Pioneer Playbook hosted by Madalyn Stubblefield

[00:00:00] This episode of Pioneer Playbook, I'm your host Madalyn Stubblefield. I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having us in.

[00:01:10] Yeah, first I just want to talk about give a little overview of the show. I know we've mentioned it throughout the week, but Warren First, this is your show. Warren County, we want to hear your feedback. We want to hear your comments. Anything you want to see, Warren County Athletics, we're going to get into it, but we're going to talk about interviews. We're going to get some coaches on the show. I want some athletes, some athlete signing days. We're going to go to practices and do some special programs, highlight these athletes, highlight these teams and what's going on.

[00:01:39] And of course, talk about the success we've seen in the community. First, I want to talk about the community and I want to talk about the fan base, the student section. Tell us how that's been in the fall and the winter and give us your insights about that. Well, I'll start. Here's the thing about Warren County to me that's always been special is this community supports athletics and people want to come and watch the kids and they want to see a winner.

[00:02:07] Sometimes we haven't had winners in every sport, but they still come out in droves. I'll use football as a tough example. Even some of those lean years, whenever it was an 0-10 or 1-9 or something like that, you look up and the stands are full. You can still see people around the top bowl above the pineers and the hedges.

[00:02:25] And so, you know, what we want to try to do, everything we can to help our athletes and our coaches to achieve as much success as they can, because not only do we want to see them win and do the things that we all want, we want to give something to the community where they can come out and support a winner. You look at basketball, too. And I mean, you know, the successes that Coach Lippey's had and that gym's packed, you know, and so it's a great community.

[00:02:50] It's one of the best ones that I've ever been around and I've lived a few places and this is a special place to me because I grew up here. But at the same time, you know, the support is unparalleled in my opinion. Of course. Yeah, I agree. You mentioned the student section. Yeah. Rowdy as ever. Good. I see that. Yeah. Yeah. We actually just last game, they were like, hey, we need a banner up in the gym.

[00:03:15] I was like, I got you. You know, we put a banner up there and it's a Tree City Mafia student section. They're bringing it back. Bringing it back. And they're they're full. And it's not just the boys game for basketball. They're showing up at the girls game. So that's the greatest thing about, you know, Warren County, in my opinion. Like he said, you know, it doesn't matter what the record they're here to support our community. And it gets wild when we do have those big time winners. I mean, we, you know, a few years back when we had that eight three season football,

[00:03:43] the environment of the school was awesome. The community. I mean, they're they're coming out to support our kids. And one thing I want to highlight, how are they doing traveling to away games? I remember what I played. It's been a minute. But when we traveled to Sparta, that house was rocking. I just remember it was going crazy. How is that? How is the way? Can we have some improvements there? How are we traveling? Well, one of the good things that we've done so far, I can't say that we've done it, but the kudos to the school board and Dr. Swallows.

[00:04:12] We finally have, you know, you probably see everybody sees it when they go to they pass. So you're on the interstate and you pass the school and they've got the line of buses that are their specific buses that have all they're all colored up. We got one. Excuse me. We got one last year and we're in the process of getting another one on the way. So having our own buses sit on campus where it's a whole lot easier for people out here, I'll throw this out there. You know, we have we have Durham, you know, the bus service that we that we deal with.

[00:04:40] But some of the difficulties with that are, you know, there there's not a lot of excess drivers. So if a team needs to leave, they've got to wait till a driver gets off of their route, turn around and go. And so a lot of teams end up having to take cars. It's not ideal. And there's only a handful. I'm excuse me. I'm one of the dinosaurs, I think. So I'm one of the few that you still have a CDL. And so but it's always been a little bit of a challenge, too, because when we needed the Durham bus, it was parked over at the middle school.

[00:05:07] So I have to leave at some point in time to go get the bus, which cuts out of a school day, whether I'm a teacher or an administrator, and then bring it back over to pick up the kids where you go play a game and then you come back. Everybody changes. Now I got to go take the bus back and get my car to go home. So, you know, we would love to be able to improve that, you know, and, you know, we'd love to be able to provide for every sport. But I think the big thing for us would be just people having CDLs.

[00:05:34] You know, I think there's two of us now right now, myself and Jeremy Wilhelm, who's our track coach. So, you know, that's something that we we want to help our coaches with that, too. Yeah. Trying to implement that in the programs. As far as the fan base. Yeah. You know, obviously, you mentioned White County. Yes. It's huge. What's even bigger now is Coffee County. So we want to throw out that border battle. Yes. We're having that fundraiser. So, I mean, it's going to be slam packed over there. Yes.

[00:06:02] You know, especially with our communities being so close. But, yeah, our fans now, if we're playing Spring Hill, Columbia, that's a long haul. So we do have things in place where, you know, our games are broadcast on the radio. So that's great. And we have our new app that helps people stay in contact. So that's been taken off. So lots of good things going on in sports world at Warren County High School. Of course, speaking of the community, I just want to talk about more of the community.

