From the Bench: Popular Travis Jones BHS-Created Feature Leaving, but Replacement Likely to be Loved
By Jeff Toquinto on March 31, 2024 from Sports Blog
When it comes to multiple sports over decades at Bridgeport High School, it is hard to argue that Travis Jones is not at the top of the list.
When it comes to being the person responsible for definitive digital collection of records, statistics, and all other pertinent information about one particular sport, football, it would be hard to find anyone else who would top the list ahead of Jones.
Jones, the Voice of the Indians, is also the father of one of the best informational football Web sites (and that goes into college as well) in BridgeportIndiansFootball.com. If you have not visited it, and are a fan, then you have missed out.
That is the good news. The bad news that you will find out is not really bad? The Web site is about to end permanently.
Looking for someone to blame? You might consider blaming Bridgeport Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Tom Sears. And when you find out what is going to replace it, you probably will want to thank him.
Sears said he had been looking for a way to consolidate everything in an online location for all WVSSAC-sanctioned sports under the Indians’ umbrella. He was hoping to find a way to get information out and have information available to those who follow Bridgeport High School athletics.
“We wanted a central hub for information that would benefit the community and, in particular, all the stakeholders involved with Bridgeport athletics,” said Sears.
The idea is a new Web site. Coming soon will be www.bridgeportindians.com.
“It’s going to be a one-stop source for everything athletics,” said Sears. “The good news is that we’re partnering with Travis and that has helped knowing things will be done right and it will have credibility. It is going to benefit the entire Bridgeport athletic program.
“Getting Travis heavily involved makes sense because he’s looking out for what benefits Bridgeport High School athletics and the school’s agenda to win,” Sears continued. “When you search the high school landscape across West Virginia, you won’t find a better source or
more respected person than Travis. He’s super talented and super connected and those things matter in the world.”
more respected person than Travis. He’s super talented and super connected and those things matter in the world.”
Jones’ role will be a familiar one. He will be the Webmaster, which he managed for seven years at the football only Web site.
Ironically, the chance was necessitated by the current Web site’s provider. Jones said changes were being made and another Web site builder was being looked at, which made this transition easier. And the builder is no mom-and-pop outfit.
“The company is SIDEARM Sports (out of Syracuse), who (the Mountain East Conference) and WVU uses,” said Jones. “It’s one of the premier athletic Web site builders in the country.”
The only issue? Jones was not sure if they did high school Web sites.
After reaching out, he found out they have about 75 high schools nationwide in their portfolio. Many of those school Web sites feature all the sports in the respective high schools.
“Soon we’ll have a Web site that will showcase all the Bridgeport High School sports and not just focus on football,” said Jones. “We want people to know this is going to be more information driven.”
Jones said the same type of information found on the football Web site will be available for all sports, and that information will grow as the information is compiled. Rosters, schedules, photos, information on radio and YouTube coverage, ticket information, and more will be a 
click away at all times. For those wondering about the information on the existing Web site, it will all be in place on the new site.
click away at all times. For those wondering about the information on the existing Web site, it will all be in place on the new site.
“Obviously, the key to any Web site is content. We’ll be teaming up in that respect to utilize Connect-Bridgeport’s stories,” said Jones. “They do an outstanding job in covering the community, the school, and sports. Chirs Johnson is fantastic and covering the sports and giving them all coverage. We’ll populate the site with some of their information, similar to how we did on the football only site.”
Jones said he has done a lot of the upfront work a little quicker than he was able to do on the football Web site. The reason for that stems from already having a blueprint on how to do things, but he still has had several months of work getting it to the point where it is close to launching.
One thing Jones wants everyone to understand is that with him beginning the build during the middle of the school calendar year, there will be sports that do not have rosters up that played in the fall. He also said some of the current sports, or even recently completed ones, will be limited at first.
“It will be hard at first for some information, particularly out of season sports,” said Jones. “That will change as this continues to grow and the years pass.
“One thing I can say is the site will be very reliant on coaches providing information for results or schedule changes,” he continued. “We’ll open up the information stream because it’s important to get those posted in a timely manner.”
Jones said while there will be plenty of written content from Connect-Bridgeport and their own sources, the site is not a new source. He emphasized it is a place where information can be found quickly and in a timely manner.
“It is similar to what people think when they go to WVU’s Web site. They’re looking for information as opposed to breaking news,” said Jones. “This will work, and we hope everyone understands there may be a few growing pains.”
The site is expected to open early April or by mid-April at the latest. Sears said once it goes live there will almost certainly be questions and possibly hiccups. That is expected with just about any new Web site launch.
“I think the biggest thing will just be getting people to catch on to everything that will be available on the Web site, but it’s going to work,” said Sears. “You’ll still see the posts on our Facebook page, but even with that this will be the place to not only get information with real time updates, but information on every athletic team in our building. I hope everyone is excited about what’s about to come.”
Editor's Note: Top photo shows Travis Jones working on the new Web site, while a screen shot gives future visitors a view at what the page will look like. Bottom photo shows BHS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Tom Sears.
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