Introducing: The CSL Varsity Newsletter
Straight to your inbox, weekly facts, tidbits and stories about Central Suburban League varsity athletics.
The CSL Varsity Newsletter is here, and I hope you’re ready for a steady stream of exciting information to come about the enticing action that Central Suburban League programs put on display.
My name is Kaleb Carter, a 28-year-old Rogers Park resident. A Highland Park High School employee (and freshman/sophomore level football coach), I am a journalist and writer at heart.
I’ve reported professionally in a full-time capacity and freelanced in recent years in a part-time capacity for publications like Journal & Topics Media Group, The Record North Shore, Illinois-Basketball.com, Better.net, WIN Magazine, among other places.
Anyway, what you came here for is this; I’m starting a weekly newsletter that records and shows the thousands of Chicagoland parents, fans and peers of Central Suburban League athletes, more about their accomplishments, their personalities, and acting as a distributor of info that many will find of interest.
This is an independent, unaffiliated newsletter that is not at the whim of the conference’s schools. In no capacity is this newsletter and its accompanying social media presence supposed to be taken as being on the behalf of the Central Suburban League. This newsletter and its Twitter does not speak for any school or program.
The base that you can come to expect on a week-to-week basis is as follows.
For starters, every IHSA-sanctioned sport in the corresponding athletic season will be mentioned in every weekly edition of The CSL Varsity Newsletter.
For example, fall sports in Illinois features:
Boys Golf
Girls Golf
Boys Cross Country
Girls Cross Country
Boys Soccer
Football
Girls Swimming & Diving
Girls Tennis
Girls Volleyball
What this means is that every single week from late August into November, the goal is to write at least one sentence or list one thing notable about the past week or an update about something for each sport. There may be exceptions if information is hard to come by, but your expectation every week as a reader should be a supply of information about every sport CSL athletes compete in.
The second base expectation for readers is that every school in the CSL has something written about it, every week, without exception.
This could be a factoid shared on Twitter. This could be something a coach sent to me. It could be a quote that is featured in another media publication that I’d like to point out and cite. Heck, maybe it’s just pointing out an instagram post!
Either way, you can expect your sport and your school to be mentioned every week.
I’ve consulted writers, coaches, friends, fans and more about what they think would interest readers supporting these schools. I know there’s a strong readership just waiting to get this info in their email inbox. Who will get written about?
Deerfield
Evanston
Glenbrook North
Glenbrook South
Highland Park
Maine East
Maine South
Maine West
New Trier
Niles North
Niles West
Vernon Hills
This will NOT be an attempt to record every result, write about lots of games, and record everything there is to know about the CSL.
What I will strive for is to provide a steady stream of interesting info and superlative content recognizing athletes/program’s accomplishments.
The goal is not objectivity. The aim is not to give the same or similar amount of coverage to everything. Things I personally find that people are more interested in will likely get more attention. And don’t forget, I’m sure you won’t, I have a specific connection to Highland Park!
Additionally, I do not possess the resources or time to do hard-hitting investigative coverage, or hit the road frequently for game coverage. Much of what you’ll see in the newsletter and if you follow the Twitter (@CSL_Varsity) will be from submissions, online statistics, and similar informational mediums.
You can drop information or questions there, at my personal Twitter (@Kaleb_M_Carter) or email, Kalebcarter4256@gmail.com.
Q&A’s, “Athlete of The Week” polls, photos, among other things, will bring spice to the CSL stew I’m stirring.
What I need going forward to make this work, is of course, your help.
You can access weekly content for free.
I’m setting the payment model at the minimum allowed on Substack, $5 per month, $30 per year. I’m also setting a founding member’s rate at $75, where if you pay that amount, I’ll cover a program of your choosing with a longer story once. Much of the newsletter’s content will not be behind the paywall.
If you can swing the subscription, you get access to everything I write. If you can’t, you can access much of the information for free, but I would be greatly appreciative if you make a 1-time donation to my Ko-fi. You can find that here: https://ko-fi.com/kalebcarter425643
This newsletter will not only come out once a week. Other posts, interviews, blog-type posts among other things, will be shared. Subscribers will get access to that extra content, and more stories than those who just get the weekly newsletter alone for free.
I look forward to engaging with you all more soon.
-Kaleb Carter
