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The Mid South Sports Team
Lloyd Foster
Founder
Charles Koonce
President
Dave Foster
Vice President
Steve Driggers
Donnie Dees
Christopher Foster
Andrew Foster
Bill McMillan
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MID-SOUTH SPORTS
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L to R: Chris Foster, Steve Driggers,
Charles Koonce, Dave Foster, Andrew Foster |
Mid-South Sports was founded in February of 1990 for the purpose of promoting
and producing sporting events in the Fayetteville/Cumberland County area. The
late Lloyd Foster, David Foster, Charles Koonce, and Don Koonce were the
founding members.
The 2004-2005 school year marked the 52nd year that Lloyd Foster and WFNC
Radio teamed to bring the best in high school football to the area. Since
Lloyd’s death in January 2005, the tradition has continued through
Charles’ and Dave’s leadership as co-owners. Lloyd Foster
joined WFNC Radio in 1952 broadcasting Fayetteville High School football
games and, with the exception of the 1954-55 season, never missed a year. Dave
Foster joined the broadcast team in 1973, and Charles Koonce in 1979. The
group incorporated as Mid-South Sports, Inc. in 1990. Don Koonce left
the organization in 2003, and was replaced by Phil Cheatwood, a former Wake Forest University quarterback, and local attorney. Steve Driggers and Donnie Dees, both a part
of Mid-South Sports since its inception, moved up to take on more prominent
roles – Steve handling color analyst duties, while Donnie took on
the role of host for the weekly Scoreboard Show. In 2005, Christopher
and Andrew Foster, Lloyd’s grandsons joined the team. Chris
and Andrew serve as sideline and color analysts, while Chris also serves
as Corporate Attorney. Together the team has broadcast over 550 Fayetteville
and Cumberland County football games, including 9 state championship games
in the last 14 years. Cumulus Stations WFNC-AM and WFNC-FM have been
the flagship stations of high school football in eastern NC for 55 years.
In 2006 Mid-South Sports diversified and began broadcasting Methodist University
football over radio station WAZZ, a Beasley Broadcasting company. Each
game was also webcast and archived on the Methodist University web site, www.methodist.edu.
In 2007, to reflect growth and further diversification, Mid-South Sports
changed their name and logo to Mid-South Sports Network, and added ESPN
Radio to its lineup of broadcasting partners. The 2007 high school
broadcasts will be simulcast over ESPN Radio, and a new Video Podcast will
be added as well to www.ncespn.com.
In an additional growth strategy, Mid-South Sports has ventured into
the Professional Golf arena broadcasting highlights from the 2007 USGA Women’s
Open played in Pinehurst, NC. In addition, and in collaboration with
the Methodist University Professional Golf Management Program and ESPN Radio,
Mid-South Sports began producing the “Golf Tip of the Week”, an
archived podcast on www.ncespn.com. |
