Eric Sorenson
Perspective can be a powerful thing.
Let me share a story with you.
Last week I celebrated a milestone birthday. A big one. One which caused me to pause on my birthday eve and process how fortunate I am for a myriad of reasons, including my family, friends, and life experiences.
One of those life experiences is having the pleasure to cover Arizona high school, and write this column on a weekly basis.
Within days of celebrating my 50th, I put a pretty bow on my 20th regular season of prep football here in State 48.
Let’s rewind two decades.
One afternoon in the late summer of 2003 my former radio sports director, Kevin Ray, asked if I’d be interested in spotting for their weekly high school game of the week. At the time, I had recently purchased my first house and, since I wasn’t exactly a disciplined saver of funds, I was always exploring various side hustles to help boost the ‘ole savings account every month.
“Now you know,” I recall Ray saying with a smile on his face but a seriousness in his voice sitting at his desk. “I can’t pay you much. This is what we have budgeted for your position.”
He pointed the tip of his pen at the weekly figure (which didn’t include a gas allowance) and I immediately agreed.
So, that fall I’d fill a back pack with some paper, a couple of black pens, my trusty binoculars, a yellow highlighter and my favorite calculator (which at the time was almost exclusively used to balance my check book – remember those?) and drive to wherever my long-time friend, and former radio co-worker, Craig Grialou, was calling the game that night. A year later, Dan Manucci would join him in the booth as the analyst and there the three of us, along with our engineer, would cram into a usually undersized press box for the next three hours or so.
High school football in Arizona was much simpler then. The talent pool wasn’t as deep, the outlining areas of the Valley weren’t littered with newer schools focused on building strong programs, and winning almost from their inception.
In 2003, Twitter didn’t exist and, outside of a couple of high school football shows, most notably Channel 12’s and Channel 3’s, and the local papers, coverage of the sport was minimal. Please don’t get me wrong, big games drew big crowds, but the buzz was usually focused around the then-mostly neighboring schools competing – long before open enrollment.
For close to the next decade, I’d spot for games, some seasons more than others, until 2012 when my former radio host, and mentor, Brad Cesmat, approached me about this new project – with a focus on, at the time, the underserved coverage of prep sports in a city which was rapidly growing. It would evolve into Sports360AZ.
It was in 2012 where I learned, thanks mostly to Jared Cohen, how to shoot games and edit video. My love for Arizona high school athletics, and the art of storytelling, became my passion. I sharpened my skills running up and down sidelines, praying I didn’t miss a big play (I missed plenty), and intent on giving a platform to as many high school players and coaches as possible.
I’ve been lucky enough to cover Arizona high school games in Las Vegas, go all-access with Saguaro in Southern California, and follow a couple up-and-coming Carter Twins help bring South Mountain football back from the ashes following a week of summer camp in remote Ash Fork.
College and professional sports may bring a certain cachet, but to me nothing can rival the purity of high school athletics, especially in this market.
Parts are bittersweet as most high school careers last only four years, some less depending on the situation, but the stories and memories are timeless.
We restlessly wait the first two-thirds of each calendar year for a 10-game season which evaporates as the warm summer nights finally succumb to fall.
There’s just nothing like those Friday night lights.
