ground covered as our entire, you know, Louisiana camera base and build some great relationships there that might serve you well in a lot of different ways that you're not thinking about if you're being short sighted about it. And and it's so important. And we have sixteen sports, fact check me, Bryce. I think we have sixteen, seventeen. But there are so many opportunities. We have championships for all those. I mean, if you're just going to football, for example, football media request, I get over fifteen hundred for our eight games over a span of three days. So I've got to weed through fifteen hundred requests and come down to how many I can physically fit in the superdome for those games. Cause if you get approved for a credential, you can go to every game. You're there all day. There's three games a day. So That's a big deal. and if you go to something like volleyball, like we we get a few hundred requests and so it's much easier to allow people to come cover those events 'cause you're not worried about space or parking or media meals. but Bryce Check me, it's fifteen sports. So, you know, not just applying to football and basketball really will help you. And at those other sports you can learn how it works. You know, there's still interview opportunities there. You get courtside access, you actually probably get better access at those sports than you would at football just because of, you know, not a lot of media there. but yeah, other things that you know we think would help those people trying to branch out and do it the right way, avoiding vulgar and inappropriate music, like you said. you know, it it's it's one thing to have it bleeped out or use it for the instrumental or whatever it may be, but when it's a constant repeat every single time, it's the same thing. It's you know, it's just disheartening to see 'cause you want their work is good, but you got that audio over it that you just wish wasn't there. not bashing officials, not highlighting an officials' mistake, officials are people too. And the only s fix to getting that stuff better is having more officials. So that really hurts the association as a whole and the sport. not glorifying unsportsman like behavior. Yeah. You know, s we say it all the time here. The field or the court or the mat or the pool is an extension of the classroom. These are high school students and there's never an instance where it's good to highlight an unsportsmanlike b act by anybody. So You know, when we see media covering that and not a professional way and that's not just simply reporting and highlighting it and, you know, encouraging it, that's that's really unfortunate to see. and then going beyond just photos and videos, you know, anyone can do that now with a phone. So are you interviewing, are you writing, are you covering, are you do you have a website, do you have articles, you know, all those things go into it to set you apart and make you better? Yeah, and I do wanna continue to, you know, to emphasize as as what think we have they're doing there's a lot of kids out there doing great work and that they should not be discouraged and should find ways to to be this next generation of media coverage that's popping up because I don't wanna sit up here and be like old man yells at cloud type energy by any means. I'm super excited about the potential that is out there on the the media side to go along with our fantastic potential and you know, in all these areas of competition in in sports. And it's just a matter of just because you shot the best photo doesn't mean that y you know, you have some of those less visible intangibles that go

into part of this job. you know, I'm a digital only platform, but I was a decade or whatever in newspapers and there's just a level of experience and perspective that gets gained there and There are difficult decisions for me, obviously, and and for anyone in a media space of how do we cover this or what do we cover, what do we not? And so it's not lost on me that maybe there are difficult choices being made at at times by some of these these you know, young photo video content creator kids, but you also need to recognize that that part of any job or industry is is kind of learning and growing within it. and it's important to note that you know, the high school level is so accessible. Like there's a high school near everyone. And now that media is so accessible, anybody can, you know, go cover a a high school game. And it's great. But you just gotta learn, do it the right way. and I hope similarly the like the high schools have a level of openness to those opportunities for the young photo video producers as well. And, you know, I it's something that I've run into with some some headaches on the flip side is I think it's it's important for the high schools to figure out processes and protocols and organization to who's on those sidelines and and keeping keeping it in a professional place as much as they can, but also that there should be a level of of nuance and discernment to how some of those decisions are being made and recognizing that there's there's a lot of benefit to their school and to their student athletes of in a in some cases free marketing for yeah. For your institution. Yeah, and you kinda answered my next question, which was, you know, what do you think mem media members should understand about the schools and what should the schools learn from the media and how should they work with them? But yeah, I think that's good advice. You know, they're there to help you. Let's treat as that. we here at the LHSA we try to give the schools as much power as as they want to help them, you know. but we don't we don't make those decisions during the regular