[00:06:31] I just want to think, why do y'all want to do this show? What do you think it's going to do not only for the community but for Warren County Athletics? What are you excited about? I'm excited about the idea that we can promote our kids. Yes. And, you know, I've joked with Coach a few times. You know, like a couple years ago, we had a really, really good team at 21. And, you know, people want to talk about that. Okay. Yep. People, or baseball, I should say. So for people that don't know.

[00:06:59] And, you know, people want to support that. And it was funny. And I'm kind of an open book as far as being a coach when it comes to things like that. Because it's not about me. But the more our kids can be promoted. And you look up at one point in time, that was when Jeff Simmons was doing the Warren County Sports Authority. We had four, stool, athletics. Well, I mean, you look in our dugout. And I wanted to come in because we have nothing to hide. But if that gets them a better angle for a picture. But we got, you know, people like Brett Carden who takes photos.

[00:07:29] And Jeff Griffin with his business. And Simmons with the Warren County Sports Authority at that time. And then the newspaper. And then you got the Upper Cumberland and UC Sports. And anyway, my point is that anything that we can do to promote our kids. And that was just a baseball example. But, you know, we want to do what we can for our kids. Because, you know, there's nothing cooler than for a kid to see their picture on the internet or in the paper. And moms and dads share all that. And then it's a big deal. Yes. Yeah.

[00:07:58] That's ultimately what it's about. And more so, not just because I've coached in this community and everything. I've not seen anything like it. I mean, like he listed off five or six different. Now we have Warren First. We have so many different outlets. It's, you know, it's nothing but benefiting our kids and our school and just being positive in a light that's going to be beneficial for them college-wise or whatever.

[00:08:24] I mean, if you're someone, an athlete that's going through Warren County High School and you have aspirations to go to college, I don't think there's anything better than what they have opportunity-wise here in Warren County. And you put the nail right in the coffin. That's why we want to do this show, the Pioneer Playbook. We want to get those athletes to the next level. They can go on our X. We have an X account now. And they can, like, share, repost when we do interviews with them. And it gets their name, their brand out there. And that's exactly why we want to do it.

[00:08:54] And so I'm glad we're on the same page there. But we're going to take a break first. Speaking of community, stay tuned because we have a giveaway. We're going to talk about how you could win that. Then, speaking of winning, now we're going to talk about more of our athletic successes that we had last night. So stay tuned. We're here at Craters Barbecue. Ready to hit a grand slam for your business? Wanting to hit the buzzer beater for your company? Being a sponsor for the Pioneer Playbook for Warren First can allow you to be the real MVP of the game.

[00:09:24] Showcase your commitment and allow all of Warren County sports fans to see what your business has to offer to the community. Join the Pioneer Playbook team today to make your dreams a reality. Put us in, Coach, and give us a call at 931-369-3050. Don't know what to eat? Have you tried Cumberland Biscuit Company or Topps Frozen Yogurt at Metro Deli? Down on Main, you can enjoy pizzas and sandwiches, weekly combo specials, soups, salads, and finish it up with Topps Frozen treats.

[00:09:52] On the weekends, check out Cumberland Biscuit Company's unique dishes like the Twisted Goat Burger or the Bambooshka Burger for lunch or dinner. Get the experience of going out of town right here in McMinnville down on Main. Follow Topps and Cumberland Biscuit Company on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

[00:10:38] Welcome back to Pioneer Playbook. We're here at Prater's. Once again, thank you to Gary Prater and the gang for allowing us to be here. It's been so great. They'll be opening up soon, so come and get the best chicken tenders in Warren County. You're going to watch some college basketball later today or even tomorrow. Get you a snack for tomorrow. Come by and go to Gary's Prater. But first, we want to talk about our giveaway.

[00:11:04] We thank you to the Hitch Outfitters and Security Federal Bank. They were amazing for providing us these goodies. We got a blanket. We got some game day snacks. We got some gift cards to get you dinner before or after the game from Topps. We have a Hitch gift card. We have some Sonic gift cards. We got some teletize, Pura Vida bracelets, socks, just your ultimate game day experience. So to win this basket, you need to share this show. You need to comment, five friends.

[00:11:32] And of course, follow us on Instagram, X, and Facebook, which are all on our social media. You can just click the link, and it'll send you straight to the page. So we're looking for a winner. It'll be announced soon, but I'm going to put this over here. And now, speaking of wins, we had two big wins last night. Columbia Central, the girls won, and of course, the boys won. Boys putting them at their 10-game winning streak. And the girls, they're going to have some momentum as they go play Cannon County, correct? Next Monday, is it Cannon County?

[00:12:02] Monday is DeKalb. DeKalb. DeKalb. So we have momentum rolling. Just tell us about the basketball program and the success and what y'all are seeing that you're liking. I'll let you start this time. Yeah, so girls, like you said, picking up momentum. They're 3-2 in the district. Our boys are 5-0, so they've got a really good opportunity to make some noise in the district. And so we look forward to what this month will bring for them. So, yeah, they're both headed in the right direction, so we're excited about that.

