(upbeat music) Welcome to Homegrown, the show where we introduce you to the people and stories that shape the character of life here in Arkansas.

I'm Dawn Scott.

And today we're exploring a term that young people are using these days.

Squad goals.

It can be a community, a team or an organization, but it's the thing that binds them together that makes them special.

So we'll be looking at the very unique fraternity of high school mascots and how they inspire school spirit and push their squads to the end zone and beyond.

We'll turn back the clock to share the story of how Betty Wallace and her squad of Reddies changed women's sports in Arkansas forever.

And then we'll step inside the world of sneaker collecting to find out how these collectors of fantastic footwear have come together to start a trend all their own.

And finally, we'll head to Little Rock, where some passionate Arkansans are working to keep the stories of the state's greatest squads and athletes alive.

But first, let's head east for a story about the inception of squad goals at the KIPP Delta Academy in 2021, when they created their very first football team.

You know, at KIPP we often say one team, one family.

Team and family.

We use all of these different, like idioms.

It really has to become lived with you think about football.

So knowing that that this is the first year, it's brand new to our kids.

I mean, and when I say brand new, I mean brand new.

Knowing that we're about to get ready and walk in and we're going to face a team, DeSoto, who's been playing for a while.

- Even though they've only been playing for two months, a lot of them just three weeks.

- You ready?

- All right.

Absolutely.

- I don't really expect nothing.

We just got to go out there and give it our all.

- Gonna have a lot of mistakes, y'all.

That don't upset me.

It's effort that bothers me.

- The fact that this year, right after a pandemic, we were able to start and get these young men involved in this program.

And they're going to kind of be our founders of the program kind of puts us in that position to where we can truly say that we are a viable sports option for Helena, West Helena.

Our vision of becoming a real program is coming to light.

- Alright, we're going to the football.

Okay, communicate.

Y'all ready?

- Yes, sir.

(crowd cheering) There we go.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

(crowd cheering and yelling) - Kick off return team.

Everybody on kick off return team.

Everyone else back up.

Hey, y'all supposed to be on the 45.

Up!

Come on!

(whistle blows) - In other sports, you know, a guy can go on a 12 mile run by itself and win the game, right?

Football is kind of like that sport, too, where there is actually no way - You're still on the field!

- You can't do this without a team.

But the reason that is so important for us right now to kind of get this off the ground is because having that five year plan in mind, we know now that if we start now with this group of young men, it's only going to continue to get better each year after year.

(whistle blows) - If at any point, man, we are in a situation where things aren't going well, the way we wanted it to, you know, we can't convert first downs, we can't move the ball, we can't stop nobody, we're fumbling snaps, missing passes, all that.

You got to stay calm because when they look at you, you know they see a leader, they see somebody look up to, somebody they can follow.

So my thing is, whatever you do, do it full speed.

I mean, just commit to it, all right?

Just just just commit to it, man.

Whatever happens, happens.

Alright?

Let's get it.

Go, go, go, go, go.

(crowd cheering) (crowd cheering) (indistinct radio announcer) (crowd cheering) (whistle blows) And once they actually began to play, crazy part is that it was just like, this is normal for us.

(cheerleaders cheering) (crowd cheering) - Let's go baby!

- The feeling for me and the feeling for the way our community came out and supporting us was I mean, it was like none other.

It was just so amazing to just see that many people come out and support something that literally started three weeks ago.

(crowd yelling, air horns blowing) - At one point, linebackers spin, next thing you know, we're flowing.

(indistinct instructions) Next thing you know, I see you shooting your hands.

Those are the small improvements that we need.

You just got to bring the effort.

I don't care about the scoreboard.

All I want us to do is go out there and do us, compete.

Give me your best effort.

Whether you mess up or not, I couldn't care less.

All right, we want to tag and run to the ball.

Nil.

Okay.

Shoot your hand.

Once you find that football, like we worked on, just run to it.

Okay.

As a team, okay?

As a team.

I mean, I'm proud of them.

Let's go y'all.

Take it down.

Take it down.

Take it down.

Hats on, hats on!

- We got guys getting interceptions, bringing it back.

Give me a turnaround.

Fighting for them.

Y'all haven't been playing football but a few weeks.

Some of y'all, a month.

But that's still not a lot of time to prepare for high school football game.

So I'm so proud of this squad.

God, I'm so proud of you.

I couldn't stop smiling at the end of the game because I was just thinking about what it was you just did.

You went out there and competed.

Team on 3.

1, 2, 3.

Team!

(coach yelling) Open up that.

Everybody!

(laugher) I see why coaches don't like this.

Coach DeMarcus Brown is a true inspiration to his squad at KIPP Delta, both on the field as their coach and around town at his second job as the assistant fire chief.

