Dear Editor:

I am writing to commend you all on Josh Briggs’ sports reporting of the local events of our community for the past several years. Case in point would be his coverage of last week’s huge rivalry game between the basketball teams of Newton and Rockdale County high schools. Both teams are state ranked and his preview articles and post-game articles were very informative, but also very insightful. You can tell that Josh puts his heart into the articles and gets to know the players and coaches and situations, unlike other reporters. Josh reports from the heart and spends great time in getting details and insights that make the paper come to life. He also makes sure that quality pictures of deserving teams and players are included in his articles, and he listens to coaches’ input and helps us by encouraging our team with positive comments about players who did special things, etc. From time to time Josh also does special feature stories that allow readers to see that there is more to it than just a game. Other papers do not allow for such.

These stories of athletes overcoming obstacles and achieving great things, I have especially enjoyed.

Josh has gone above and beyond to cover high school sports in this community, and I appreciate your and his efforts in recognizing the athletic and academic effort of the young people of Newton County. Although one person cannot be at more than one game at a time, Josh and The Covington News have gone out of their way to cover youth sports in our community. Thanks so much for recognizing our hard-working student-athletes and their special accomplishments.