seasons, just championships. at the end of the day we say that media coverage at events is a privilege. It's not a right. No one, you know, we're a private company, the events we do, championships specifically, it it's a privilege to get to come. So trying to find a way that people can see that and do the best work so we can get the best people there is is really important to us. But I think you do a great job of that as well. going a little more into it, I like how official your your notes are too. You got the branded It doesn't work when they're out of order. All right. So you you've been all over the state covering sports and championship events. what have you learned about Louisiana by traveling to those events and those communities that you didn't know before you started this? You're from New Orleans, right? Yeah. So I mean That's a different world. That's absolutely New Orleans and southwest Louisiana are like two different states. It's I mean, a lot of the corners of the state feel like very different, you know, different states in some ways, different worlds, but obviously there's there's kind of some level of connectedness in And some cultural aspects and whatnot and kind of smile when you you pointed out me being from New Orleans because I think there's a lot of a lot of energy from New Orleans about not always being worried about the rest of the state. And a lot of, you know, the rest of the state feels like New Orleans isn't worried about it or doesn't think about it. And I mean, I didn't wanna growing up I didn't want to leave New Orleans. Katrina is what sent me to L S U. I thought I would just live in New Orleans Forever and be fine, not really going much of anywhere. And then when I got my job opportunities starting to fall in place coming out of college and ended up in Monroe for my first two and a half years post graduation, when I was driving to Monroe for my interviews, I I still joke. I didn't really have a great handle on where Monroe was. I knew it was up, and so I was just gonna be driving up until I found wherever the heck Monroe was, and that became A great home for a couple of years that I wish I got a chance to visit more than the you know two or three times a year that I get up there now. but every place kind of has its own different feel where I think you kind of know where you are a little bit if if you're paying attention. but I think some of those differences also, not unlike the country, make it such a cool place to be overall with with a little bit of a melting pot of a state the way we are as a country. Yeah, no, I love it. I think it it's cool how Everyone from the state is so proud of where they're from. You know, area codes mean something, your city means something. but it's all it's all friendly rivalries and stuff. But next question was, you know, from your perspective as a media member, seeing high school sports all over the state, what do you think people misunderstand about the LH SAA? I'd say a lot, man. Yeah. and that's you know, I There are instances certainly where I don't always agree with everything that y'all do and y'all have tough decisions to be made. And so there are gonna be instances where you're not very popular, but I think that largely around the state, most people probably don't have a good feel for what happens here. And that's I was excited that you guys were starting this podcast a a few weeks ago because I think that the more that y'all can kind of peel back the curtain in some ways and have some conversations that shed some light on those things, the better. You know, one that is just such a small thing but is such a great example to me is every single year, especially football playoff time, when I see people on social media, including some coaches, complaining about the power ratings and the seatings and man, the LHSA screwed us that why are we only a nineteen and

they're a fourteen or whatever, or we beat them but we're lower. And that's l literally just a mathematical equation that that the principals vote on and pick. Yeah. And it just goes in the book and it goes through the system. And we get calls, we get people calling us, Hey, we're this seed on your website, but this platform has us as this seed. And like there's no real good answer to tell them, but our seed is what sets the bracket. Yeah. So I I that's that's my point to that. Yeah, and there's there are certainly miscues on I mean, whether y'all side at points during the season or us as as we're doing power ratings now where you know, the more into that side of it that we've gotten over the last two years, recognize the challenges of keeping up with the the out of state schedules in particular and and just kind of some of those out of state records and how some of those out of state schools are classified. But yeah, at the end of the day, once you guys finalize stuff and have your whatever it is, that like twenty four hour appeal process to to catch those things, y'all are y'all are the entity that is in charge of putting them onto the brackets. But how they got there is is math. Yeah, and that that goes for a lot of different things in our in our office of just, you know, how rules are applied. Those rules are made by principals. They're put in the book, they're voted on every year, they can be changed every year. And our job is just to apply them. that that's a good point you bring up. so when you think about how media has changed high school sports, how you've seen it grow, where do you think it's going? Man, I I don't know. I'm just trying to keep up in a lot of ways. I for for us and I think with a lot of the schools it's is sort of the same thing as as aspects of education and athletics and and resources