CHARLESTON- Last week, as I drove up to the Charleston football stadium, the sky was pitch black. It was approximately 5:45 a.m. when I arrived at the stadium to photograph one of the Tigers’ preseason football practices.

Due to teacher meetings in the district that week, Coach Ricky May and his staff had the players at the stadium before sunrise to dress and prepare for practice. The Tigers practiced from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. so that coaches could attend meetings starting at 8:30 a.m.

Soon after my arrival, I spotted one lone assistant coach walking the field and turning on the stadium lights for the start of practice. Football requires commitment from both the players and the coaches, and that day in Charleston was a big example of what it takes to have a successful program.

But early or late practices in August are not uncommon; schools across the state practice at different times to avoid the extreme heat that usually accompanies August practices.

In earlier stories, we have reported that Charleston will be a young team this year after the heavy graduation of players from their 2022 state championship team. But Coach May and his staff have been working the Tigers hard all spring and summer, and since my last trip to photograph a practice, the improvement in execution and fundamentals that Coach May has stressed is becoming evident. The team has made big strides since spring practice.

Last week’s practice was very similar to others at this time of the year; individual, group, and team portions of the practice took place. The Tigers open the season on September 1, and that week and perhaps the week before, Charleston will begin to install their game plan for their first opponent. The Elkins Elks will make the trip from Northwest Arkansas to play the Tigers in Charleston’s first home game of season. The Elkins game will be a tough opener for Charleston but is characteristic of the Tigers’ philosophy of playing good non-conference opponents.

In the non-conference portion of the Charleston schedule, consecutive road games after the September 1 home opener will be played at Ozark and Nashville. RNN Sports will be in Nashville on September 15 to cover the Tigers game with the Scrappers as our feature game for that week.

So, Tigers fans, football season is just around the corner! If you have not yet subscribed to the only weekly newspaper serving Franklin and Logan counties, you can do so by going to residentnewsnetwork.com/subscribe and follow the link to the RNN newspaper. Now, before the start of football and volleyball seasons is a great time to subscribe.

Thank you for reading RNN Sports, and we look forward to seeing you at the stadium!

CHARLESTON- If you have ever attended a football or basketball game on the campus of Charleston High School, you have had the opportunity to hear the game presented by Brandon Fisher. Brandon is one of the best public address announcers in high school sports, and his work is a labor of love for both the Tigers and the entire Charleston community.

In 2019, my first assignment as a photojournalist was to cover the Charleston Tigers in all of their sports for the 2019-20 school year. Starting that fall with football season, it was then when I first had the opportunity to hear Brandon present the games at Charleston during the course of a full season. Of course, I had attended games at Alumni Field as a visiting school administrator, but the fall of 2019 was the first time I had heard Brandon for an entire season. Later that winter, Charleston hosted the first three rounds of the Class 3A state playoffs in basketball, and again, I had the opportunity to hear him in both the regular season and for every game played in the state playoffs in basketball with the exception of the state final.

Brandon is very good at what he does. I have shared with him that if I closed my eyes during a Charleston football game, I could almost envision being at a college game. From his selection of music to the timing of certain selections at different times of the game, to the professionalism in his voice that unmistakably cheers on the Tigers but does so in a professional manner that is not demeaning to their opponents, Brandon Fisher may be one of the best public address announcers in Arkansas high school sports.

But when you talk with Brandon, his service to the district is a labor of love; a love that comes from his love of community, and an appreciation and thankfulness of everything that so many people in Charleston have done for him and his family. That love for school and community comes across loud and clear in his presentation of games at Charleston, and it is clearly evident to everyone in attendance.

In fact, one of the signature lines that he closes every contest with is one of appreciation. In his sign off from the press box and sideline of each football and basketball game, Brandon says, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Charleston School District and everyone in the Charleston community for allowing me the privilege to announce tonight’s game.” A classy thing to say from a longtime member of the community that loves his school and community.

In every community, there is a Brandon Fisher. Members of communities across the state that volunteer their time enthusiastically each week to announce their local high school’s games. And for all of those PA announcers, just like Brandon, it is for the love of the game, school, and community.

Brandon is the junior member of a Charleston press box crew that has served for several years and even decades calling games, running the scoreboard, and spotting plays and passing the info quickly to the public address announcer so it can be relayed to the fans in attendance. In fact, Brandon is just the fourth public address announcer in Tigers football history, and still, he is junior to the others around him in the box that have served 30 plus years.

