Players and coaches from across the area gathered at WRAL-TV on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, for the annual HighSchoolOT.com Football Kickoff.

On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, over 150 high school football coaches and players filled WRAL-TV’s Studio A for the HighSchoolOT Football Kickoff.  WRAL.com and 99.9 The Fan hosted the event where teams from 15 different counties were represented.

“It was a fantastic event,” said WRAL-TV News Producer Kelly Riner, who produces HighSchoolOT Live & Football.  “We had incredible turnout this year, and were pleased to have so many counties represented. We had players and coaches who traveled from all parts of the viewing area to be there.”

The event officially began the countdown to another great year of football coverage on TV, web and radio from Capitol Broadcasting.

“On both HSOT LIVE and on Football Friday, we strive to cover games in as many locations as possible. So, it was great to see so many schools represented,” said Riner.  “For some players and coaches, it was an hour to two hour drive one way, then they were at the event another couple hours, then they had the drive back. That’s a big time commitment, and we are so grateful they were interested enough to be there.”

WRAL-TV Sports Anchor Jeff Gravley and HighSchoolOT Senior Editor Nick Stevens talked to the crowd about WRAL’s football programming.

Players and coaches from across the area gathered at WRAL-TV on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, for the annual HighSchoolOT.com Football Kickoff.

Attendees were treated to a catered lunch from Papa Murphy’s and then broke into small groups where players and coaches were interviewed about the upcoming season.

The HSOT and Football Friday seasonal hires also attended the event.

“It takes more than 50 people to put on our football shows each week, many seasonal part-timers,” Riner explained.  “We had some familiar faces who have helped us before but also, we welcomed many new hires whom we look forward to training and giving an opportunity to work on two of the best high school football shows in the country!”

Another exciting season of WRAL-TV’s Football Friday and HighSchoolOT Live begins on Friday, August 17^th.

• HighSchoolOT.com SLIDESHOW:  2018 HighSchoolOT Football Kickoff

Thanks to WRAL-TV’s Kelly Riner and NMG’s Jordan Hadding, Nick Stevens and Kyle Morton for these capcom photos.