Social media has never been a bigger tool for teams than it is right now — a movement that has grown through collaborations between athletes, coaches, schools, and content creators.
Some are in high school themselves, while others bring additional experience and training as post-education professionals. Those who frequent Park Center athletics will recognize alum-turned-videographer Joe Davis, otherwise known as Too Quik Productions, as a central figure in the Brooklyn Park school’s chapter of this story.
Davis graduated from Park Center in 2014 after playing football, baseball and competing in track and field for the Pirates. He attended Presentation College and earned a degree in exercise science, playing four years of NAIA college football along the way. Upon returning to Brooklyn Park, Davis became involved in different sports activities, eventually joining the Park Center football staff as a wide receivers coach in the late 2010s.
As time passed and opportunities arose, Davis was faced with an opportunity to take his passions in a new direction, beginning with the chance to help his friend TJ Dean with his business, TNT Academy. Despite Davis’ sizable range of equipment now, he told the Sun Post it all started with a phone.
“I started doing sports videography in 2020. One of my friends, TJ Dean, owned TNT Training and I did some work with him starting with just my phone. I built relationships with some of his clients and the kids I was coaching,” Davis said. “I started to get cameras and more equipment and eventually there was a day where I had to decide if I wanted to be a coach or a content creator.”
Davis has now been a key part of the social media for several Park Center teams in recent years, from football to boys lacrosse. In that time, he grew a following of over 8,7000 on Instagram as of June 28, 2024, and collaborated with brands like Celsius, Crew Members Only and Get Raw Nutrition. He is managed by Dark Horse Sports Management, who also represents a number of local-area athletes. His video posts consistently get several thousands of views on Instagram and provide exciting snippets of the action for the likes of Park Center football, Pirates boys basketball, and OPC boys lacrosse.
The Park Center alum’s collaborations with the school, however, do not end there. Davis is also a visual arts teacher at Park Center, a post he’s held for three years now. A core piece of the job involves teaching students photography. The overlap in and outside of the classroom has helped Davis find ways to connect his lessons to what students want or need to know about visual art.
“I was planning on focusing on just being a photographer and videographer full time, but I was offered the position based on my work. So, with me already being in the building and having relationships around the school, it was a no-brainer to take the interview. Doing these two jobs keeps me in the now. It helps me always know what the students want to know,” Davis explained. “It gives me free reign to go, okay if you want to know about this aspect of photography, let’s create a lesson plan about that. ... It feels like I’m not even at a job anymore. It just feels like being at home. ... I have so many memories at the school just growing up and even later as a rec leader at kids camps. I have students of mine that I remember from when they were five or six years old and now they’re going off to college.”
When Davis follows a team, as he did in 2023 for Park Center varsity football, he is in a position to help build bridges between what student-athletes want out of their representation and what other parties, from parents to school administrators and coaches, want to see or not see in the content.
“I think [my age puts me] in a good position. I can see the trends that students like but also what their parents might like,” he said. “That means I can make content that keeps in mind how parents want their kids to be shown or the program to look. The kids might have creative choices they want or music they want. It’s amazing to get chances to find the balance in those things. ... Some kids come directly to me with questions too. It’s better that they get the information to elevate their work, rather than nobody getting the information at all.”
The increased presence of cameras, videographers, and general social media energy at high school games can be a devastating topic. Davis told the Sun Post that he felt that the current situation is here to stay and one that people should embrace and be a construct part of. He noted that his relationship with teams and athletes is always in collaboration with parents, coaches, and schools.
“It’s the trend and it’s the now. Cameramen are always going to be around now and social media is here to stay,” Davis continued. “This isn’t a one-time thing and then, boom, it’s gone. You’re either going to be involved in it or you’re not going to be involved in it. The way to do it is, when I talk with schools or coaches about contracts, we’re going to talk about what is appropriate, what is not appropriate. All of that has to be talked about with all parties, the parents, the athletic director. You need to know what’s important for the image of a school. For schools that get a bad rap, it can be a challenge because you’re trying to change the narrative about a school people already have a lot of assumptions about.”
High school sports continue to do what they have always done; change. Amid that change, spectators are likely to see creatives like Davis guiding the waves from the sidelines and huddles of Park Center High School.
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