So last week, I had the pleasure of visiting with Brandon Fisher over the phone for this story. He was very gracious in giving me his time on a Sunday afternoon. In almost an hour on the phone, he very modestly described the work that he does, but more evident, the love for the entire Charleston community became more and more apparent during our conversation. Brandon’s words are genuine and heartfelt, and he is a tremendous ambassador for the Charleston School District.

When we began our conversation last week, I shared with Brandon that I have been a fan of his for a long time. His presentation of high school sporting events is very good and is worth the price of admission on its own merits. And of course, when I said that to him, his modesty came shining through. Brandon said, “That’s very kind, I appreciate that.” Simple and unassuming, but if you have ever attended a game Brandon is calling, you know he helps create a great fan experience for everyone in attendance.

The story of how Brandon Fisher became the public address announcer at Alumni Field is a fascinating one. In telling the story, Brandon began by saying, “My brother who is 15 years younger than me, when they were playing third and fourth grade football, which would have been around 2008 or 2009, I was there, and Coach Ross (B J Ross, who is now head basketball coach at Greenwood High School) and Brad Jones were doing the Pee Wee football, and I started announcing their games just for the heck of it. It was fun and I think the kids thought it was cool, so that’s where it kind of started. And then the first real chance that I got to do a high school game was during the state basketball tournament that we had here at Charleston. So, that would have been when Ty Storey and those guys were juniors or seniors. So, probably, about 2015 or 2016 when we had the state tournament in Charleston. That kind of led into the football games. So, Bryan Smith, who was the announcer for as long as I can remember; he was the announcer when I was a little kid going to the games, his son Chris had gotten a coaching job where he was going to watch him whenever he could on Fridays. So, Bryan asked me on the Friday’s when he could be there (in Charleston) if I could jump in and do some of the games. So, it was kind of a progression from just doing it for fun to having the chance to do…kind of a big deal for Charleston. to announce our first state basketball tournament (as host) ever. “

The tradition and pride of Charleston athletics is not lost on Brandon and his approach to being the voice of the Tigers from the press box or from courtside. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this story, Brandon Fisher thanks the community and the school district after every game for allowing him to serve as the public address announcer for Charleston. When I asked him about this signature call that he makes every game, Brandon explained, “I started saying with the very first game I announced at the state basketball tournament in Charleston. But it is a privilege. Charleston is not your standard public school system in my opinion. And it is definitely not your standard athletic department when you look at the success we have had for decades. I don’t know what the playoffs streak is now for football, but it is up into the 30s (number of consecutive years making the state playoffs in football) since we have missed the playoffs. So, they could have anyone in the world do this if they wanted to, and if they took Bryan Smith’s advice when he said, “Hey, give this guy a chance”, then it is a privilege and a honor to be able to do that. Like I said, there are plenty of folks who they could’ve asked to do this and would be just as good. The fact that they let me do it is a privilege and I always want to thank the folks who put me in the position to do this and it is only right to say thank you and hopefully that’s enough to let me do it the next game.”

The rich Charleston tradition has been one that many have wanted to be a part of, and when they do contribute to the program, they usually stay there. In fact, Brandon believes that there have only been four public address announcers for football in the last fifty years of the program. Brandon explained, “We’ve only had four public address announcers since the 70s. Miss Moore’s (Charleston Superintendent of Schools) father-in-law, J. C. Moore announced for a long time and kind of set the foundation for everybody, he was really good. And I’m going to guess, in the late 80s Bryan Smith, and then when he left and kind of started going to Chris’s games, I split games with John Neihouse. John was the announcer at Lavaca for as long as I remember when I was a kid, and John is a Charleston graduate. And so, he and I kind of split until he decided to bow out. Out of all of those years, I think probably, and I may be missing someone in there, but I think probably four public address announcers since the 70s.”

