Our game plan for Sports in 2024 and beyond

Growing up in Nebraska, I tossed the news section aside every morning and went straight to the Sports section to read about the latest news and exploits of my Huskers.

Today, I spend a little more time on the news section, but I still look forward to opening the Sports section — even if my Huskers haven’t given me much to cheer about lately.

One thing I have been able cheer about lately, though, are some of the changes the Daily Herald Sports section has made over the past few months.

Sports Editor Orrin Schwarz has hit the ground running since taking over in October. Schwarz returned to Sports from a stint in our business section and has set to work reshaping our coverage.

Working with High School Sports Editor John Lemon, we’re moving more prep sports coverage to the front page of the section, where it belongs.

Here are some of the highlights:

• We’ve brought back popular columns from longtime preps writers Dave Oberhelman and Kevin Schmit. Oberhelman and Schmit are both veterans of the prep sports scene in the suburbs and are committed to telling the stories of these young athletes that live in our community.

And we’re committed to checking back in with those athletes when they head off to college and beyond.

• Oberhelman’s weekly “college achievers” will keep you updated on what area athletes are doing in the Big Ten and beyond.

• In recent months, Marty Maciaszek, a name many longtime readers will know, has returned to the Daily Herald to chronicle the the Mid Suburban League’s 60th anniversary and the West Suburban Conference’s 100th anniversary.

• In addition to the expanded prep sports, we’ve also added an outdoors column from Steve Sarley. A veteran outdoors writer and a longtime Daily Herald reader, Sarley’s first love is fishing, but he also enjoys hunting and target shooting.

As someone who loves to hunt and fish but doesn’t get to do it as often as I used to, I’m excited to learn more from Steve.

And you can still count on John Dietz, Scot Gregor and Mike McGraw continuing to analyze and breakdown what Chicago’s pro teams are doing — in good times and bad. Yes, it’s been mostly bad lately, but maybe 2024 will be different.

We’re committed to making the Daily Herald the home for suburban prep sports coverage. We hope you enjoy additions we have made.