[00:12:31] Got a big game coming up Monday. They have three games this week, correct? Yeah. It's going to be tough, but, hey, it's that time. It's crunch time. Right. It's really tough when you have, you know, obviously different sports. Yes. Play different ways. And, you know, if you've played a basketball game and you have Turnham play the next night or, you know, rest is a big deal, especially when you're running a lot like those guys are. But we're really proud of those two programs. Coach Fish and Coach Turnham do a great job.

[00:12:57] They're both, you know, high-quality, high-class, fundamental individuals that we're real proud to represent our athletic programs. Right. As a former basketball coach, what are you seeing offensive, defensively from both teams that are just clicking? What's working for them right now? Yeah. Well, boys-wise, they've really got it going on with the 10-game win streak. More importantly, I mean, those guys that are starting, they're all juniors. So they're coming back. Yeah. We've got some guys coming off the bench.

[00:13:27] I know Nate Turner comes in. And so they've got a good supportive cast there. They're girls-wise, again, young. So there's a huge positive right there. Coach Turnham's got them, you know, playing hard. And they're giving a lot of effort. They don't back down. Had a really good half against Coffey, I thought. Yeah. You know, Coffey's playing in the 70s and 80s. And I believe the score is 28 points at halftime. I think they're ranked number two in the state. Yeah. They held up 15, right? Yeah.

[00:13:56] So, yeah. Well, they ended up, you know, in the second half kind of losing that. I think they got in the 70s. But to play that team, ranked number two in the state, as close as they did in that first half, it was pretty solid. So we're seeing some improvements. Good. Well, and I know a little bit of basketball. But I can't speak, you know, from the technicalities like Coach can. But here's what my take would be on just watching our team. One, the guy's team's really talented. You know, when you lose a guy like Aaron Templeton to a knee injury early in the year, you think,

[00:14:26] okay, that's a big blow. But other guys have stepped up, like Corbin Felton. Watch him. He's really electric on the court. And so when you have guys step up, when you've got a good group to start with, that's huge. But the girls, you know, here's my thing on the girls. They play hard. And it's obvious. And I think as any coach or any parent or a person in the community comes and watching somebody play, you can sometimes see, and this is no disrespect to our girls by any means,

[00:14:54] sometimes when you're outclassed, you know, I always tell my guys, if somebody beats us, I tip your cap because they're better than you. But what you can still do is you can go out there and you can give everything you've got and you can do things the right way and build on things that will make you better later on. And our girls play hard. And to me, that's a true sign. Because when you're down a few points here or there, you know, I tell my guys all the time, and Coach probably did, it's easy to quit. It's real easy to quit. That's one of the easiest things you could possibly do. But to keep playing hard and keep showing up.

[00:15:23] And to me, that's a testament to what they're doing in the district because they're 3-2. So, you know, throw overall records out the window. That's what we want to be is we want to be good in our district because it's a tournament sport and you want to advance. Yeah. Good luck to our Warren County basketball teams this week. Just keep chipping away, keep chipping away. And district's coming up. And we're excited, hopefully, next show to get you more involved. And we wish the best luck. But continuing with the success, we also want to wish our JV Pinerettes good luck today as they are on the road. They're going to compete.

[00:15:53] And they're also getting prepared for nationals. So, good luck. We're wishing you all the best of success. And then also, speaking of success. Our competition cheer is competing today. They're competing today? Okay, perfect. Yes. And they also have their send-off next week, right? Yes. So, good luck to our cheer team. We know you'll do great. And speaking of success, we also want to talk about Coach Blue. We want to talk about him coming in. I just want to know your thoughts from former coaches, a coach right now.

[00:16:22] I want to know what you saw in him. What was the mentality you liked? Did he have any strategies that you thought would come into Warren County that would create success for our football program? When he walked in the door and sat down and started talking to us, you could tell that he had all – you know, you talk – you get into a conversation and you find out more. But he's a class guy. He's very family-oriented.

[00:16:49] He's very – I don't know if this is kosher these days, but I'll say it anyway. So, he's very – you know, he's got a strong faith-based type of mentality, which goes a long ways in a small community. He likes to know that. You know, he's been at a few places where – and sometimes that can be good or bad. But I think when you see things at different places that you've been, whether it's – it worked this way at this school or it didn't work this way at this school,

[00:17:18] I think anybody that's got any mocks about them can take the culmination of the goods and bads and say, okay, this is where I want to go in a positive way. And these are the things that we don't need to do. And he was able to win the room when we were talking to him because he just – the way that he spoke, the vision that he had, the qualities of how he was going to attempt to talk to the kids and the things that he was going to do community-wise and whatnot, you know, he won us over real quick.

[00:17:46] And furthermore, speaking to the kids yesterday at school, I'm ready to play anyway. I'm well past my prime and I probably break something. But, you know, I was kind of fired up. And then, you know, so just the more that we've talked to him since the initial process, it just – it solidifies. Absolutely. Yeah, and I'll speak on that too. And I've told several of this.

