The crowd’s chatter settles into anticipation for the first offensive series. The players assess their opponents. The whistle blows, then the shutter clicks. A single snap, or a series of them, freezes the moment as the center snaps the football into play. Student photographers in the Spartan Sports Media Club capture the image to later edit, then publish on social media. Spartan Sports Media Club members go to various sports games and take pictures at the scene.

“The Spartan Sports Media Club is basically a club dedicated to student athletes,” Julian Haddad (11), member of Spartan Sports Media Club, said. “We go around and we film, we take pictures of all different sports at the school.”

Charlie Russell (11) started the club in the fall of 2024 with a few of his friends. He was inspired to start the club to bridge the media gap between private and public schools. The “media gap” refers to the underrepresentation of public school sports due to the fees that come with good sports publicity. Where higher-funded schools can easily hire professionals to take pictures, White Station High School (WSHS) is less funded in the sports department.

“I’ve noticed the media gap for public schools, especially ones in Shelby County,” Russell said. “I wanted to bridge the gap … just because we can’t have this or this isn’t something that you want to pay for, we can do that for free.”

This student-provided service creates an experience for the athletes that one cannot get from hiring a professional. Athletes receive photos and coverage of their sport free of charge. The Sports Media Club offers a more personalized experience compared to an outside professional.

“I don’t have to think ‘Oh, is this pro guy gonna sell me short and not take any pictures of me?’ I can just go up to my guy Charlie and be like, ‘Yo, can you can you take a couple pictures for me?’” Haddad said.

These student photographers are also enriched by taking photos. Since the club was founded, members have gained experience in photography through taking pictures at games and improved their networking skills by speaking with different organizations and serving students.

“We planned a whole media day this summer, we worked with the communications team, too, and we got lights from the district,” Stewart Westbrook (11), original member of Spartan Sports Media, said. “It’s good for networking and connections, but also teamwork.”

The Sports Media Club photographed a variety of sports teams during the media day: volleyball, football, wrestling, softball, soccer and lacrosse. Spartan Sports Media members took photos alongside communications team photographers. Russell and Westbrook reached out to a traveling media van to borrow lights. This collaboration allowed for WSHS athletics to be showcased at a low cost.

“White Station athletics has all these awesome things that are happening, and you can expose those to the city or pass that,” Russell said.

Along with highlighting athletes, photographers being close to the action at games has given them a new perspective on sports. The sports-fanatic members of Spartan Sports Media experience the difference in watching from the bleachers or on television versus being on the sidelines and capturing the action themselves.

“It’s pretty cool to see the football team and how they work and stuff on the sideline,” Westbrook said. “You can hear everything, too. It’s pretty nice.”

Most members did not have experience in photography before joining the club. Operating the club has been a learning experience for all members involved. Through trial and error, they learned how to photograph and edit.

“I joined not knowing anything about photography,” Haddad said. “And it just took me maybe a week or two to learn the basics, and you learn more as you go.”

Though photography is a large part of Spartan Sports Media, the club is multifaceted. Many other skills go into publishing spartan athletics.

“There are a lot of different sides of it,” Allan Williamson (11) said. “There’s obviously the sports side and then the capturing of the sports from the photography point of view. Then there’s the social media side of it where you collect the photos from your photographers and post them online with a caption, and how they’re edited as well go into the different genres of sports media.”

Spartan Sports Media sets WSHS apart from other public high schools. The club has brought value to the photographers, the school, and its athletes. The publicity WSHS sports teams receive from Spartan Sports Media is one that likely could not have been afforded without them.

“This kind of opportunity for student athletes is really overlooked and underappreciated,” Haddad said. “My freshman year we had one guy come [and take] pictures for our opening game for baseball. I think that was about the max we got for the whole season. So, I think this really does give just a big opportunity for everybody, and that’s what we can do.”

For the future, Russell is focused on expanding the club, including growing a successful social media account and distributing as many photos and videos to WSHS athletes as possible. The Spartan Sports Media Club makes an effort to spotlight athletes and represent WSHS to the best of its ability. New member participation is highly encouraged, regardless of skill level in photography.

“You should join because it’s fun and it’s going to be good,” Russell said. “It could maybe spark an interest that you didn’t know you had.”