Falls City Public Schools

On Wednesday, September 23, Falls City Middle School FCA youth and students gathered together for See You at the Pole. A nationwide day set aside for students to pray for their friends, teachers, school, and leaders. This years theme was "Come to me" Matthew 11:28

I try to remember to share these moments, but we can get very busy in the ESports Room with practice and competitions because they are special and serve as a good reminder for why coaches choose the life of a coach. Last night I had a former FCT ESports great, Ejboat, otherwise known as Ethan Boatright, come in to work with our young varsity FCT Rocket League team of Mason Simpson (8th), Gavin Simpson (7th), and Dayken McKim (7th).

Ethan competed in three NSESA Rocket League State Tournaments during his varsity ESports career going back to his 8th Grade year, he also competed in three NSESA League of Legends State Tournaments with a D3 runner-up finish his senior year, and he has been an instrumental part of the growth and development of our FCT ESports Program over the last several years.

This is one of the many things most people outside of gaming do not see or understand about ESports. These young men sat respectfully and listened to Ethan pass along the knowledge he gained while competing at a competitive level. Similarly to how he, along with his teammates of Peyton Brown and Eric Heinzelman, sat listening to Jeromie Brown teach them when they were in middle school. They went over rotations as a team, communication with each other, various offensive and defensive strategies, game skills, their mental approach, and challenging themselves when practicing together by competing in more ranked matches. Competing in ranked matches is something many young players often avoid because casual lobbies in various games tend to be easier and make them feel good. However, it does not truly teach them to compete and how to learn from their failures in order to truly be good at something. Something we want our student-athletes to learn for any activities they compete in. I probably forgot to mention too that all three of these young men had a two hour football practice prior to their Rocket League practice. They, along with several other middle and high schoolers are dual participating student-athletes during ESports. Some are even more than dual when you add in band, quiz bowl, theater, etc.

Coaching ESports is a lot more complicated and time consuming than most people realize. ESports is just the overall classification, but we're in fact coaching five different games right now this season. I like to joke with people who do not understand that by comparing it to not only coaching baseball, but it would be like I am coaching "Ball Sports" or baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, etc at the same time. As coaches, we need to understand the games our players are competing in and the many strategies and skills that go into that particular game along the normal crossover skills for activities like communication and teamwork. Unfortunately, it is very tough to find the time to know each of these games well enough to help our players get to the next level. Which is why having someone like Ethan come in is so valuable to these young men or having other coaches like Coach Syslo, who helped tremendously with the growth of many of our players, and Coach Thomas Root, who has recently joined Coach Ivey and myself as a volunteer for now, and someone who is already finding ways to postively impact our players and program.

As I just mentioned, one of our goals like any other activity, is to help get our FCPS student-athletes to the next level. We have college coaches emailing and messaging about recruiting needs for their collegiate teams all the time, which can provide our student-athletes with the same advantages other activities can offer like helping them find people they can build relationships with in college, holding them accountable in their academics, and continuing to teach them life-long lessons.

We have over thirty student-athletes competing and practicing this Fall Season for the FCT ESports Program in five games that compete in the Nebraska Schools ESports Association, our governing organization, along with the Interstate ESports League and the League of Legends Champions Nebraska.

TMSVB-Due to a Monday match and our season getting more competitive, we’ll have open gym Friday, 9/25 from 9:00-10:30AM. Due to no school, this is not mandatory. If you’re able, hope to see you there! Thanks for all that you do to support TMSVB!

TMSVB in action vs Syracuse. Congratulations to the C, B teams for prevailing winning 2-1. Once again, great come backs for the win. A team struggled to find their passing game, losing 2-0 against a tough serving and hitting team. Another great match up on Thursday for all teams at home vs Beatrice. Thanks for all that you do to support TMSVB..

FCCLA attended the District Leadership Conference at Weeping Water today. Bella Johansen served as our District Officer. The Service Project completed was the birthday kits to provide for each community.

Last Thursday night, the Falls City Tiger Volleyball team was recognized with the Groth Award. This award recognizes the top high school and collegiate volleyball teams across the country who are excelling in the classroom. Congratulations ladies!

Here are this week's athletics and activities. Hoo rah Falls City!

FCMSVB on the road tomorrow vs Syracuse, C, B, A matches starting at 4:30. Thursday at home vs Beatrice, C, B, A order. Two fun matches with great competition ! Thanks for all that you do to support FCMSVB! Keep learning and improving, Tigers!

Final from Jug Brown.

Score at the break. Hang in there Tigers!

For those of you traveling to Hebron for Varsity football next week, bring your appetite and your Tiger Spirit!

Literature Quiz Bowl

The Falls City FFA traveled to Husker Harvest Days to learn about some of the newest innovations, technologies, and research in the field of Agriculture! The weather turned out pretty nice as it wasn't too hot or too cold and didn't rain on us either, just a little misty! Despite having to write about what they learned for homework, the students appeared to have a good time and brought back some goodies as well!

Congratulations to the TMSVB teams vs Maryville. C team lost a hard fought battle set 23-25. B team had quite the come back in the first set to take the match 2-0. A team held tight to win the first set, lost set 2, came out fast in the 3rd winning 2-1. All teams competed with strong serving and passing! Maryville is always excellent competition! Thanks for all that you do to support TMSVB!

📸 Falls City Public Schools Picture Retake Days

Picture Retake Days are coming up next week! Please note the schedule for each building:

Monday, September 21 – North School
Tuesday, September 22 – High School
Wednesday, September 23 – South School
Thursday, September 24 – Middle School

Picture retakes are available for students who were absent on the original picture day or who need to have their picture retaken.

Parents and guardians can find additional picture information and ordering details through Nussbaum Photography – Picture Day Information & Ordering (https://www.nussbaumphotography.com/).

Get those Tiger smiles ready! 📸🧡🖤

Getting ready to stream NSESA Week 1 FCT Marvel Rivals vs Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.

Deacon Jacobs, Camden Jean, Carter Rumbaugh, Kaleb Kaiser, Asher Kuker, Kreighton Huppert, and Seth Jackson.

https://www.twitch.tv/fct_esports