By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com
Later this month, KCK Preps will be celebrating its first anniversary of existence.
It's been a quick and eventful year.
We have had multiple football prospects - Vernon Vaughn, Ben Johnson, Michael Golubski, Caleb Hiss - commit to Division 1 schools, assuming you can still count the Kansas Jayhawks as a Division 1 program following the damage Turner Gill caused.
(Kidding, Ben and Mike.)
We've also had multiple state champions from Basehor-Linwood, most notably in boys basketball. We had football teams from Basehor and Piper who came oh so close to making the state tournament. A football team in Bonner Springs surprised the metro and won a district championship.
For the first time in a long time, Wyandotte County had a very strong girls basketball team that came two wins away from a state championship. The Bonner girls team was awesome this year and finishing in fourth place was a special accomplishment that should not be overlooked.
We had individual great talent in all sports shine across Wyandotte County, Bonner Springs and Basehor-Linwood.
Still, I want to open this one-year anniversary celebration with a special thank you to the cities of Bonner Springs and Basehor.
As you can see, the name of this Website is "KCK Preps." The Web address is www.kckpreps.com. It was not my intention to cover either Bonner Springs or Basehor with this Website.
However, a few things happened and we ended up covering both communities.
Looking back, covering Bonner Springs and Basehor was the single best decision I have made in relation to KCK Preps during its first year.
Both cities and communities are hungry for high school sports and have enjoyed a pretty successful school year in terms of success. Whenever we have stories about both schools on this Website, the traffic jumps up dramatically.
Also, both high schools have welcomed KCK Preps with open arms and have made things very easy for our staff here. They have treated us very well and welcomed KCK Preps into their schools like we've been around for ever.
And when I mean "they," it's top to bottom. It's superintendents. It's athletic directors. It's random teachers inside the school. It's coaches. It's athletes. Most importantly, it's families and fans who have treated us very well.
On top of that, I was very impressed with both schools in terms of the fans they brought to big-time sporting events.
The Basehor-Bonner sub-state game is probably the single greatest sports atmosphere I've ever covered a game in. It was loud. It was passionate. It was what high school sports is all about.
Both Bonner Springs, Kan., and Basehor, Kan., have helped turn KCK Preps from a good Website to a great Website.
Thank you. I hope you continue to read our product and I will continue to work hard to step up my game to give your cities the high school sports coverage you deserve.
You treated a stranger like me as a family member from the get-go.
Thanks!
Nick Sloan
NJSloan212@gmail.com
Thank you to the Bonner Springs, Basehor communities
