A Look Back At High School Sports Travel in 2025

Mount Carmel’s Emmett Dowling (7) celebrates after scoring the Caravan’s first touchdown against Oswego during the Class 8A state championship game in DeKalb on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / for the Daily Southtown)

Another Year of Opening Day To State Finals

While the year cuts through the middle of the high school sports season, I do keep track of all the high schools I’ve covered and schools I’ve been to. This past year, from January to December, I had photographed a team sport or been at a high school, in at least 169 different occasions.

To give an example of what I mean, if I photographed Whitney Young playing against St. Ignatius in girls basketball at the Team Rose Shootout, Young, Ignatius, and Mount Carmel (where the event was held) would all be counted as individual checks. However, lets say I was photographing individual state wrestling playoffs and De La Salle hosted sectionals. No matter how many different individual wrestlers from different schools I photographed, De La Salle would be my only visit. Once I visit a school or photograph a team, that’s a check for the year.

New & Interesting Teams/Schools for 2025

The School I’ve photographed the most: St. Rita (23 different years)
I shot 22 schools for the first time ever in 2025. (Mostly a result of Holiday Tourneys in Dec.)
Beecher was one of only 3 local teams The Daily Southtown covers that I had never shot before until 2025
Chicago Agricultural Science & Unity Christian Academy are the only 2 of 47 schools the paper covers I’ve never seen
Glenbard East had the biggest gap since I last covered them. A 1999 1st round football playoff game against New Trier on Oct. 29th to The Team Rose Shootout on Dec. 14th, 2025.

The Rams of Glenbard East celebrate after their first round victory in the IHSA Class 6A playoffs against Trevians of New Trier, in Northfield, on Oct. 29, 1999.  (Photo copyright of Vincent D. Johnson)

Glenbard East plays against Mount Carmel at the Team Rose Shootout, in Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025.  (Photo copyright of Vincent D. Johnson)

Glenbard North was close. I hadn’t photographed them since 2001.
Crane had a gap from 2002 to 2025. And Hall from Spring Valley had been absent since 2003.
There are roughly 380 of 850 active high schools I have not been to or photographed one of their teams.
Including the COVID year, I have photographed St. Rita & Mount Carmel, Chicago, at least once each year since 2013.
Morgan Park High School, is second. Every year since 2015.