MaxxSouth Broadband is trying to get the community involved with sporting events taking place in Mississippi.
They’ve gone as far as developing the MaxxSouth Sports channel, which is dedicated to 24 hours of non-stop coverage of local sporting events in the 60 communities that make up the company’s footprint.
The channel will be full of high school football, softball, volleyball, soccer, and basketball this fall.
“I think it’s a great thing for our community and anybody that’s in that service area, but especially for people who can’t come out and watch games…,” Glenn Schmidt, athletic director and girls basketball coach at Starkville Academy, said. “It’s just a great thing to promote your kids, your school, and your athletes.”
The MaxxSouth Sports channel was announced in the spring and went live May 18 on channels 31 and 1031.
MaxxSouth covered some high school baseball and softball games during the spring, but have since moved to church league softball, little league baseball and softball and the New Albany-based Cotton States League this summer.
For only being on the air two months, there has been an abundant amount of positive feedback for the new channel.
“Everybody loves it. It’s high definition, we have instant replay, we have play-by-play and color commentators,” said MaxxSouth general manager Mark Boyer, who expects the fall lineup to be announced at the end of the month. “It’s just like ESPN quality.”
Special for the athletes
With both Starkville Academy and Starkville High School having football teams who made the playoffs last year, a lot of eyes will be on the Volunteers and Yellow Jackets as they put pads on this fall. Although games cannot be seen live, they can be seen on a tape delay, and many fans will be tuned in for those replays.
“It’s most exciting for those patrons that maybe don’t or can’t attend the game,” said Starkville Academy football coach Chase Nicholson, who debuts Aug. 21 against Marshall Academy. “The first thing that somebody in our neighborhood said was they were going to be able to see us on TV.
“They may not come to the games as often as they would like to, but now they’ll be able to see a couple on the TV.”
Along with playing football, Starkville Academy and Starkville High school will field teams in other sports this fall including volleyball, fastpitch and slowpitch softball, soccer, basketball, and cross country.
Coaches are excited about the opportunity for their teams to play on television. Starkville High volleyball coach Lauren Love thinks this will help the program for years to come. She also is excited about the possibility of bringing exposure to the sport of volleyball.
“I’m excited that our girls will get more recognition in the community and the sport of volleyball will be out there more,” said Love, who gets her season underway Aug. 11 against Olive Branch.
Football draws the biggest crowds at the high school level in the south, but this new package has a chance to get fans involved with other sports.
“These young kids don’t get a whole lot of recognition because we don’t have a lot of crowds to those sports. It’s especially special for them,” Schmidt said.
Easy enough
With an operation in its infancy and trying to span a large area, things have come easy for MaxxSouth.
They don’t require anything from the schools, and they have their own production crews and on-air talent that make sure the broadcasts go off without a hitch.
“We do this at no charge, as a community service,” Boyer said. “We don’t require anything, we just ask that they give us the access. The schools have been very, very good to work with. Just so we have a good relationship because we want to be there for the long haul.”
MaxxSouth uses three cameras and a production truck and trailer during each event.
High school administrators, athletic directors and coaches already have full plates with different events happening at their schools, but this has not been a headache for those in charge.
Nicholson has watched a few games here and there this summer when he has found the time and he has been impressed with what he’s seen.
“I think it’s good quality,” he said. “The quality they have is of course what you would think from a local TV station. Good quality.”
MaxxSouth’s parent company has been doing this for 11 years in Ohio and they have expanded to three different channels with numerous production trucks and crews. Boyer hopes MaxxSouth Sports follows in the parent company’s footsteps and sees the network grow and grow.
Boyer also hopes to air live events down the road.
Recruiting tool
The coverage may help Starkville High and Starkville Academy student-athletes get recruited by colleges, especially for sports outside of football.
College coaches will be able to watch the replays on TV and eventually they will be able to receive a copy of game tapes from MaxxSouth.
“There’s no question that it helps and we’ve had a lot of requests already and actually we are in the process of obtaining equipment to make copies of the game, so they’ll be available for players, coaches, (and) parents,” Boyer said.
Schmidt has seen several of her players go on and play college ball at all levels. She may see a few more before it’s all said done with the exposure her program and other programs will receive.
“Any exposure for any high school athlete that wants to play at a different level is good,” Schmidt said.
Love echoed Schmidt’s statement about the exposure. She is also excited about the opportunity of showing the replays to her players to help improve their games.
“You’re telling the girls what they’re doing and trying to help them fix something and then they get to watch it,” Love said. “It’s just like having film in practice. I think that will be great for them.”
Ben Wait is a sports writer for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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