BROOKS’ BEST: Local news helps spotlight local players

I’ve been reporting on sports in Bladen County for little more than a year now and I’ve witnessed some talented student athletes from both high schools.

I honestly was unfamiliar with how deep the talent pool was throughout the county being an outsider with minimum knowledge of the area prior to 2022.

The unfortunate reality for many student athletes that come from small towns is the lack of exposure they get, compared to kids in big metropolitan areas such as Fayetteville, Raleigh or Charlotte.

The times of college scouts having to scour every nook and cranny of their respective state to find talent has become obsolete with the emergence of the internet. Word-of-mouth is amplified through social media sites so thousands of student-athletes have resorted to uploading highlight reels with the hope their talents get noticed by college coaches.

One viral moment has the potential to change anyone’s life depending on the eyeballs that’s witnessing it but simply being great at a particular sport doesn’t get athletes very far nowadays. The modern recruiting landscape is like the “Hunger Games” and the small town athlete is caught in the battle of resources. Individuals like local Bladen resident, Layne Ross have utilized his video camera and editing skills to piece together highlight reels for athletes throughout the county.

The effort and detail Ross has put into creating highlight tapes for some of Bladen’s top athletes is valuable beyond measure. His platform “lr_mixes” on Instagram has more than 8,000 followers and more than 100,000 views across multiple videos. The Bladen Online team of John Clark and Kenneth Armstrong have been an integral part of the sports scene in Bladen County for many years as well. My main goal as a sports reporter is to use my voice to help amplify the student-athletes of Bladen County by giving them the attention and flowers they deserve.

The game is measured by wins and losses at the end of the day but it’s easy to overlook talent through a box score. I have no connection to either East or West Bladen, and I prefer to be unbiased while reporting on either team but a part of me has enjoyed watching these kids perform in their respective sports.

Another unfortunate reality is every kid doesn’t have someone in their corner to support and push them towards success. No matter how big or small my platform is, I will always use my voice to help shine a light on a kid’s god-given abilities. These young student-athletes play a big role in the community by bringing people from all walks of life together through sport and giving them something to cheer for. Bladen County has been blessed with plenty of stars before I arrived here in 2022 and they’ll continue to produce stars long after me.

I’ll continue to speak highly of the student-athletes in Bladen as long as I’m reporting on sports in the area. Being a small town reporter isn’t the most glamorous job in the world but I’ve enjoyed covering the future stars and the kids who just compete for the love of the game. Every kid won’t be the next Patrick Mahomes or Stephan Curry but that doesn’t mean they aren’t future stars too.

It’s important to remind kids that greatness is obtainable through their own self-belief and hard work even when the odds are against them. The world isn’t always kind to the ones at the bottom but success is out there for all of us. It’s important for student-athletes itching to make it to the next level to realize that the name or the size of the college doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is what they’re willing to do when they get the opportunity.

Steph Curry is an example of a player deemed too short to play for a major college hoops team and he only went on to become one of the greatest shooters the game has ever seen. Former East Bladen football star and LA Rams defensive-end Larrell Murchison started his college career at Louisburg College before he transferred to NC State. Murchison is a testament of where hard work and determination can land a person with a will to succeed.