[00:18:09] But, you know, sometimes you go in interviews and, you know, maybe they don't go well or, hey, you know, a guy's got a name drop. Look how great I am. Look out who I play for. And that was the refreshing thing about Coach Ballou was the fact that, you know, I found out things after the fact. You know, he didn't come in and say, hey, look what I've done. Look how impressive I am. Here's my resume. Here's my resume. I'm enough. You know, you should hire me.

[00:18:36] It was – I mean, come to find out, he was, you know, state runner-up his junior year in high school. He won the, you know, state championship his senior year with his dad coaching. Come to find out, he wrote a book called God in Football. Oh, wow. That's on Amazon, you know. And so, again, you would have never known. This guy is so humble. He comes in and says, look, I don't want to be in a place where I can just be plugged in and win a bunch of games. He's faith-driven.

[00:19:04] He immediately said, I want to be somewhere where I can be of service and I can be of use. And that just blew me away because you could see his passion for what he's looking to try to build and do as a football coach. And so, he's got the it factor. He's got that special thing about him. And you could tell when he met with the kids yesterday. I mean, he just lit up the room. And so, it was nice to have him.

[00:19:32] And we're so excited to have him in our program. And we're looking forward to see what he can do. Yeah, and his name fits great. We're blue and red. So, we're glad to have Coach Blue. We're looking forward to hopefully talking to him with this week. So, stay tuned with that. Let me correct you just to make – not correcting you. It's Baloo. Like the jungle book. Baloo. The jungle book. Okay, Blue. Okay. Baloo. Yeah. It's close. It's close. Some people call him Blue or Blue. He even said yesterday some people just go ahead and leave out the E and call it Blue.

[00:20:01] Can we call him Blue's Clues? Does that work? I'm not giving a little nickname here. I'm not going to call him that. We'll let you ask. He's bigger than I am. Yeah. We're looking forward to talking to him hopefully this week. So, stay tuned with more information on that. But, talking about more success, we want to talk about – I want to give a shout-out. It's not high school related, but it's upcoming high schoolers. Centertown Elementary Boys Basketball. They are playing in today's right. Yay!

[00:20:28] I have some family members on that team. I have actually Coach Megan Farrells. Her son plays. We love you, Easton. Yeah. So, they had their first game a couple days ago. They played January 30th for the state. So, we were cheering them on. Hopefully, Coach Thaxon, we can talk with them. Maybe some players get them on. But, we wish them the best of luck and success. I mean, that's our future of Pioneers right there.

[00:20:57] So, y'all have any thoughts about that? I do. I think it's awesome for that school and that community in our bigger – you know, the big community. You've got the little pocket of the Centertown. But, also, to me – and we talked about this. And you can look at every sport. Obviously, the developmental phase. You know, if kids are coming, you know, there's a kind of – if you go top-down umbrella, however you want to call it.

[00:21:21] But, we as coaches at the high school level and teams, we need guys and girls that are coming to us that, one, it's great if they've won. Because it's a hard thing. I have that mentality. You have to learn how to win. And then, if they can come in and help – because, you know, sometimes you've got to rebuild. And sometimes, different teams have – you have a really good team, and then you've got a couple years where you struggle until you can get different groups. Because as high school people, we can't go out and recruit our kids.

[00:21:46] You know, I've always said, jokingly, that if you're a college coach, it's your own fault that you're not very good because you're the one bringing the kids in. We get what comes to us. And what we've got to do is we've got to work hard to, you know, to build a foundation and teach them the right way. But it's always great when they come to you knowing what to do and knowing how to play. And then, you can just kind of refine and hone those skills. So, it's – to me, any time that lower-level teams have success, it's a big deal.

[00:22:14] And we want to celebrate that, too, because it's part of our community. Yes, and I'll add this. You know, sometimes people don't realize – there's kind of two areas that I look at, and I know Coach looks at, too. But, you know, you've got the foundation and the skills that they learn. But then you also have this culture of winning, or what we would say a kid knows how to win. And it's something that you can't really put a finger on.

[00:22:38] But, you know, teaching – that was something that I felt I had to do when I came in for our girls program was we were in a situation where we hadn't won a whole lot. But not only do you have to teach the skills or hope that they come to you with those skills, but we had to teach that competitiveness of, hey, we've got to do a little extra or find this edge to find out, you know, find a way to win. And Coach can probably attest to that. When kids are around a lot of winning, they know what it takes.

[00:23:07] They know that intensity and drive. Yeah, it's not just, hey, I hope I have a good game or I perform well. But it transcends into the high school level that a lot of times we see. Well, and conversely, if you're used to losing, if you've not done a lot of winning, it's hard to flip the switch and go the reverse. And I'll give you an easy example. Our kids were doing some stuff the other day and hitting off the machine or whatever.

[00:23:36] This one kid just made a comment, I can't hit. Did somebody ever tell you that? Did somebody tell you that you can't hit? Because you're here with us right now and we think you can. And it was funny because just in that little, not that I'm some guru or genius, but just in me telling him that, kid goes back and he's starting raking in the cage. And it's like, if you have a mentality where you can't do, it's going to be very hard to ever overcome that.