DeMarcus serves as an example of facing adversity with grace and determination.

Sports mascots have an impressive ability to unite fans in support of their teams, and they're kind of a squad in their own right.

So what does it mean to be a mascot and what does it take to put on the mask?

Do I sit here?

Okay.

(chair scratches floor) Oh, excuse me.

Okay.

(clears throat) Whenever I'm ready?

Okay.

(fight song music) Everyone thinks mascoting is fun, like being a celebrity, but I'm here to tell you it's mask not.

(crickets chirping) I'm still working on that one.

This line of work is only for the bold, the audacious.

I got that in spades.

There's only one problem.

Nobody in Arkansas wants a giraffe for a mascot.

37 interviews and nothing, nada, bupkis.

Everyone's always like, ooo, a giraffe is too weird for Arkansas.

And I'm like, Have you seen some of the mascots out there?

Arkansas is chock full of bears and eagles and bulldogs.

In fact, there are 354 schools with mascots and more than a few double ups.

But for all the basic beast, there are a few out of the box mascots that only exist in the natural state.

From Batesville Southside, aptly named Southerners, to pint sized pests like the Fordyce Redbugs.

Here are a few of the wonderfully weird mascots in Arkansas.

Arkansas has three different pitchfork brandishing imps, all unique to the state.

The Morrilton Devil Dogs, the Wonderview Daredevils and the Gurdon Go-devils, all sport the typically horned castoff.

Although the lumber town of Gurdon got the Go-Devils from a piece of logging equipment for quickly pulling up trees.

But Harrison's figurehead is the one and only Goblin.

The original goblin was created in 1927 to give the school newspaper a name.

Sporting blue hair and a golden face, the goblin started out as a smiling friend, but grew angrier and more fiendish in the sixties, with its current, meaner incarnation.

Along that same Main street in 1925, the University of Arkansas at Monticello set out to strike fear in their athletic adversaries.

What better name for a frightening foe near the agricultural heart of the state?

Then the Boll Weevils.

Every Arkansan knows these tiny beetles have been decimating cotton crops and terrorizing farmers since the state was founded.

Jennie?

Giraffe?

- Oh, that's me.

- But Boll Weevils and Redbugs aren't the only tiny Arkansas mascots.

Danville took on the moniker of the Little Johns after the French explorer Petit Jean.

Legend tales of a heroic young French girl who visited the state in search of her long lost love.

The state has since used the moniker for a river, mountain, and Arkansas's first state park.

Speaking of firsts, the Arkansas School for the Deaf have been known as the Leopards since 1941, three decades before the rock band Def Leppard was ever founded.

However, the famous felines became fast friends when the band toured the state in 2016.

And I can't forget about these marvelous mascot greatest hits.

Wow, that is a long list.

It just keeps going.

Great.

Now we're done.

No, we are not done.

It's a long list.

From Daredevils to Boll Weevils, Goblins and more.

Arkansas is brimming with spunky and funky mascots, each of them bringing heart, passion and creativity to their teams and fans.

Guess who's going to the big time?!

(upbeat music) Mascots in Arkansas are truly incredible.

We have everything from cavemen to wampus cats, inspiring athletes and fans alike from sidelines.

When it comes to inspiration, there's no Arkansas story more inspiring than that of Betty Wallace, who brought together a unique squad of girls to change Arkansas sports forever.

- Betty Wallace is a legend.

- When I was little, I always wanted a basketball, but my mother never would let me have one because she was afraid I'd want to play when I grew up.

Little did she know that I would end up teaching P.E.. - I attended Malvern High School and I was a very shy, skinny little kid, and I was good at my hook shot.

We didn't have a basketball team or sports because there was no Title IX money at that time.

She would form basketball teams between the classes.

- In Arkansas, the only thing for girls competitively was basketball.

The girls played in cut off blue jeans and for numbers we used pennies that the P.E.

classes used.

- I mean, I'll be honest with you, I couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time.

I was not an outstanding athlete, but Coach Wallace treated me just like she did any of the others.

To her, it really didn't matter that I was not one of the starting players.

- I wanted somebody who wanted to come to Henderson to get an education and play volleyball or tennis.

I wanted someone who had the initiative to come here.

- We would go to other schools.

We slept on the gym floor on mats because we didn't have the money for hotels.

And then we'd play all day and then maybe the next week they would come down to our school and we'd do the same thing.

She and three other coaches brought those things together and they created an organized sports association.

And this was the was the precursor to women's athletics in the state of Arkansas.

- We started working on writing a constitution and bylaws, sent it to every college in Arkansas, regardless of size.

And that's how it all got started.

We had an organization here in Arkansas before there was one nationally for women.

The year that we were third in the region, they got in a huddle and hollered, We are Betty's Reddies.

