Welcome to Norwood Sports Plus…
This website is a primitive attempt to keep up-to-date on Norwood sports. The primary focus will be on high school sports – all levels. Other youth sports teams will also receive attention, if possible.
The impetus for this website evolved from informal discussions about the past and how those of us who grew up in Norwood were aware of what was happening in the Norwood sports scene on close to a day-to-day basis. ‘In the day’, Norwood sports were covered primarily by the Norwood Messenger which was published twice a week during the 50’s, 60’s into the 70’s. The Norwood Messenger became part of the Daily Transcript in the ‘70’s and continued into the 80’s and 90’s. The common thread during this time was Frank Wall. Frank was a dedicated sport’s reporter and columnist. He was a one and only, and he was ours.
There are some very good reasons why Norwood sports coverage ‘today’ cannot be like ‘yesterday’. There are more sports teams available to athletes to participate in. The number of Girl’s sports has expanded and rightfully so. There are 16 sports teams and 273 sports events scheduled for Norwood High School this Spring! Times have changed and change is good. This is not an attempt to replicate the ‘past’.
Today we have several weekly newspapers and associated websites. They do a solid job with limited resources. The Norwood sports stories produced are well-written by knowledgeable people. They keep us up-to-date on a weekly basis. They also provide in-depth looks at the teams allowing us to get to know the coaches and players. If there is a big game such as a playoff or tournament game there is usually an update that night or the next day.
Some might argue that there is a way to follow Norwood sports on a day-to-day basis. You will need to do some scrambling but it is possible. The Bay State Conference has a website but only one athletic department contributes to it – Norwood! That is our source for all the schedules.
Norwood Sports Plus will not replace what is currently available. The goal is to try and provide scores and, if possible, highlights on a more frequent basis.
How will this work? … well, this is the catch… The key to success of Norwood Sports Plus will depend on updates from parents, friends, coaches, players or fans of Norwood sports to report the scores and or highlights. The site will focus on scheduled games and results.
Getting the site up and running has been a learning experience. As mentioned in the beginning, this is a ‘primitive attempt’, so do not expect a lot of ‘bells and whistles’. We will try to insure accuracy but I apologize upfront for what will surely be inaccuracies. While apologizing, I might as well apologize for a baseball bias. Those discussions mentioned before were with baseball people and specifically the Norwood Diamond Club.
What’s with the ‘Plus’? We will try to provide additional sections, if time allows. All of this is contingent on the evolution of website skills and information. An example of this would be making some of Frank Wall’s writing available for re-reading.
Last but not least, kids have a lot going on today. There so many opportunities available to them and not all of these are productive. Hopefully, we can show some appreciation for the time and effort they put in to excel in their sport.
This is an experiment and hopefully it will satisfy a ‘want’, it really is not a ‘need’ unless you need a Norwood sports fix frequently. I usually do.
Regards,
George Hawley