[00:24:00] I mean, that's a big deal when they win at that level because you've got them coming to you with a different mentality. And that's something I want to talk about on this show. I don't want it just to be high school. I want to talk about all levels. We're going to talk about even special games, kind of doing some things like that in the community. So we're going to just talk about middle school, elementary, talk about some future camps coming up. We used to do May Mania, Warren County Elite Camps.

[00:24:24] So we want to do highlight our youth and getting them involved and getting them excited to come up with the big dogs, as I would like to say. But we're going to take another break. We're here at Crater's Barbecue. And then we're going to talk about some upcoming events, the border battle. We have coming home at the high school and how you can stay tuned with these games going on with the app with Pioneer Playbook. So stay tuned here at Prater's Barbecue. We'll be back.

[00:24:54] Ready to hit a grand slam for your business? Wanting to hit the buzzer beater for your company? Being a sponsor for the Pioneer Playbook for Warren First can allow you to be the real MVP of the game. Showcase your commitment and allow all of Warren County sports fans to see what your business has to offer to the community. Join the Pioneer Playbook team today to make your dreams a reality. Put us in, Coach, and give us a call at 931-369-3050. Don't know what to eat?

[00:25:23] Have you tried Cumberland Biscuit Company or Topps Frozen Yogurt at Metro Deli? Down on Main, you can enjoy pizzas and sandwiches, weekly combo specials, soups, salads, and finish it up with Topps Frozen treats. On the weekends, check out Cumberland Biscuit Company's unique dishes like the Twisted Goat Burger or the Bambooshka Burger for lunch or dinner. Get the experience of going out of town right here in McMinnville down on Main. Follow Topps and Cumberland Biscuit Company on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

[00:26:40] Welcome back to Pioneer Playbook. We're here at Crater's Barbecue. Once again, thank you so much, Gary, and the gang for letting us be here. We're so excited. We're going to talk about some upcoming events, the app, how to stay tuned. So just tell us about some upcoming events going on at the high school. I know it's going to be coming home, all the activities. I know we've got the dress-up days that are coming. Kids love it. Yes. I'm not sure if the kids love it. The teachers love it. Just the teachers.

[00:27:07] We've got a whole crew on the purple hallway upstairs that just goes all out, and it's fantastic when the teachers get involved, too. It's great for the kids, but the teachers get involved, too. I can think of the green hallway downstairs. We shout out one hallway. Jacob Dunn himself. Yeah. Mr. Dunn. Shout out to Dunn. He dresses up. Do y'all guys dress up? Me, personally? I mean, it depends on the day. You shout away from me. But my wife does. I know Mr. Hobbs does.

[00:27:36] I wore a Christmas sweater one day. Oh, okay. I did do that. Mr. Hobbs, he's all in. There's Jersey Day coming up this week, so I might be able to throw on a jersey. Yeah. Okay. I'll be in on that. Yeah. We could do that. What about other days? You know, see, here's the thing. I'll be straight. We'll be transparent for a minute. So we got pajama day, right? And, you know, he and I have to do, you know, IEP meetings, five or four meetings with parents coming in. And they come in and we're in, you know, pajama pants. It's a little awkward for us.

[00:28:05] So, you know. And you have to own pajama pants to be able to wear pajama pants. Yeah. I don't have those. That's exciting. So tell us some more games coming up, what you're excited for, what you're looking forward to. Well, I'll throw this out. And it may not be just, you know, a game next week. But, of course, we got the border battle with Coffey County. But I'll tell you one that I know he and I are excited about as well as our community. We got girls flag football coming around the corner of the spring. Yeah, I'm excited for that. And that's new.

[00:28:35] And so I'll say that. That's a new and upcoming thing that we've never done. And we're excited to see what that brings. So I know that that's something. Coach Martin, Coach Craig? Yes. Yes. Yes. That's exciting. Coach Martin is a coach. Yes. Perfect. So that's what we're excited about right now. I'm excited to cover that. So let's talk more about the border battle. Of course, it's the rivalry of the century. We love it. We're hoping y'all will travel. We're going to get Stephanie George on here to come and talk about it.

[00:29:02] Because actually, Phyllis Prater helped start with the border battle game and the donations and what it means to this community. So we're going to get her on. She's in the back. But we're going to have her on. Now we're talking. Are y'all excited about the border battle? Yes. It's always a good game. Well, the other night here was a very good crowd. And our student section, their student section, it was good. And the gym was full. And it was two really good games. You know, the girls got beat to the coffee.

[00:29:32] But they're, you know, second in the state. And then our boys were able to win. And so, you know, it's a nice. I have a great respect for a lot of people. And I lived in Manchester for four years. I worked at Coffee County a long time ago when I first started my career. So there's people that I widely respect. Andrew Taylor is their boys' basketball coach. And he's one of the greatest humans on the planet. And I've gotten to know Joe Patco, the girls' coach. And he does a really good job. But it's neat that you have, you know, right down 55.