or schematics or whatever within athletics continue to develop. I think there's just like a level of there's a level of importance of keeping some core values and pillars and And having a level of being rooted in a in a certain tradition to to kind of have some North Star or guardrails with some things, but also being open to to adapt to the ever changing world around us in ways that all of a sudden there's there's new tools to utilize that can make what you're doing be better. and so that's something that I know that we're constantly I always feel like we're kind of not on the same level as some of the traditional media 'cause I worked at newspapers and and have so much respect for the newspapers and T V stations and radio stations and all of that. and am now working in a capacity that, you know, ten years ago, fifteen years ago I probably wouldn't have envisioned as as a route. but at the same time trying to be open to, well, man, we can utilize this new tech tool to help really streamline a lot of this or reach a bigger audience in this way and whatnot. And so It's really exciting. It can be really overwhelming, but just kind of keeping up with things as the in a lot of ways tech, but just a lot of aspects of society continue to develop around us. Yeah, I I think your platform has done a good job of that over the last few years. But, you know, wha what do you got going on before we go? I mean, I know you got a lot of then we'll love the the Spiegelman podcast, getting the update on the whole state. stale popcorn Pretty cool. We yeah, we enjoyed that in the offseason getting Spencer Verrett to watch a few movies. that's something that I really enjoy doing when we're out of sports mode. Mm-hmm. I'll have to get him in here one day to talk about that. But yeah, what you got going on? Yeah, right right now I feel like every week is just trying to keep our heads above water a little bit. knowing that, you know, four days later or whatever, another set of games is is on deck. and so just in that that hectic in season mode with as big as as football is for us as it is for everyone else and and we want to continue to improve our coverage across the board with different sports, but football will always be a a really big priority. And so I'm looking forward to continuing to catch as as many teams and and athletes around the state as possible to have as as wide a perspective as I can put together. You'll never see everybody in a given season, but we do what we can. and then continue to kind of add you know, new tools to the site like this this past week I guess we added we call it the power board, which is kind of a scenario generator for the playoffs in football where fans are I know a lot of coaches have been playing with it a ton, can go and pick, okay, if this game happens this way and so on and so forth, and it instantly shows you what effect that has on what the playoff picture looks like. And so rolling some of those resources out, you mentioned the the recruit that boot podcast with Sam Spiegelman this year. started the the sideline coach with Corday Hankton, who was longtime high school and college assistant, spent the last couple of years on LSU staff, but he's not coaching this season. He'll get back into it this next season and so he's been awesome to bring in and be able to share some of his perspective on some of these LSU games in particular, but also some Saints in high school stuff. Yeah. R real really cool stuff. I love watching it. I'm a I'm a recurrent viewer, so appreciate everything you do. but we'll We'll see you in the dome, I'm sure, maybe for some other events. But if anyone, you know, has questions about some of the stuff we talked as media, you know, we're happy to help. You know, if it's LHSA specific, you know, we're all ears. My my phone number's on the website and happy to encourage any up and coming media or provide any guidance, whatever it may be, as I'm sure you are as well. Yeah, I I appreciate you having me. I I really appreciate just, I mean, the the working relationship with you guys, and You know, as much as media side can be a thankless

job, which all do is probably that much more thankless in in a lot of ways. And so, great to you know, to be a part of of this. And yeah, if if I can be a resource to any of the young up and coming media kids that next generation, I'm I'm happy to do so. because I I do think there's a lot of great ones out there. Yeah, there is. That's it for now on this segment of the Beyond Pod. Stay tuned for more. All right, we're back with a special segment joined by our executive director, Mr. Eddie Boneye. Thanks for being here, Mr. Eddie. Eastern, thank you for having me back. We are here to talk about sportsmanship. it's something that is always in the news, something we're always dealing with here at the office, some years better than others, but it is something that we are always trying to address. in particular when these things happen, how do you hear about it? What are the next steps when these unfortunate circumstances happen? What is our role as the association to address it? Well, first of all, we'll usually when I hear about it, it usually comes from either yourself or one of our assistant directors who's notified by the officials or school represent representative that reaches out to us. now before the game is even over or the incident. that's report is over, it's already on social media and you're getting that. So we use that information. And I think at this particular juncture, member schools and other individuals within the communities know that if we get that information and there's disciplinary action necessary that we're gonna take it and and try to prevent anything