Delivery of the 2015 issue of Kansas Pregame is underway. The 10th annual release of the only statewide high school football preview in Kansas is a 144 page comprehensive look at all levels of football in Kansas with a number of new features including All in the Family (a look at some of the top father-son coach-player duos), Down on the Farm (a look at some of the best farmboy football players in Kansas), and Dynamic Duos (a look at some of the top pairs of players in the state). As of press time distribution was more than halfway complete, but some sections of the state were still receiving copies.
Find a list of distribution locations here.
"When we started this 10 years ago I never imagined it would go this far," publisher John Baetz said. "I didn't know if it was going to be a regional publication, cover a specific classification, or what the plan was, I just knew we had to get something out and grow it from there. I'm really proud of what it has become."
The point of the project, Baetz says, is to provide coverage to all levels of football.
"When I was a teenager and college student I couldn't wait for The Salina Journal to release their football preview, and after playing and coaching football for years, and later getting involved in the newspaper industry, I knew I wanted to provide the players, parents, coaches and fans of Kansas high school football a publication they could be proud of," Baetz said. "I think we've done that with Kansas Pregame."
As the product has evolved over the years dozens of different people have contributed articles, photos, design work, and even helped with distribution. Coaches, athletic directors, and school secretaries have went out of their way to help provide the publication the questionnaires that are the basis for so many of the previews in the magazine.
"I think we've got the best lineup of writers we've had in the 10 years we've been providing this publication," Baetz said. "Many of them are among the top sportswriters for some of the best newspapers in Kansas and Missouri."
The 2015 cover shoot features 10 of the top players in Kansas and was shot on the new turf at the brand new Graves Family Sports Complex on the campus of Kansas Wesleyan University, this year's cover sponsor.
"Kansas Wesleyan is going to have a beautiful facility when it's all complete later this fall," Baetz added. "We are proud to have them as a sponsor for our cover shoot this year."
Other major sponsors include Pizza Hut, Highland Community College, Garden City Community College, SureFire Ag Systems, Casey's General Stores, Subway, Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Farm Credits of Kansas, Advanced Exercise Equipment and the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents, along with dozens of other businesses and organizations across Kansas.
"This publication would not be possible without advertising. It's how we distribute it, and how we are able to cover the costs of production," Baetz said. "Please support the advertisers who make this publication possible.
Dozens of writers, designers, photographers and salespeople have contributed to the publication over the last 10 years, and Baetz emphasized how important people are to providing a quality publication.
"Joe Wachter has worked on design and layout the last two years, and this year's cover is phenomenal. Kayla Kvacik's work on ad design for a number of our products over the last five years is fundamental to project completion. Becky Rathbun has worked on the product off and on over the years and does excellent work. Jennifer McDaniel, Tyler Gier, and Amber Potter provided much needed sales assistance. And previously mentioned writers like Brent Maycock, Mark Schremmer, Kyle McCaskey, Brad Hallier, and long-time contributor Conor Nicholl have provided the best content the magazine has ever seen. Several of these contributors did a number of different jobs, from writing features and capsules, to designing ads and page layout, to helping distribute copies. This truly is a team effort."
Kpreps.com and @SportsinKansas also provide help in marketing the product and together with Kansas Pregame the trio has created possibly the most engaging sports media group in Kansas with thousands of readers in print, thousands of listeners on dozens of Kansas radio stations, and thousands of followers on the web and social media.
"I can't possibly thank everyone who has made this possible," Baetz said. "From my family, to a number of mentors in the publishing, coaching, and education fields, to the thousands of Kansas football fans, so many people have contributed to completing this project each year. I hope we'll be around to celebrate 10 more years of covering a sport that has given me so much."
Kansas Pregame is distributed free at dozens of advertiser locations across the state. If you can't find a copy, contact publisher John Baetz at johnbaetz@gmail.com and follow Kansas Pregame on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.
Kansas Pregame Editor's Note: With any project of this scope, and due in part to the rather limited resources of a small company, there are bound to be some errors, which are generally discovered shortly after publication. As posted on our social media sites previously, the Olathe North capsule was omitted from the 2015 issue. The complete capsule can be found on the Kansas Pregame Facebook page. Also, the Russell capsule was incomplete due to a misplaced e-mail from Bronco coach Jeff Brull. The complete capsule is also available on the Kansas Pregame Facebook page. Another update post-publication is the transfer of Tylen Coe from Madison to Campus. There are sure to be other transfers not yet updated, but, this was one noteworthy one that did not make it into the publication before coming off the press. We want to get it right. If you see an error or omission, please let us know, and we will do our best to correct it.
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