[00:30:00] You've got two schools that are pretty good in a lot of sports. And to me, it's, you know, growing up, let me throw this out there. Growing up, we didn't really have a rival in the days I was in high school because they weren't in our district or anything. So we were going to Sparta and Cookville and, you know, all those kind of places. And to me, this is going to sound corny, but I'm going to say it. I always, you know, you watch TV and movies and stuff. To me, it's a rivalry when I can go to somebody else's school and steal their girlfriend. You ain't doing that in Sparta. It's too far away, you know.

[00:30:28] And Cookville, we hated those guys, but nobody's driving to Cookville, you know. So I know that sounds silly. No, I love that. You know, that's my whole mentality of it. When I used to play, people would make signs about people's girlfriends or boyfriends. And they would hold it up. So, I mean, it happens. I mean, it makes it more exciting. We used to steal cones from football sections. So, yeah. Speaking of stealing things, how are we going to keep, like, keep it clean? How did it go the other night? It went great the other night.

[00:30:58] When it was all said and done, I don't think there was anything that we could look back on and say, wow, this was a controversial thing that happened. Obviously, when you're an athletic director and you have a home contest, especially the ones where we've got to really be in charge of. You know, like some sports don't require a game administrator. But, you know, football's a big deal. Basketball, the ones that really bring in the revenue. You know, not that other sports aren't supported. But I felt like it was a clean game. I felt like there wasn't anything where people were walking out thinking, you know,

[00:31:28] hey, somebody's going to get their tires slashed or anything crazy like that. So kudos to both communities for, you know, just coming and cheering on their kids. Nobody lost their girlfriend. They may have. I don't know. I haven't even checked into that. All right. Now, if we want to bring Stephanie George on, she's going to tell us how Phyllis Prater got started and more about the Border Battle Game. You guys want to sit right here? Sit, stand. Yeah. Come on, get out of the way. Yeah, of course. Thank you.

[00:31:58] Oh, you're good. Tell us all about it. Tell us. So last year, Coffee County started a little battle with Warren County coming out with a shirt. And Phyllis was so upset thinking that somebody was going to think that she wasn't behind Warren County 100%.

[00:32:22] So she immediately went to work on coming up with something that would push Warren County in the Coffee County game. So she came up with raising money for McMillan Special Games, Holly McBride, and pledging $1 per point, which Chris Cope was in on that too. And it immediately went so big.

[00:32:45] And I think they ended up raising over $22,000 for McMillan Special Games in that little battle border. So we're so excited that that's continuing because Phyllis would love it. And, you know, she was not ever going to let anybody think that she was raised in Warren County. She played ball in Warren County, and Warren County was so important to her. So Vicki's going to read the battle border from this year. Phyllis was a huge Warren County sports fan.

[00:33:16] Baseball, basketball, football. This is from Holly McBride's Facebook page this year. It's that time of year again. Would you like to support McMillan Special Games and cheer on our Warren County High School boys and girls against Coffee County in a friendly border battle? Pledge at least $1 per point by emailing. And please do this, everybody. You can email hollamitbride82 at gmail.com and share this post to spark your neighbor's competition.

[00:33:44] Last year, over $22,000 was raised for McMillan Special Games from Warren County and Coffee County. So with that money, they're currently building a new handicap accessible bathroom. So help keep it growing. Let's do more than $22,000 this year. Yeah! I say let's make it $25,000 or more. $25,000 or more. And Praeer's is in. This is a very deserving.

[00:34:11] Holly and the work that she does and the community does for McMillan Special Games deserves every bit of this. So I challenge people, businesses, people. I'm going to do it. Let's do it. I'm going to do it. Praeer's is going to do it. We're all in. Any remarks on how y'all feel about it living out Phyllis's name? It's continuing. What do you think she would be thinking right now?

[00:34:36] Phyllis was so excited last year about the amount of money that it raised. And so I know that she would be very happy that it's continuing. And she had, I mean, she was always doing things for the community. You know, Meals on Wheels. Amen. She was a big part of, you know, just community support. The hospitality room. Yes.

[00:34:59] You know, really soon we started getting emails and texts about the food that she had already promised for the hospitality room all the way up through February. So we're still honoring what she had already promised to people. Yeah. But Meals special games was near and dear to her heart. So I'm very proud that this will continue this year. And she would absolutely be proud of it. Well, thank y'all for telling us that. Come on.

[00:35:27] Come out to the Border Battle Games. Come donate. Dollar for a point. Come on. Make it a little better. February 7th. February 7th. February 7th. So come on. We challenge businesses. Decided to, like last year it was the game in Warren County and then they decided to switch it up every year. Because it also helps out with a cause in Coffee County. Dream for We. Dream for We. Yes. That's it. Awesome. Well, thank y'all guys so much.

[00:35:56] Come on. Raise that money. Let's get it going. Thank y'all. Thank you guys for being here. Yes, of course. Yes. We can come back in. That was great. I've actually been volunteering with McMimble Special Games with Holly. So I'm looking forward to hopefully doing a special over them and highlighting what's going on there. Because I just love it. It's putting me back in the basketball. And I just love it. So great. But now I want to talk about the app.