we can for future incidents. And and let's explain that process a little more in depthly. when we do receive this unfortunate stuff that comes in, there's a process that takes place. It's not a we see the video and give out ruling. Talk a little bit about how that works and what committees are used to do it. Well per policy again, excuse me. That's not forty eight clo you know forty eight just regular hours. That's forty eight hours spacing in school time, meaning two days. So the incident could happen on Friday and Saturday. The clock doesn't start ticking until Monday and Tuesday. Very seldom do we have a school that waits until the late the last eleventh hour on that Tuesday. Information is coming in. We've reached out. We meaning the dire director of the the officials association andor that sports specific assigned executive assistant executive director reaches out. That process starts and then we do a review here in the office. But we're also waiting for any put input the schools will have, and we've also shared that information with them. So they're giving us a version of what transpired at their site. And then it's a matter of staff sitting down and going through and looking at it and making a determination. This isn't our first rodeo, first of all. Second of all, we're looking at what we have done in the past, if there has been incidents similar in the past. And we try

to be consistent and efficient. Depending upon the severity of the incident, we have a sportsmanship committee established. it's a subcommittee of the executive committee. We go through that process. That's minimum of three. There's no maximum number. we usually we usually re suggest three to five. So somebody something comes up at the school site. And I want everybody to remember that the committee members are are on a voluntary basis with us. It's not their they got they got schools to run. So when we come up with a date and time set, we're asking for them to take that hour or an hour and a half or twenty minutes out of their school day. And sometimes, like you said, it takes we've had a situation where it takes up to three hours, which is okay because we're going through the process and we're making a decision that we can that we can stand on, that we can defend and also know that the process has been followed. and at that particular point then we know that we've done everything we can do and hopefully the anything that we do from here Whether it be punitive or not, sends a message that we should probably shouldn't do that. they meaning do that, meaning this type of behavior. But going more into it, you say all the time that the field or the court or the pool or the mat is an extension of the classroom. It's a your behavior on the field should be just the same as your behavior in the classroom. So talk about that standard that has been set And that's and that's a good question Ethan. the the goal of education based athletics is part of being that extension of the classroom. So when you when you go on a road trip So you stop somewhere in a community and have breakfast sandwiches at a at a a a fast food or someplace. The behavior in that restaurant is supposed to be the same behavior you would have if they were back at the school in a math class or English class, whatever that expectation is for that learning environment. I understand the the spirit of competition. I understand the spirit of of not only you when you learn the math, you don't have a thousand people in the gym. You don't have twenty five hundred people in the stands. It's a s it's a a comparison, but not necessarily so much true in regards to the Adrenaline, everything else compared that's that's obvious in competition. So but if you keep that mindset, which I have, and I try to apply that as an ed as as an educator, then that's the direction we need to go. But you mentioned it more than once in in our questions here. Behavior, behavior, behavior. It all takes discipline, discipline, discipline. And discipline has a number of definitions, but one of those definitions is not necessarily the The discipline of being able to maintain your emotions and to do what you need to, but the discipline of what happens after such such an incident, that's gonna also be considered a discipline. So I've always been to look at the the portion of it that where the coaches or the adults Have the abilities to mold these teams and for a school or a team to think that they that this is okay, or that type of behavior that would qu warrant something for this office to get involved in is okay. I don't think that they think it's okay. I think that many a time when you're coaching a teenage young men and women, that at times they're gonna make decisions that aren't good decisions and they need to learn from those. And and that's where that line has to be drawn. as an old s again, having been a school administrator and athletic director and and hosting state events, you can have every preventive measure put in place in your gym or on your field or on your court, whatever it is. And stuff could still happen. Even though you've got everybody in place, stuff can still happen. And then you've got to be ready to clean up that whatever that means, right? So I'm very con I'm very cognitive of the fact that they had the the security they needed. They have they had administration there. But no matter what you have in place, you're outnumbered. And and things do happen. And we, I, we take that into consideration when we're establishing the timeline. Of what we're going to do when it comes to if they're if they're necessary disciplinary action. That makes sense. It all comes back to the classroom piece that we're referring to. Correct. And