When the Greer High School takes on Union in a rare Thursday night football game, the Yellow Jacket Sports Network will be broadcasting the action live just as the team has done for the past 37 years.
Robbie Gravley is the "Voice of the Yellow Jackets." He says the "network" got started in 1990 when co-founders Van Brannon and Chad Lister would take a tape recorder to sporting events and pretend to be announcing the games on the radio.
Gravley says Van and Chad started bugging him to get the radio station to allow them to do a real broadcast. Gravley says he called Fred Jenkins who was the general manager of WPJM at the time. "I told him we'd have a sideline reporter," Gravley said. "We were going to do every game. We would do it all for free." After his spiel, according to Gravley, Jenkins said, "You say you'll do it for free?" The rest is history. The broadcast team is still going strong 430 games later.
Van Brannon is a Greer High grad, and his kids also went there. Brannon says they were already going to all of the games, so broadcasting from the booth with great friends was an easy next step. "All we're really doing is talking to each other about what's going on on the field," Brannon said. "It's been a great experience for me personally, and I'm just excited to be a part of it. We love our community."
(Pictured above from left to right: Justin Miller, Van Brannon, Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis, David Holtzclaw, and Robbie Gravley)
Deep Roots
Yellow Jacket roots run deep. Several City of Greer employees have been part of the Yellow Jacket Sports Network over the years. In an online story about their first radio broadcast in 1990, Robbie Gravley said, "David Holtzclaw helped tote stuff and do whatever was needed, and Smoke Price would keep stats and dig around for other scores on a scratchy, predominantly static radio." Holtzclaw and Price currently work for the City of Greer.
Smoke Price says he was a part of the YJSN for two years. He shared a funny story from 1990 with us. Smoke says during a game in Camden, Greer scored a touchdown. As Greer was getting ready to kick the extra point, Smoke says Robbie Gravley transferred the line from the booth to Van Brannon who was the sideline reporter. The team was operating on cordless phones, and instead of hearing the extra point call on the radio, listeners heard, "Yes. I would like a large pepperoni pizza" from a third party who was on the line. Times and technology have certainly changed.
David Holtzclaw played C-team football and basketball for Greer High and served on the Dooley Field paint crew for 17 years. He's been with YJSN since the beginning -- except for four years when he worked at Florida State University. David started with the network by getting scores from other football games from around the Upstate. He says he wanted to be a part of the team three of his friends created, but he had another very personal reason for staying involved. "It was special to me because my grandparents listened as they were not able to attend the games," David said.
Over time, Holtzclaw began doing engineering and producing for the broadcasts. David has been one of the hosts on yellowjacketsports.net since they started broadcasting online. He helps with writing and design on the website and with the YJSN's social media presence. David says it's humbling to see how much the broadcast means to people. He says it's truly a brotherhood. Holtzclaw said, "...we look forward to being able to spend time together every Friday night bringing Greer football to everyone. To get messages from people all across the world who are listening to the game is amazing."
(Pictured above in the broadcast booth left to right: Red Watson, Van Brannon, David Holtzclaw, Robbie Gravley, and Justin Miller)
Assistant Director of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, Red Watson, played varsity baseball for Greer for three years and joined the city's PRT team in 1999. One of Watson's early highlights was when he got to fill in for a Yellow Jacket Sports Network basketball broadcast and help call the 2005 state championship game. Red joined the YJSN broadcast team for his first full football season in 2008. He served as statistician and provided color commentary. After 15 years, Red stepped away from broadcasting every game, but he still fills in from time to time. In fact, he says he'll be in the booth for a few games this season.
(Photo above appeared in a 2018 Greenville News article about the latest inductees to the Greer High Athletic Hall of Fame)
In 2018, Red Watson and David Holtzclaw were inducted into Greer High School's Athletic Hall of Fame. A Greenville News article from that year lists their athletic contributions as well as their work on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network.
Recreation Supervisor Justin Miller is now in his fifteenth season with YJSN. He says he's served in many different roles over the years, and it's a genuine honor to be a part of the team. The past few seasons, he's served as the network's statistician. "The group of men that make up the Yellow Jacket Sports Network is truly one of the best and most supportive groups in our community," Miller said. "I have tremendous respect for each of them, not only what they do with Greer athletics, but also for the many ways they give back to and support our community."
Justin says he remembers experiencing that support as a student athlete at Greer High School. He says the encouragement and recognition the YJSN provided to student athletes played an influential role in his own experience. "When I went on to play college athletics," Miller said, "I came to appreciate even more what the Yellow Jacket Sports Network represents."
Justin says the YJSN allows many people who can't attend the games or who have moved away from Greer to stay informed and feel like they're still a part of what's happening with the Jackets. Miller says he takes great pride in that responsibility. He says their listeners are the best. "Their support, loyalty, and enthusiasm are what make this volunteer effort so rewarding and continue to motivate all of us to keep doing what we do," Justin said.
Watch the video version of our Yellow Jacket Sports Network profile below.
In addition to Yellow Jacket Sports Network's website, you can listen to Greer High football broadcasts on 92.1 FM WGYT and mixlr.com.