[00:36:26] I want to talk about how we can find out about the Border Battle Games. How we can find out about these three games that they're playing in this week. Tell us all about the app. Go ahead. Let me start by saying this. So as a coach, and I had told you guys the other day, I'm not the biggest guru of all things, you know, social media or Internet or things like that. But in an attempt to have promoted my own program over the years, you know, I got a Facebook.

[00:36:53] So I just created a baseball Facebook and the same with Instagram and Twitter. And so, you know, on a day-to-day basis, you know, you might, okay, hey, we're playing somewhere tonight. And I'm not great in Canva or PhotoP or any of that kind of stuff. So I'm just trying to type something just to let people know that follow my own page. And then, you know, post-game, it's like, okay, hey, well, we won and this kid hit a home run or this kid was the winning pitcher or whatever. And outside of, like, following Game Changer or something like that.

[00:37:21] So, and I'm going to turn all of this over to Coach Lippey because he is the guru. Yeah, he goes Lippey. Absolutely guru. The one thing people have told me after the fact of having our app is that when I see Rand, hey, your app is awesome because you're talking about the distances, you know, and with the way that the TSSAA has realigned districts and classifications and things like that, you know, we're going to places like Spring Hill and Columbia and Lincoln County. And it's not easy for people to go. You know, you get off work at 5 o'clock or whatever.

[00:37:50] And, you know, a lot of parents have to take off. But people can follow our teams now a whole lot better. And they get the updates at quarters and halftime and things like that. So, to me, it's awesome from what I'm hearing from people. But I'm going to turn it over because Anthony, I give him 98% of the credit for, I'm going to take two. And we have it pulled up first. So, if y'all want to go and download it before Coach Lippey explains about it, go and download it right now. Get it. Stay tuned. We're a community. We need the community support.

[00:38:20] So, go and get the app. Now we'll turn it over to Lippey. Tell us about it. So, I'll start by giving a little bit of history of how this whole thing, how it started. So, last year was our first year as co-ADs. And being completely just honest with you, we came in. Hey, we've never done this before. I believe Coach is at a middle school. I did. Yeah, I did it for three years in middle school. There's a big difference. So, literally, our goal was like, all right, let's get through this first year and not mess anything up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:38:50] So, let's make sure Jay Walker has pizza at the football game. Make sure Jay and Jeff Lee, you know, those guys have got to make sure that they've got what they need. So, we didn't want to mess anything up. I had this idea last year, but I thought, we're not ready for that. I wanted to kind of give us some time to learn more about it. And ultimately, after last year, it was twofold.

[00:39:16] One, I was looking for something for our coaching staff and everyone that I communicate on a daily basis with, like, hey, this game's rescheduled or there's snow or practices or things of that nature. I was looking for something that could bring everyone together and just simplify the communication. You know, starting out, it was a necessity to make our jobs a little bit easier.

[00:39:42] But then on top of that, I thought, not only does it do that for us, but it's mainly an app for the community. And it's for our kids. We talked about exposure. I mean, it gets information out. You can highlight. You can do player of the week. You can – there's lots of – and we're just barely scratching the surface. And so, that was kind of how it was – how it evolved. And so – Can I stop you right there and add something, if you don't mind? Yeah. For those that don't know, here's what a day would look like before he's talking about what we're doing.

[00:40:12] If we have a rain out on a baseball game, I, as the coach, have to – okay, I've got to tell my team. I've got to tell the other team. I've got to tell the umpires. I need to contact the athletic director. I need to tell the booster club. I need to put it out on – Oh, yeah. There's a giant list. And at the end of it, you look up and – did I leave – oh, I forgot the trainer. You know, and so just to get everybody in sync with what has to happen or who needs to be notified that it's either going to be canceled or a time moves back.

[00:40:42] I wanted to add that because that helps to solidify, you know, the communication aspect of it. Yeah, and a lot of times it can go vice versa. The coach, you know, say we're having a basketball game, JV, and it was canceled or, hey, we're going to add it in. Well, there's a lot. I've got to – you know, I've got to have a gate worker. I've got to have – you know, Mary Bass, our bookkeeper, has to have checks for the referees. And we've got – Concession stands. Concession stands. SROs. SROs. There's so many things.

[00:41:12] You even have EMT people, trainers. The newspaper, the radio guy. Whoever's going to be – it's a big production having, you know, especially if it's a football game, you get a lightning strike. I mean, there's – There's a lot of things. And really, we were having to take the fall. Oh, well, so-and-so didn't communicate. So it was, you know, out of necessity for us, but also I knew it was going to be huge in the community to just put news out and, you know, see box scores and what kids are able to do.

[00:41:41] And so I found a company that is doing an outstanding job. It's a company called Ball Frog. And they – what they do is they create a personalized app. They basically are taking what colleges are doing and they're applying it to high schools. And so I got on a call, set everything up, and for about two months we were working on this app.

