RRS NOTES: SSAC Baseball tourney moves to Mobile; AHSAA promotes new webcast system
COMBINED REPORTS
The Southern States Athletic Conference announced this week an agreement with the city of Mobile to become the host of the conference’s baseball tournament beginning in 2021.
The operators of the city’s Hank Aaron Stadium made the announcement during a press conference. The deal is for four years at the former home of the Southern League member Mobile Bay Bears, which moved to Madison after the 2019 season.
"We are excited to partner with the Mobile Sports Authority and Mobile Sports and Entertainment Group to bring our Baseball Championship to Mobile,” stated SSAC commissioner Mike Hall. “Hank Aaron Stadium will provide a first-class venue for our fans and student-athletes and the city of Mobile has a long-tenured history hosting successful events."
The tournament had been held in Montgomery at Paterson Field since 2014.
AHSAA offers new camera options for Webcasting
The Alabama High School Athletic Association is making Webcasting production more affordable for high school broadcasts.
The association announced earlier this week it would provide a new program that enables member schools an offer of production units through the web partner , NFHS Network.
Schools can sign up for the new “Pixellot” program through the network’s website.
“We recognize that the next several years will be challenging for our high schools and state associations,” said Mark Koski, CEO of the NFHS Network. “Many are facing budget cuts and reduced resources, and attendance at athletic and other school events may be restricted. From the NFHS Network’s inception seven years ago, we have been driven by the goal to create a platform that showcases every high school event across every sport and every level of competition. Consistent with this goal, we want the High School Support Program to demonstrate our continued commitment to help our partner schools manage through the inevitable complications created by COVID-19.”
The platform allows schools to stream live events and with the new program, can do so without the use of manned video cameras.
“We’re excited for our schools to take part in the NFHS Network’s High School Support Program,” said AHSAA director Steve Savarese. “Schools can benefit from the easy to use, fully automated production units to livestream sports events to their fans, allowing them to watch from anywhere. At the same time, revenue sharing from viewer subscriptions can help to offset losses in ticket sales, concessions, and more due to COVID-19. We’re appreciative of the valuable revenue stream being enabled through the program.”
Autauga Academy adds 10th game to football schedule
Autauga Academy added a 10th game to its 2020 football schedule, playing Vernon (Fla.) High on Sept. 4, Generals’ football coach Bobby Carr announced.
The Generals had played at Vernon last year and would have gotten a return trip from the Jackets, who are located in the Florida Panhandle approximately 40 miles north of Panama City Beach.
“They were going to come to us, but I already had five (home) games,” Carr said. “Our fans like to go to the beach once a year and they’re going to pay us $2,000 to come down there and play them.”
The game will be Vernon’s fourth game of the year but will serve as the 2020 home opener. Autauga will travel to Tuscaloosa Academy a week earlier in its 2020 opener.