I and you mentioned a lot of things there, one being the measures that schools can take to put in place ahead of time, which we'll I'm gonna read some of those in a minute. But one thing I wanted to point out was talking about administrators having the power to discipline those individuals for whatever the case may be. A lot of times schools can discipline their schools. when things happen, when fights break out or unsportsman like things happen. The school the school board has the power to do that and we don't have to get as involved. And we've seen that happen before. And I think we have It's nice to see that schools are taking that initiative to discipline the parties involved before we even have to. And you know, like you said, we you can have all these proactive measures in place and something still may go wrong, but it's important to do that and You prepared a communication that went out to our schools earlier this month, and in that we gave some steps that schools can take to address these concerns and be prepared. So I'm gonna read those off and then let you comment on them afterwards. number one, be prepared before it happens. Make sure to instruct and even practice what to do in case an altercation occurs. Number two, assign specific coaches or administrators to run towards the altercation and assist with breaking it up. Number three, assign specific coaches to immediately step off the sideline. And turn their attention to keeping players on the sideline. Number four, team members already on the field should distance themselves from the altercation. Number five, educate all participants about the penalties

associated with fighting, leaving the team area, taunting, using offensive gestures, and other unsportsman-like acts. Number six, instruct your video crew to continue to record or start to record if if an altercation occurs. Number seven, know where security is stationed. And lastly, number eight, keep all non essential people off the sideline and preferably behind a fence or barrier. Those are some of the things that we send out to our schools just to help them prepare if these unfortunate things do happen. But like you said, you can do everything ahead of time and something still may happen. So how can schools make sure those things are in place, work with law enforcement, work with their school boards, work with their leadership to try their best to prevent this? What's the best piece of advice you can give them? Beginning of the year. You need to sit down with all the stakeholders and understand the expectations of when you are playing at home and hosting, because there's a what you mentioned there, there's another list of items that are expectation of of when you're hosting it hosting an event in a regular season or postseason. and and then knowing what you're gonna do when you travel. could be two different things, a little bit less, but at the end of the day, a lot of those things will still are gonna still gonna be gonna be in place. And And one I think number three, when you're talking about that having somebody to keep people on the sidelines, right? By rule, if an athlete leaves the sidelines, just leaves the sidelines, that automatically is a one-game suspension. There's been a number of times where schools the next week can't play because of their 50 s 50-man roster. 46 of them were on the field at one time. And maybe twelve or eleven or twelve were actually running out on the field to maybe grab somebody, but the rule doesn't account for that. Now we see the video. But at the end of the day, once you step out, same in basketball, baseball, you leave leave the dugout, basketball, you step on the court. You gotta make sure you got to get back coach. Some of that you you nobody nobody's gonna leave the sidelines because that turns in and then if they do leave, they engage and it turns into what sometimes in fact what we've seen in the last thirty days. So the the important pieces that we could do a podcast on you take each one of those one at a time. Right. And we sit and talk five to seven on each one of those nine or ten that you mentioned. And identify what those are. But in the grand scheme, you've got to be prepared. And I want people that listen to this to know that you have all the measures we said this beginning. You can have all that in place and something can still happen. Because you nothing what else Mr. Bon, what else could we have done? Mm-hmm. Nothing. And we get that. Right. We've been there and done that. But also know that when we have the big events, we have the abilities to make sure that there's enough security, whether it be a badge and a gun, enough security, whether it be adults with authority that knows what to do. We have enough people there to assist us. Plus, we're allowing schools, let's just use the prep classic for example, coming in and and they're having security on their own sidelines. And then I think it was number nine or eight or nine you mentioned. Making sure the right people are on the sidelines, boy, that's huge. Yeah. That is huge. And we've addressed that tremendously in our sports. People in the dugout in baseball and softball. Who do you want on your sidelines? We've been taking the lead on that saying, I don't care who's on your sidelines during the regular season, they're not gonna be on the Florida dome. Most athletes and the and whoever you choose has chosen to be there, but we're not gonna put everybody and their contingency on that sideline. And we have to we've had to enforce that as you know, and we still enforce that. I think that in the grand scheme, I'm very pleased with what the overall membership we're talking about specifically just certain items. I think