And they said they knew they weren't in trouble when they heard my infectious laugh.

- We have a group called Betty's Reddies.

We all played some type of sport for her.

We did everything we possibly could do that would help tell people about Betty, her legacy and what she meant to the women in sports in Arkansas.

- I was out mowing the yard.

Woody Johnny came by, who is on the board of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

Well, the light came on and I called and said, I know what's going on.

- We were very happy to celebrate her as one of the newest inductees in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

- They're good kids.

They were good kids.

They're good ladies now.

They had respect for me and I had respect for them.

So last April, I got installed in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and I was very pleased.

And I know that my kids are the ones that got me that.

- Betty Wallace was truly one of a kind and her love and passion for athletics and the squad she coached has had a lasting positive impact on communities across Arkansas.

Squads come together for a million different reasons.

Maybe your teammates or maybe you live in the same town.

Sometimes all it takes is a shared interest to kick things off - My shoe is the center of my attention.

You're going to notice my shoes, then you going to work your way up.

In the sneaker culture, we say I make shoe contact before I make eye contact.

- Today, sneakers are a lot more than just athletic wear.

The shoes are fashionable, and some sell for top dollar.

- The sneaker market is surging.

Just last year, the U.S. sneaker industry grew 8% to $17 billion.

- So a sneakerhead to me is a person who just really loves sneakers.

- I mean, it's definitely a shoe connoisseur, you know, being informed about what's going on in the culture.

- Somebody who enjoys the history of it, just the overall art of the shoe instead of just the latest release.

- I see stuff and I like it.

I don't care if people like it or not.

Like if I like it, I'm buying it.

- You have variety.

You don't need a lot of hype shoes.

You don't need a lot of gear releases.

You're kind of balanced with the sneaker culture force.

- When you grab the shoes that you like, even if everyone doesn't like it.

To me, that's the best form of a sneakerhead.

Once you get to this many shoes, it kind of just, it never stops.

It's kind of scary.

You know, once you hit you, once you get like 100 pairs, you're like, okay.

And you're like 300.

You're like, how in the world do I have over 300 pairs of shoes?

And it's weird, it's weird to me to even say it when people ask me, How many pairs of shoes?

I literally tell them I stopped counting at 300.

Like once you get 300, like it don't matter anymore.

I'm done.

(laughs) - What's up everybody?

It's your boy checking in live from the basement of Miller's Corner.

I want to be an influencer when it comes to Little Rock, to teach kids how to take care of their shoes, teach parents how to buy the shoes economic, economically.

I've reached tons of people just talking about the culture.

So I hope that this this brand that I built in my my page and my influence grow.

So where people can be more united in the state of Arkansas.

Good luck to everybody.

Make sure you tune in, subscribe, like, share, do everything you need to do.

Holler at your boy, I'm out.

- A good pair of shoes means a lot.

I remember like when I was in high school.

That's really when I started liking sneakers.

It was like a confidence boost and sometimes your parents, even if they can afford them or not, they just won't buy you sneakers, especially because they cost like $100.

- Options options.

This is a dilemma of the day.

Which shoe do I pick?

Vintage stuff is always good.

I ran into my buddy.

He ran across a old original pair of Jordans somewhere in like a thrift store.

Something was that never happens in the sneaker culture.

You never run across shoes like that.

I mean, they're reasonable Jordans, so they're worth two or three grand at this point, man, even if they're crumbling.

Those type of gems you find and you get a hold of, I mean, stuff you keep.

I mean, I see all this stuff as an investment, really.

- You put the right few colors together.

You have a whole story on a pair of shoes.

- I don't like having the same thing everybody else has.

Everybody has the Lady J's.

Everybody had the black Simmons.

That's when the epidemic of Sneakerheads came around back in my high school time.

So that was around the time I started trying to find different paths with the sneakers.

So a friend of mine was like, You start customize the shoes.

First pair customs I ever done was dirty braids, dirty red, and everybody loved it.

And then kind of stuck, I became the customizer of the school.

Want to say later that year was the sneaker convention.

Sold that pair of shoes.

Made me feel really good.

- The oohs and the aahhs and all that.

I got addicted to that.

So when I when I started collecting, my parents coached me to be, you know, you got to earn them.

So but also it also when I had to earn them, I also had to actually take care of them.

And I teach my kids that they even though I have a lot of shops with my kids, they value their shoes just because I want them to take care of them.

They have their own cleaning kit to clean them and it's just a bonding tool.

And why do you like those shoes?

- Because they have blue on them and they have Michael Jordan on them.

- And what's your favorite brand, Nike or Adidas?

- Nike.

- Oh, that makes Daddy happy.

And it was just something that I just I just always wanted him to be like me.

I just always wanted him that if I'm if I'm shining, they shining.

