About Us @ SpudSports.net
Here's our story...
The Fargo Moorhead community has a certain "je ne sais quois" quality to it. An intangible spirit that was probably indelibly emblazoned in the minds of many who watched our people come together to fight the epic flood of 2009. It has taken my husband and I many years, much traveling, and lots of life experience to begin to articulate what makes the Fargo-Moorhead community so authentic. Its the people and their values. Its the emphasis and opportunity for education. Its our rich heritage and the long standing values and traditions we still stand on today.
We grew up in this community. We were Spuds who became Cobbers. Eventually we followed our dreams of moving to another part of the country. For ten years we moved about honing our talents and skills. We worked in the publishing industry for a well known company. We were the epitome of "Corporate America." We produced yearbooks for schools throughout the Western United States. We taught journalism conferences, learned computer technology, and developed graphic design skills. We made a good living and enjoyed a fabulous lifestyle, although there was something lacking.
We also started our own family. And with our kids the seeds of our discontent grew. We couldn't ignore the drug busts happening in the home behind ours. The teenage pregnancy rate was skyrocketing. Crime filled our town. We had a difficult time finding activities for our kids. We were also being asked by our employers to extract more and more funding from our already budget strapped schools. There had to be a better way for us to provide service and value to our schools. We also couldn't deny, that after 10 years, we still felt like Fargo Moorhead was home.
In July of 2003 we packed up our belongings, sold our house, left our well-paying jobs and moved back "home" to this community. Some called us crazy but we were convinced we could make it work. We moved into a little blue house, with two little boys, 1 dog and no income. While one of us stayed home with the kids the other took his camera and went to a Moorhead High School hockey game to take photos. He also started a little known website named "Spudhockey.com," and the rest is history.
The concept of the Spud Sports website began to evolve in 2006 after the success of www.spudhockey.com and all the positive comments and feedback over the past several years. With our background in yearbook, publishing and journalism and a passion for photography what better way to showcase our community and that of our alma mater - Moorhead High School, than to produce a site dedicated to all athletes. Its an exciting part of our past and continues to be a highlight in watching our high school athletes compete. We are passionate about capturing these moments and memories for everyone to enjoy and relive through this website.
In an effort to promote our athletes and programs, especially during a time like this with such an emphasis on budget issues and increasing costs in our schools, it is our goal to give back to our community while capturing new memories, and celebrating the history of this storied athletic program.
This fall, 2009, we created a staff comprised of journalism students currently at Moorhead High School as well as graduates of Fargo North and West Fargo to begin this task to create the SpudSports website. We interviewed our first Coaches Rick Eidsness and Tom Dooher in mid - August and now have launched the website live August 25. Over the next few weeks there will be an emphasis placed on content through stories, text, photographs and video to showcase our Spuds.
We will also launch a advertsing campaign in order to raise funds to pay our student staff and help with photographic and video equipment. We have also partnered with the SpudBoosters to give back to our teams based on the additional revenue this site generates.
| Rick Westra - Publisher | |
| Emily Hartley - Editor | |
| Blaine Gramer - Assistant Editor | |
| Jena Hanson - Graphic Design/PhotoShop | |
| Sandra Jermyn - Writer/Advertising Assistant | |
| Ian McRae - Writer/Video | |
| Vicky Westra - Writer |