that. Ninety-eight, if not ninety-nine percent of the membership gets it, man. They're trying to do the best they can, and I appreciate them doing that because those incidents are further and few between. I think this is just a a a topic that comes up, like you said, it is the one percent, but it is important that we do our part and educate our membership on what to do and how to prepare. And I think the biggest thing you said there was preparing for it ahead of time. Well thank you so much for being here. I think this is important that we talk about it and if anyone has any questions, feel free to contact us about that further. Well, Ethan, it was a long winding road to get here to this final bit of our episode today. Like we said earlier in the intro, a lot of different things we covered today between track proposals and what the timeline and progress looks like of that. when it's passed in twenty twenty six, but it's not actually gonna take effect until twenty twenty nine. So how does that all work? luckily assistant executive director Adam McDowell sat down with us and was able to discuss that issue. and then we had executive director Mr. Addy Bownine, sit down, talk about sportsmanship, the initiatives that schools can take, how we can help them, how student athletes can better themselves. And then of course, what does the process look like when something actually happens that needs to be addressed? And then your interview with Jarrett, Jarrett Roser, with Louisiana versus all y'all was awesome. He talked about, you know, professionalism in media, his journey of going from, you know, old school print journalism. to kind of this new era of content creation and how, you know, he's just had to embrace the change, and and lead with innovation. And I think he did a great job of talking about how young media members can learn from the older media members while older

media members can also learn from the new. so I think he has a really interesting perspective, was able to break it down and then I think he's someone who really leans into that new era as well. I think, you know, you do hear a lot of times older traditional media d aren't as, you know receptive to the the new style of media and the new people coming into it. But and if they have their reasons for that. But I think Jarrett is someone who comes from that walk but also is ready to embrace it and and be someone who helps those people. And I think that is something that we're also trying to do here with our communications, just being a resource to people, helping them learn and grow. And I think Jarrett does a good job of that as well. Yeah. Media may be kind of something that there's only one here and there, but mascots around the state, they've got they've got some big numbers as far as Yeah, we've got some really unique and cool ones. I think of things like the tours down in Sulphur. I know you're very familiar with them. in Hainesville, the Golden Tornado. Singular. Golden Tornado. but we while we've got some unique mascots, there's some that stand out above the rest as far as there's just a lot of Mm. high quantities. But before we get into that, before we answer that trivia question. I want to do a fun little game that people are doing all across social media right now and that's the blind ranking. so I'm gonna give you five mascots that are represented in our state. five mascots and I want you to do this from the perspective of your student athlete and this is how I feel about my school being called this as a mascot. So this isn't this isn't specifically a logo. This is just No, this isn't a logo, this isn't a color scheme. This is like if I'm going to, you know The school of ABC and our mascot is this, I would be either like, yeah, I'm a blank, or I guess we're called the blank. Gotcha. You know what I mean? Okay. because I think you know so you see it in college and professional sports too. Like it's really cool. You're like, man, I'm an LSU Tiger, but then you're also like, I'm a Mississippi Valley State Delta Devil? Like, what does that even mean? Or the fighting okra. Delta State. Yeah, like there's There's some interesting ones. So I just want to get your perspective on I like the interesting one. So Yeah, I do too. Yeah. I just want to get your perspective on on these mascot names. So the the first one I'm gonna give you is yellow jackets. Where would you put yellow jackets one through those? Specific yellow jackets. We're not going Hornets, we're not going Yeah bumblebees. You know, I think I'm gonna put that I think I'm gonna put it at four. Okay. I think it's good. I think it's classic, but I'm someone who just likes a little more uniqueness. Okay. but it's it's not bad. It's a good. It's a it's an honorary four. Okay. s let's go a little bit more Louisiana themed here and let's go with the gators. How would you feel to call yourself