I see myself as somebody who just wants to see people happy.

I think I love reactions of people more than I do the shoe itself and today, I just what I would love to do this as me being a good person.

to people and say hey, birthday, holidays, just give people.

No charge involved.

- So when you rock shoe, you should it should be an addition to you.

It should be an extension of your personality.

It should be raising the bar of what everybody else is wearing.

- I just grabbed like three pairs last week, so it kind of doesn't stop.

So at some point I'm going to outgrow this bedroom and it'll just have to be a bigger bedroom.

(laughs) Sneakerheads like Kion Miller used footwear as the foundation for their squad goals, but no squad is more passionate than the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, who have been celebrating Arkansas athletics for the past 65 years.

- 1958 was a year of change in America.

The Hope diamond was donated to the Smithsonian Museum.

The microchip was invented.

NASA was created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

And in Arkansas, deep in the recesses of War Memorial Stadium, a group of prominent Little Rock businessmen founded the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

The original mission of the Hall of Fame was simple enough, - to recognize and induct individuals and teams that have brought honor to the state of Arkansas.

And we do provide scholarships for student athletes.

- It's a great place for young people to get inspired to come here themselves, to walk through and to read these stories and think, someday that can be me.

- We inducted our first class in 1959.

We have over 500 inductees.

- Basketball players, football players, baseball players, archery and sharpshooter.

Trapshooting, runners, golfers.

- Horse racing, car racing.

- It's a great cross-section of what sports is.

- For more than 60 years, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame worked to honor those most accomplished athletes who call the natural state home.

- Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame selection process is simple, but a little complicated.

You can go online and nominate your favorite sports hero.

- That person goes into a master database.

Selection committee comes up with those 50 people on the voting list for each category.

That is mailed out to the dues paying members.

You pick your top five.

Those come back.

The top two vote getters in the regular category automatically get in.

The top vote getter from the senior category automatically gets in.

- And then the board votes on the remaining inductees.

- And then you wait for a call.

- When you get the call, it's a big deal.

- You know, when I was inducted to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, however, when I got received the call, I feel like I've reached something.

- Being from a small town, rural area, which Arkansas has a lot of that way.

And when you get picked for something this prestigious, it has a huge impact on your life.

- Seemed to me it was the cap of my athletic career.

- It just seem like all the hard work had paid off for me.

- All the people you meet, all the connections you make.

- They welcome you.

It was remarkable to me the night that I came to be inducted because the former inductees, they want you to feel like, hey, you're part of us now.

- Clearly, sports in Arkansas isn't all fun and games.

- Sports is a common ground that brings everybody together and we compete.

We want to see a good battle, but we want to shake hands afterwards.

And again there's a mutual respect for everyone that played.

- Athletics teaches you discipline, it teaches you teamwork, it prepares you for life.

It got me a full scholarship with the University of Central Arkansas.

- Eventually, the Hall of Fame had grown to need a new home, and by early 2007, construction was complete on the almost 14,000 square foot Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Museum, located in what is now Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.

- All the communities in the state have an opportunity to make sure their heroes are remembered and they do that.

Walk through this whole thing, see a helmet from some small community here, a smaller college maybe than the Razorbacks are.

Jerseys, pictures, statistics, all kinds of memorabilia.

- Like a picture of Scottie Pippen standing next to a polar bear for some reason.

- It's just like creating the milestones of the people who started and who laid the foundation.

- Their favorite thing is always the bears back there and the car, the Mark Martin car.

But they actually get to see how sports in Arkansas started.

- Everybody as they were growing up, had their favorite sports heroes.

We preserved those sports heroes for the different generations.

They can look here and say, wow, this person overcame this.

They came from maybe an impoverished background or maybe a beginning that wasn't necessarily headed toward sports, but ended up there someday.

We have a great sports legacy here.

It's a great representation of what this state is about, hardworking people who endured, who achieved.

And so to have that legacy is in a permanent place here.

Hope people embrace that and hope they come here and enjoy it.

- Look at the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame as motivation and say, hey, one day that's going to be me.

- Now you know the history.

You can be a part of the future of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame - Squad goals are no joke here in Arkansas.

The passionate groups we've met today are just some of the countless groups bringing Arkansans together, proving once and for all good times are best when they're shared.

And that's it for this episode of Homegrown.

Thank you for sharing your time with us.

And please take a moment to appreciate the people whose hard work has gone into making this show.

We won't forget where we came from.

This city can't change us.

We beat to the same drum, the same drum.

Hey!

It don't matter where we go, we always find a way back home.

It don't matter where we go, we always find our way back home.

So here's to the cheap sunglasses, Red Bull and minivans, people who had your back when the world didn't understand.

See we won't forget where we came from.

The city won't change us.