Athletic Director Colin Fegeley is a pioneer in student recognition. Ever since taking on the AD role at Green Level High School in North Carolina, Colin has prioritized modernizing how his school celebrates student achievements by using social media, newsletters, and other digital tools.
For over six years, Gipper Engage has been Colin’s go-to tool to recognize and promote his athletes’ accomplishments across Green Level High School’s digital channels. Now, with the addition of Gipper Touch, he’s taking recognition to the next level with an interactive digital hall of fame — a true example of how schools recognize student athletes in the modern age.
Let’s dive into a real-life Gipper Engage and Touch success story. We’ll cover why Colin chooses to invest in student recognition and how Gipper helps celebrate his athletes on social media, through digital newsletters and on interactive touchscreens — all from one user-friendly platform.
Why student recognition software makes a difference
Colin knows that when you recognize student-athletes, they take more pride in their school — not just while they’re on campus, but for years after graduation:
“Preserving the history and accomplishments for all of the kids that will come back and continue to call this place home over the rest of their lives is, to me, an important thing.”
Student recognition is also a form of marketing. The better you market your athletic department’s accomplishments, the more likely student athletes will keep playing high school sports. And the more likely prospective athletes will join your programs.
As Colin put it, “Nothing hurts worse than when you hear that a kid might be transferring to another school locally or they're just going to play club ball this year. We want to do everything in our power to show how fun our programs are and bring kids into our school.”
WATCH: Colin shares digital marketing tips for the busy AD
The problem with traditional student recognition methods
For Colin, student recognition is about storytelling. Your community demands more than the numbers on the scoreboard — they want to know about the key moments, the playmakers, and the coaches reaction.
Posting a final result on your athletics website doesn’t paint the full picture, and waiting for the local paper to cover your events is fruitless in this day and age.
“It’s really important that we control the narrative, especially in a day when print and local media aren’t covering high school games like they used to. Social media and newsletters give us the opportunity to share the stories we want shared and highlight the amazing things happening in high school athletics.”
The same can be said for traditional halls of fame and other physical displays of student recognition. For Colin, trophies are great to look at, but they’re still not enough.
“A trophy can tell you the year, the sport, and things of that nature. But you don't really get the context of what that team was about, or who was on that team, or a team picture, or just really anything about it. It's just very, very superficial.”
Gipper Touch: The next evolution in student recognition
Colin initially invested in Gipper six years ago to boost his presence on social media and communicate with his community through digital newsletters.
“Gipper has always been a major part of how we have recognized our student-athletes and their accomplishments. We create graphics, we share student-athlete of the week or coach of the month posts, we celebrate victories, highlight All-Americans. And we do all of that with the Gipper platform.”
But it’s the recent expansion into Gipper Touch’s digital hall of fame that Colin sees as the gamechanger for Green Level’s student recognition.
“We feel like Gipper Touch is really going to be a next-level experience for our student-athletes and our community, especially when they’re on-campus interacting with the touchscreen.”
How Gipper Engage + Touch simplifies the entire student recognition process
Gipper’s all-in-one platform structure was a benefit to Colin every step of the way — from approval to execution.
1. Getting buy-in from his decision-makers
One of the most difficult parts of implementing a new student recognition tool is the purchasing process. Luckily for Colin, his principal and booster club already knew the value of Gipper and supported the idea from the beginning.
“We've been Gipper customers since the school opened. So for them, it was certainly an easy sell because of the reliability of the product and what it's done for our program already.”
2. Leveraging corporate sponsorships
When Colin did evaluate other digital hall of fame providers, he ultimately “shied away due to the price point.”
Many of the options he explored charged a large upfront cost of tens of thousands of dollars. “It was very hard for myself, our booster club, and our school to rationalize that sort of expense.”
But Colin and Green Level could easily rationalize an expansion of their annual Gipper subscription, especially when most of it is covered by corporate sponsorships. This made it easy for him to add on the Touch subscription at virtually no extra cost.
“We bring in more in corporate sponsorship monies than our Gipper subscription costs. We have local businesses who want to have their ads, their logos, and things placed on our social media assets, and even the touchscreen itself is going to be a prime sport for advertising.”
3. Fitting seamlessly into existing — and familiar — workflows
For Colin, Gipper Touch is a “no-brainer” for any existing Gipper user.
“It feels very much like the existing Gipper platform. It's just really an extension of what we’re already doing, and that feels very comfortable.”
And it’s this familiarity that isn’t just an asset to Colin, but to the group of student creators that already use Gipper Engage to create graphics. Colin envisions his team repurposing content made in Engage on his touchscreen.
“We're going to have our weekly schedules embedded into the touch display. We’ll highlight our collegiate athletes on a rotating basis. We envision keeping our content really fresh, and the content we create in Engage is really going to help that.”
4. Delivering a high-quality, branded result
Colin has already carefully crafted Green Level’s brand and visual identity using Gipper Engage’s professionally-designed graphic templates and branding tools. He’s even more excited to make his digital hall of fame look unique to his school.
“I just love the flexibility of Gipper Touch. A lot of the other companies seem very one-size-fits-all or plug-and-play, and only have a few options for what it’s going to look like. But I know the integration with Gipper Engage is going to keep our touchscreen looking really fresh.”
Explore Green Level's digital hall of fame
Why Gipper is the all-in-one student recognition solution for Green Level
At the end of the day, the biggest benefit of Gipper Engage and Touch for Colin is the simplicity. Instead of juggling multiple systems, he can manage all his recognition efforts from one place.
“As ADs, we're always looking for that one solution where we can log into one place and solve multiple problems. And that’s the great thing about Gipper — it really is a one-stop shop for all of our social media creation, our graphic & newsletter creation, and now our touchscreen display.”
Interested in hearing more from Colin? Join our upcoming webinar to learn how schools recognize student athletes using Gipper Engage and Touch, and discover practical ways to upgrade your own recognition strategy.
Digital hall of fame frequently asked questions
What is student recognition software?
Student recognition software, like a digital hall of fame, replaces outdated forms of recognition — like physical trophy cases — with interactive digital displays. These cloud-based platforms allow schools to showcase student-athletes, academic achievers, and alumni through engaging, web-based galleries. By offering interactive recognition for students, this software helps schools strengthen community pride and modernize their digital school recognition efforts.
What is the ideal digital hall of fame provider for schools?
The ideal digital hall of fame provider depends on your school’s goals, branding needs, and budget. For schools prioritizing professional design and simplicity, Gipper Touch is a leading choice. It combines powerful student recognition software tools with Gipper Engage's easy content creation for athletics and academics. Other options, like Rocket Alumni Solutions and TouchPros vary in price, customization, and usability.
How does Gipper Engage work with Gipper Touch?
Gipper Engage seamlessly integrates with Gipper Touch to simplify how schools celebrate students. Users can access thousands of professional graphic templates, school branding tools, and unlimited media storage. This makes it effortless to create engaging digital content for student recognition, athletic achievements, and digital school recognition displays.
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