...And They're Off! Banks Trail MS Kicks Off the Regular Season Fall Schedule

Hello Banks Trail MS and FMSD sports fans and welcome to my new blog! In this space I hope to provide periodic updates to what's been going on in the BTMS and high school sports scene as I cover the action with my camera. I have signed on this school year as a BTMS Athletics Booster Club sponsor and will be photographing Banks Trail sports action throughout the school year. You will be able to find the photos at http://photobyrob.shootproof.com. I will also post images and links on my Facebook page (Facebook/Rob Upton Photography Sports). So for all you Facebookers, head on over there to 'Like' my page and get the updates. You can also follow me on Instagram (@photobyrob) and Twitter (@photobyrob1). I love shooting sports and I've been doing it as part of my photography career for more than 25 yrs, dating back to my days as a college newspaper shooter in mid-1980's at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH. I'm right at home on the sidelines, courtside or in the dugout. If it's played, I've probably photographed it at least once, and that includes water polo and fencing (but maybe not badminton).

This is from my very first assignment as a newly
 hired staff photographer at the LaSalle News-
Tribune in LaSalle, Illinois. Bears-Packers game
Soldier Field, Nov. 27, 1988.

My career has taken me from my home state of Ohio, to northern Illinois, to eastern NC, to eastern Pennsylvania and now here in Fort Mill. Along the way I've had the opportunity to shoot professional sports in Chicago, work for East Carolina University's sports information office shooting Pirate's sports in the early 90's, including trips to the NCAA basketball tourney, and high school and college sports throughout eastern PA and New Jersey as a freelance photographer. You can tell I spent a long time in PA (18 yrs) because only people from PA refer to it as 'Pee-Aaay". I haven't met anyone hailing from any other states who refer to their home state by it's US Postal abbreviation! Hey, yous guys like your cheesesteaks wit or witout Whiz? Go Iggles! (NOT a fan of Philadelphia sports, though. Reds, Browns, Buckeyes...these are my burdens to bear).

Anyway, enough about me. Let's talk Banks Trail MS sports.

Zeb Graham hauls in a TD pass for the first
score of the 2014 season

The football and volleyball seasons got under way this week with a 50-50 split for the four teams. First up was the  football teams on Wednesday, Sept. 10. The 8th grade team traveled to Castle Heights MS in Rock Hill, while the 7th graders took on Castle Heights at home. I was there to see the 8th graders beat the Knights, 14-0 behind a solid defensive effort and just enough offense to get the job done. A JT Marr-to-Zeb Graham TD pass in the 1st quarter got the the T'Wolves on the board and they never looked back. Interceptions by Josh Kenyon and Zeb Graham and a fumble recovery by Deonte Hayes kept Castle Heights from getting their offense going. But the biggest defensive play came when Banks Trails' Lawrence Adams broke into the Knights backfield and stole the handoff from the quarterback and took it all the way to the end zone for the 'Wolves second score of the game. The two-point conversion was added by a Zeb Graham run and Castle Heights' fate was sealed. Click on the photo captions to see my photo gallery of images from the 8th grade game.

Lawrence Adams heads to the end zone for a defensive score
 after stealing the handoff from the Castle Heights QB

8th gr RB Alex Cooper grinds out tough yards
against Castle Heights

Meanwhile, the 7th graders had all they
could handle and more, as they dropped their opener,
34-22 to the Castle Heights 7th grade team. I'll be shooting at least one of the 7th grade games this season so stay tuned here and I'll let you know when I'm planning to cover them.

On the volleyball court at Clover MS on Thursday, Sept. 11, the opposite was true for the two teams. Coach Cori Hustedt picked up with her 7th graders where she left off with last year's 8th grade team, with her team winning the the match 2-0, with each set having the same 25-13 score. Later, the 8th graders took the floor and Coach Amanda Scott's girls fought hard, but came up a bit short, losing in 3 sets, 25-17, 20-25 and 9-15.

So there you have it. A mixed bag in this first week of action for the BTMS Fall sports teams. The teams have worked hard to get ready for their seasons and now will work to build on their successes and learn from their setbacks. Next week (Sept. 15-19) the volleyball teams have their first home matches against Oakridge MS and I plan on being there to capture the action and report it here. The football teams play Rock Hill's Rawlinson Rd MS teams (8th gr at home, 7th gr away). At this point I think I'll be covering the 8th graders again at home, then catching the 7th graders at home against Clover on Sept. 24th. If you have specific requests for particular players, let me know and I'll do my best to get some shots during the the course of the games. If you want to ensure that I get lots of photos of your player, then you can check out my Shooting Stars Action Photos service. Here's a link to more information on how you can have me shooting just your athlete for a game:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/rob-upton-photography-sports/shooting-stars-action-photo-service/696934970381519

That's about it for this first installment. Thanks for checking it out. Have a great weekend!

Rob Upton
Rob Upton Photography
Fort Mill
484-554-7178
photobyrob1@gmail.com
Insta: @photobyrob
Twitter: @photobyrob1