Pleasant Valley Seniors Luke Allaman, Justin Clemons and Kyle Almgren were recognized at the girls state quarterfinal game for winning the Sportsmanship award due to their innovative broadcasting of Pleasant Valley’s girls basketball team.

Their work began out of mere convenience. Looking for service-learning hours, Justin followed in his older brother’s footsteps by filming girls’ basketball games. With his sister Jessica Clemons, a four year varsity starter, already playing in these games, Justin figured he could fill a graduation requirement while cheering her on. 

As seasons progressed, Almgren and Allaman eventually joined the film team, looking to expand its potential. 

“I started filming the girls as a sophomore with Kyle just so the team could look back on their games. Then when we were juniors Luke joined and we started doing live streams so the parents could watch the games on YouTube if they couldn’t make it in person,” Justin explained.

During this same season, the trio began giving play-by-play commentary and analysis for the action on the court. For Allaman, he simply wished to provide the best viewing experience for those who could not attend in person.

“I’ve always just been drawn to the experience radio and solid commentary can do to enhance a game, and I always just wanted to provide an appealing experience to those who can’t make it to the games,” he shared.

State qualifiers in either girls’ volleyball or basketball are given the discretion to select a supporter of their program to be recognized with the Sportsmanship award. D’Anne Kroemer, PV’s athletic director, works with the coaches of these respective sports to find a worthy recipient of the award. 

Goetz, head coach of the girls’ basketball team, strongly advocated for these three seniors, making them the first high school students in the state of Iowa to win such an honor. Allaman and Clemons were recognized at the PV girl’s state quarterfinal game on February 26th. Almgren was unable to attend.

Allaman is proud of the history he and his team made by winning this award. “I feel very honored to be the first students in the entire state to win the award because of how dedicated we have been to this program,” he said.

Clemons hopes their broadcasting channel has left an impact as he wishes to see their innovation implemented into other sports and schools around the state.

“It feels awesome and I really hope PV can continue live-streaming the games and maybe other teams will take action as well,” he said.

The in depth analysis and level of excitement this graduating broadcast team brings is unmatched and something many fans wish to continue in the future. It remains to be seen who will carry on this team’s legacy; however, they have without question left their mark on high school sports.