[00:42:06] Every little thing, the colors, the logos, the slide, you know, and what it says. Talk to other schools who are using it. We play Tullahoma here in football on a Friday night. And so he and I were down by the gate and we stopped Coach Olive, who's their athletic director, asked him about it just to see how it's working for them. So a little bit of research involved. Yeah, so it was a two to two-and-a-half-month process of just – I wish we could have had it before football. Yeah. But we just had a lot going on.

[00:42:34] So we got it. We launched it on December 11th. And within five weeks, we're well over 1,000 now of downloads. Yeah. And we're not done yet. Like I said, we're still just scratching the surface. I do want to share something with you that will be brand new. Coach King and I were working on this.

[00:42:59] And so the other night we were at the ball game, and I said, you know, I've got this idea, and this is right up his alley. He loves this kind of stuff. He's a history guy. He grew up here this whole life. I said, Coach King, I got something for you. We need to add this to the app. So stay tuned. We're going to have on the main page we're working on a project where you'll be able to scroll over, and there's going to be a Hall of Fame tab that you can click on and be able to scroll through

[00:43:26] and see all of our history about people that are in Warren County Sports Hall of Fame. So we also need your help. We need photographs. We've got a whole list. I think there's about 85 in the Hall of Fame. So we're going to be looking to try to get photographs, and we can put it in the app so that they can be on there and be a part of it. We did a little research on that the other day. You can go to the Warren County Sports Hall of Fame Facebook page where, you know, it existed for a while.

[00:43:53] I think it took, you know, some time off, and then here recently Security Federal took it over. And so ultimately what we talked about doing is, you know, you can do research through either old annuals or, you know, the newspaper articles and things like that, and there's been a couple classes in the last few years when they brought it back, but it might be easy. What we want to do is we want to find, I even reached out to my mother the other day.

[00:44:17] I'm like, hey, some of these older people, we may not have an annual from McMillan City High School. We may not have a yearbook from Central High School because if you go back to when it got started, you're talking about some of these people that played sports in the 1920s and 30s. Like my grandfather's brother is in it, and so like I have a picture. But what we want to try to do with that is where if you go onto that tab and you click on it, you know, I don't know that we're going to get overly fancy with a bunch of statistics and things like that,

[00:44:46] but just if nothing else, here's a picture of that person, and here's what their name is. And you see that on college websites and things like that. So I think that'd be a great way to honor those people. People want to know more about the history, you know, because it's just not really easy to Google somebody. We tried that the other day. I found one guy, you know, but there were a handful of other people that had names that were, you know, you get a business photo of some dude that's got a company in California.

[00:45:10] So, you know, if there are family members that are out there of people that are in the Hall of Fame, we want a photograph. It'd be great if it was like an action shot kind of thing. Or they had like an artifact, like a jersey or a shirt or something. I talked to Coach Fisher, Franklin Fisher on the bus ramp the other day. I said, hey, we're going to be doing this and send me a picture. So, you know, he thought, you know, that's pretty cool.

[00:45:39] And it meant a lot to me to hear him say, you know, hey, we want you to be a part of it. And again, it's about connecting people to our program. And I think that's going to be a cool thing that, again, we're just scratching the surface on this app. The biggest thing is that you can get scores, updates and things, like you said, when they're in Columbia or somewhere far away. But even also on a game day, you know, and some of our coaches are really, really good with the, you know, the graphics and things you can do.

[00:46:09] Josh Harris is one of the best. He's our wrestling coach. And, of course, they had a great season and are still going. You know, they won the district, but on a daily basis, you could go to the app and you could see where Josh had done a really good graphic or something. Hey, we got this big meet tonight, you know, and it's, you know, it's not just like me, but I'm typing words in there, you know. So with this, you know, it kind of brings it all together where, you know, a one-stop shop where you can see what's going on with each team. Yeah.

[00:46:38] I think this is just a great way to keep the community connected. Keith, I love how you're doing the Hall of Fame. That gets the athletes excited. That gets their dream. They're like, oh, maybe I can do that. I think that just gets fire up under them and gets them going. But also, you can stay here with Pioneer Playbook. We're going to do our best to cover all of Warren County sports. We're going to do some shows once or twice a month, have some stuff on the Warren First podcast as well. So, of course, you have the app, you have the Pioneer Playbook. But it's been great, guys. How are y'all feeling?

[00:47:08] Do you feel great? Oh, yeah, this is awesome. Great. We appreciate y'all having us. Appreciate Praetors having us. Yeah, Praetors. Thank you. Any other remarks you want to say? Go Pioneers. Yeah. Is there any? If we have some time, Kelly, are you seeing any comments, any questions on the live? I know we talked about we wanted to. Just a lot of go Pioneers. That's amazing. Yes, of course. As much as I have no voice today. Yeah, that's all right. Well, thank y'all for being here. I think we should do it like we do again. Let's break it down. All right.

[00:47:39] Pioneers on three. Ready? One, two, three. Happy New Year! Yay! Thank y'all for being here. First, so we're excited. Thank y'all. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. All right. Have a good day.