Trudging up and down the hills of Otis Park in Bedford, one of the hilliest high school golf courses that I’ve ever encountered in my time as a sports writer, I found myself in a familiar place Tuesday.
Minus the calf-killing summits, Otis Park is a special place for me: It’s one of the first places journeyed to outside Jackson County to cover prep sports here in Indiana.
It’s the place where last year’s girls golf season ended, at the regional; and now the place where I start my second year of coverage as sports editor for The Tribune.
My first time at the park, I remember scurrying around the course trying to figure out who played for Seymour, Brownstown Central and Trinity Lutheran.
I was a stranger in a foreign land.
I had no idea what the girls’ uniforms looked like, who coached the squads and where the results were posted.
Everything worked out in the end, but it was a trial-and-error experience.
That’s no longer the case.
This time around, with experience under my belt, everything came with ease.
One thing to the next.
I spent a good portion of my morning speaking with the coaches and players, some new while others were familiar faces, trying to get a feel for the teams.
I recognized some fellow writers from other parts of the state and got the scoop on the schools they’re covering this fall.
I was able to take more quality photos and get more in-depth interviews.
Without question, a better overall package.
Progress.
What a nice change of pace from when I started.
It’s been nearly three months since the end of the spring sports season.
The first week was a nice break from the busyness of high school coverage, but that soon faded — I yearned for more sports.
We have nearly two weeks until the start of cross-country, football, soccer, boys tennis and volleyball.
Until then, girls golf is the name of the game with a handful of feature stories sprinkled in.
As always, like I said in my first column on Sept. 16, please contact me with any ideas for sports stories, suggestions or comments at [email protected] or 523-7069.
I will continue on working to better serve you, our readers, in any way I can.
This is your newspaper. Let’s do this together and make the 2015-16 school year the best yet.
Jordan Morey is sports editor of The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].