The flipside to tradition and excellence are the expectations and accountability of doing a job that is so public in its delivery. I asked Brandon if he felt pressure each week to meet the standards and expectations of the Charleston community as their public address announcer. Brandon shared with me that he was definitely aware of it. He said, “Oh yeah. There are nerves to it. I’m not naive enough to think that I will show up and the place won’t be packed. We are a tradition-rich and people come to watch the football games, first and foremost. But I do feel that the biggest job of the announcer is to set the atmosphere. So, for example, when there is a touchdown, you let that energy out. I’m the voice for the home sideline. I feel like I am responsible for setting the tone for what we are trying to do. If you walk in and hear “Welcome to the Jungle” or “Eye of the Tiger” at Alumni Field, that is setting the tone. If you get to your seats as a fan and it is ten minutes before kickoff, there is not a time that I am up there that I don’t feel a little nervous about what is going on. I’m passionate and I want Charleston to do well. Living here, and being born and raised here, and my wife was born and raised here, you also have some butterflies for the kids because you care about them. I drive by every morning to go to work and they (football players) are on the field and are practicing. So you feel an obligation to them. And then you just want to win, and once the game starts, you kind of get into the flow of the game. I get the privilege of working with guys who have been up there (in the press box) for a long, long time. Terry Collier does the scoreboard and has been doing so for over 40 years. David Rice has worked the play clock for 30 plus years. Joe Ketter and Clint Rankin have been spotters for more than two decades. They do a great job of feeding me the information so that I can, on the normal play, announce how many yards, who was on the tackle, etc. So, it’s a lot like what is going on the field; it is a team effort, and it makes you feel a lot more at ease that there are four or five guys up there that have done it for a long, long time.”

What Brandon has described with his colleagues in the Charleston press box is another example of people who are hired by the district with high expectations and standards, and they tend to remain there for the rest of their careers. The proud Charleston tradition is one that people want to be a part of, and they tend to stay there. Brandon Fisher is another example of this, and this writer expects him to remain there as not only the voice of the Tigers, but as a community member who is grateful for having had the opportunity to attend school there as a student, but also to give back to the community and school district that he loves. It is a labor of love for school and community for Brandon Fisher.

Cementing that love and affection for Charleston are the things that they have done for Brandon that he will never forget. People such a former athletic director, B J Ross, coming to his and his family’s assistance after a death in the family had occurred, just one day before Brandon’s daughter was born. And the countless other times that people in the community have positively influenced Brandon and his wife. He is forever grateful to them all.

When I asked Brandon what his most memorable Charleston sports moments were, he hesitated and said that it was good that there were so many good moments to choose from. He continued to say, “I remember watching Steve Wood and Shane Hobbs and that group; remembering just how much I looked up to them. I looked at them like I thought those guys could have been NFL players. They kind of laid the foundation for the success that Charleston has had. Then when I was in school, we had some really good teams. I always tell folks that if Coach Storey had not had to play against Shiloh Christian, we would have had more state championships before they got their first one in 2005.”

The time that Brandon speaks of is when Shiloh Christian and now University of Central Florida head coach, Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator, along with quarterback Rhett Lashlee who later became offensive coordinator at Auburn and is now head football coach at SMU. “They knocked us out a couple of times.” Malzahn left Shiloh Christian after the 2000 season to become head coach at Springdale High School. After five seasons at Springdale, he left to become offensive coordinator for Arkansas.

Brandon’s recollection of his favorite game was during his junior year of high school at Charleston. That year (2000) in the playoffs against Junction City, the Tigers won a hard-fought battle against a team who had a running back who would later go on to play for the Chicago Bears. He described the game by saying, “The game was just a dog fight. We were pretty good, and they were too. They (Junction City) were driving late in the fourth quarter and threw a pass into the end zone, and it was just long (overthrown). We intercepted it and the time, it was the longest pass interception returned for a touchdown, 107 or 108 yards. We stormed the field after the game, and the next week, I believe, we lost to Shiloh Christian. But the Junction City game was probably my favorite memory.”

There is a certain amount of reverence for Alumni Field that Brandon refers to in his conversations. “That field has seen a lot of success. When you walk onto the field you feel like you are walking on to something special. There have been a lot of ballgames and a lot of wins. A lot of playoff wins on that field; it is a special place.” So, when you talk to Brandon, you know very quickly that his love for Charleston is in part what makes him so good in the press box announcing Tigers football games.

Brandon is the Director of Technology and Communications at Arkansas Valley Electric, a background that can come in handy when working with sound equipment, internet service, etc., both in the press box and on the sideline at Tigers basketball games. Altogether, he is the total package of class, charisma, and love for the game and his community. Brandon Fisher is a Charleston treasure, a treasure that is giving back to the community he loves, and who will continue to do so for many years to come.

RNN Sports would like to thank Brandon Fisher for giving us his time and sharing with us the memories of his time in Charleston for our readers. And to our readers, if you have never attended a Charleston Tigers football or basketball game and have never had the opportunity to hear Brandon call a game, you need to do so. Regardless of who your favorite team may be, Brandon’s presentation of the game is something you will want to hear. He is great ambassador for not only Charleston, but for high school athletics, and the River Valley is fortunate to have him as a contributor to the tradition of sports in our region of the state.

Good luck to Brandon Fisher and the Charleston Tigers for a great 2023-24 school and sports year!