As a high school athlete, my goal was to make All-State so I could have my photo taken at The Providence Journal office. Being a patently mediocre talent with zero work ethic didn’t get me there, but I was beyond jealous when my youngest sister got to take two trips during her playing days.
When I started working at The Journal, I was shocked that every athlete didn’t feel the same. I remember emailing athletic directors tracking down 30 or so headshots every season. I was baffled as to why kids weren’t excited about getting their photo taken.
Things have changed and we couldn’t be more excited about it. The 2023-24 All-State season was our most successful since I’ve been at The Journal — thanks to the athletes and their families, who have shown that being a Providence Journal All-State athlete matters again.
There’s a certain amount of panic involved in everything All-State related.
People ask me if I get nervous on stage during the annual Providence Journal All-State Show and the answer is no, not really. I’m up there, reading a script, ad-libbing here and there as we honor the respective Players of the Year, and there’s no time for nerves.
Backstage at Veterans Auditorium is another story. Minutes before the show starts, my nerves are through the roof. It’s full-fledged panic and doubt starts to creep in as to what being a Providence Journal All-Stater means to people.
“Is anybody here? What if nobody shows? Will this make us look bad?”
The music hits, the theater’s back doors open and the All-Staters begin their parade through the aisles to their seats. It’s a sight to be seen, and not just because it makes my nerves vanish. It’s because it shows me everything I need to know.
We want All-State to matter. It’s why Bill Koch, Jake Rousseau and I — with zero All-State appearances among the three of us — go to so many games, why we spend so much time talking about what we’ve seen and why we spend an absurd amount of time picking each team.
It’s easy to see this at the annual show, or in social media shares and web hits once the teams are revealed.
But seeing what the Providence Journal All-State photo shoot has become is what really tells the story because now it’s not just a photo shoot — it’s an event.
Over the last three years, the rise in attendance has been staggering. Athletes and their families actively take time to commute to and from 75 Fountain St. in Providence for a photo shoot that takes five minutes.
We wanted to make athletes feel like they’re showing up for more than just a photo. We wanted to turn it into a special night.
We started in a simple way in the fall, offering first-team athletes pizza and snacks and giving each one a blue Providence Journal water bottle with some candy. In my mind, it wasn’t much, but the response was overwhelmingly positive.
In the winter, we stepped up our game. I met Frank Schiavone, owner of Francesco’s Pizzeria on Hope Street while following Dave Portnoy around during his pizza tour of Rhode Island. Francesco’s received a 7.9 score — which Portnoy said was wrong and should have been higher — and I knew if kids liked pizza, they’d love Francesco’s.
Schiavone said he’d love to donate for the kids and didn’t flinch when I told him it wasn’t just one or two pizzas.
On Day 1, Francesco’s gave us five pies. They didn’t last the night. Two days later, we went through another five. Everyone wanted to know where it was from and the General Tso pizza ended up being the surprise hit.
We did two more shoots — with Francesco’s donating more pizza — and when all was said and done, nearly every winter athlete who earned a first-team spot showed up. By that time, the water bottles were long gone, but we found a box of Providence Journal drawstring bags in a box. My daughters — who have served as dutiful assistants, letting athletes into the lobby and bringing them up the elevator to the studio — stuffed them with candy and the kids who got them seemed pretty pumped.
When it came time for spring photos, I wasn’t expecting much. With graduation, club sports, work, vacations, etc., we understand how hard it is for kids to find time to show up. In past years, 75% was a good turnout.
This spring was better. We missed 22, but with half already taken this year in the fall and winter, plus some last spring, the number was in the single digits.
I try to document as much behind-the-scenes stuff to post on Instagram as possible, but this year we brought in photographer David DelPoio to grab some shots as well. It’s a cool environment to see and this spring couldn’t have gone better.
For the first shoot, we had 40 kids show up in three hours and they trucked though six Francesco’s pizzas. I couldn’t imagine matching those numbers on Night 2, so we asked Francesco’s for four pies.
That was a mistake. One hour in, we were out.
I phoned in an order for two more — on The Journal’s dime this time — and as I was getting ready to get on the elevator, La Salle lacrosse All-Staters Matt Hayes and Drew Bradley as well as North Kingstown volleyball All-Stater Ryan Harrington, were stepping out of it.
After taking a quick video of them exiting, I apologized for being out of pizza, said I’d be back in 30 minutes with more, and they were more than welcome to stick around. Never imagined they would but I was wrong.
Coming back to the office, I got off the elevator with the two hot and fresh Francesco’s pizzas and saw a scene that made me smile.
Photographer Kris Craig was in the photo studio taking a headshot with another All-Stater filling out a name card, waiting for their turn.
In the “lounge” — a hallway in front of unused cubicles at The Journal’s office — co-worker Rousseau was playing host, making sure athletes had their goodie bags, snacks and water. Koch was there, talking to just about every athlete to get their perspective on sports, school or their future.
All-Staters sat in folding chairs, chatting. Some were school teammates, others club teammates and some didn’t know each other at all. While not every athlete stayed and hung out, some grabbed slices of pizza and seemed happy to be there.
And we were more than happy to have them.
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