a gator? I think Gators is good. I think Gators is embodies the whole state. Grew up big Tim Tebow fan, so that's influencing me as well. Mm-hmm. You got it. Gators has got to be number two. Number two. Okay. So far we've got two gators, four yellow jackets. Next one up, Spartans. Thought this one was a little interesting because it's not heavily represented in our state. but it's something that like you say it and you're like, ooh, that sounds yeah. That's a pretty tough sound. Don't mess with a spar yeah, that's that's good. It's historic to I like that. Has some meaning behind it as well. It's always got good theming. You've got an alleyway easy for, you know, some good uniforms. It's hard to mess up that brand. Yeah. I th that's I'm I'm putting that at three. I gotta save my one. Okay. And I'm in I'm in deep water. I got one and five left. This could go either way. So we talked about it before the episode and I said I wasn't gonna throw it at you. But I decided to throw it at you. I'm glad you left your one spot open. Buccaneers. No, give me my bar Buccaneers. Alma mater. Always. Always ref the navy and baby. Shout out Barb. so you have Buccaneers at one. Hey, yeah, I do. Gators, number three, Spartans, number four, yellow jackets. I'm happy with that so far. It's pretty good so far. And then number five, I'm very upset that you didn't leave the one spot open because I'm giving you the one of one. Wampus Cats. Leesville Wampus Cats. That's a good one. Yeah. Hate to put that at five, but I'd love to say I'm a Wampus cat. That's such that's so cool. I remember playing on their field playing soccer back in high school. We played them a few times and seeing I'm pretty sure on the on the press box it says home of the Wampus Cats. That's awesome. I remember seeing that. What what what is a Wampus? I don't know what a Wampus Cat is, but Still don't know to this day. They're in Leesville know that. Yes, correct. But no, I thought that was a fun little game just of talking about different mascots we have around the state and then how you would feel to be represented by that mascot. No, it's good. We'll to bring that back. Do it do some other things with it. Yeah, we could do logos, we could do color schemes, we can do z area codes. I mean, there's tons of stuff we can do here. We might start some wars in the comments if we do that. Well, that's what you did with your three three seven versus five four food take. Well, we we're gonna have to get Kovach back on to address that 'cause We've had some comments were not very follow up conversations that he needs to answer. but sticking on the mascot theme, we did ask the trivia question at the beginning of the show. What are the top three most represented mascots from around the state? Like I said, the third spot is actually tied. so there you can give us four different names that are represented in the top three as far as quantity goes. Gotcha. I know number one. Number one's easy. Number one's Tigers. Number one is Tigers. It's the most represented, I feel like, nationwide. obviously it's the flagship school of Louisiana. Like you could throw a rock and hit a school with a mascot tiger. Absolutely. And I we don't have the numbers on color schemes, but I'm sure purple and gold tie up there as well. Yeah. Number C. I'm looking for three more. You're looking for three more. Tigers had thirty eight. Okay. Our number two has twenty four. And our number three, we have two mascots tied at twenty-one total schools. Bulldogs has gotta be one. Bulldog is tied for three at twenty-one. Okay. So you're missing two mascots, twenty-four and twenty-one are the quantities there. I'm gonna go Eagles. Eagles is also tied for that third spot. Eagles and Bulldogs at twenty-one each. Okay. I Wildcats? Wildcats is outside of the top three. I think it li I think it was in the top five to six, but not in the top three. I don't know. Similar to a wild cat though. It's a cat. It is a cat and it is wild. It is the Panther. Okay. the Panther ranks number two with twenty four. Man, I wouldn't have got that. Yeah. And then but like you said, we've got some like Tigers are thirty eight of but you there's only one Wampus cat. There is only one Wampus cat. So there is only one Ladies and gents. Ladies and gents. Crowley. They're the gents and ladies. I like that. and then I could I could name a few. Loyola prep with their Snoopy logos. Absolutely wonderful. Yeah, it's a good one. great story behind that as well. That's something we may have to bring up at one point. The Yaks Young Audience Charter. Okay. The Yaks. Yeah yeah, you're throwing stuff at me that I had no idea of there's one school that doesn't even have a mascot. Okay. Maybe we should save that for a trivia question. Maybe that'll be next week. That's a really good trip. There's a little preview next week. What school doesn't have a mascot? Good question. I like that. I don't know the answer, so don't say it now, but we could talk about it after this. We might trigger a question next week. I like it. yeah, no, this was a fun episode. We got to learn a lot of different things about a lot of different aspects of the association. that's why we're here, education based athletics inside the LHSA here on the Beyond Pod, where we go beyond the game, Yep, all good stuff. Excited for next week. Gonna sit down with someone in our office for our interview segment. That should be pretty good. but last thing call to action. We we'd love to get some more FAQ questions from our listeners. you can comment down below an FAQ or a topic you want to address. really helps us plan out what we can do to best serve our membership and our stakeholders, what they wanna know. Yeah, so thank you to everybody who has commented so far. think we've actually pulled two FAQs from comments and social media interactions. so the more people who watch and listen and comment on our videos. Yeah and don't feel like you have to work at a school or be a coach to leave one. I mean it can be anyone. Just anything that you think needs to be better un explained about the LH SA or something that you don't understand. Let us let us help you out and and give you that. Yeah. that's why we're here to educate and you know, help people out and just understand who we are and why we do what we do. Ethan, thank you very much for everything you do. obviously thank everybody who came on this episode. And a big shout out to everybody who has kept on watching us through the first five episodes. We will be back again next week for episode six. And we will see you