Can you imagine coaching a high school football team to a 14-0 conference record and still not be illegible to make the playoffs? That’s exactly what happened to the Whitehall (Memorial) High School Norsemen football team in 1979, my junior year.

That’s no Gatorade or Powerade recipe for a sports drink. I’m sure my coaches weren’t thinking of e-coli bacteria, deadly viruses or poisoning when my teammates and I at Whitehall High School in Wisconsin, had to chug water during a break from football practice using an outdoor hose faucet and our football helmets. Looking back [...]

There are many positives to growing up in a small town. The opportunities are more plentiful for athletes where the populations are larger, but the sense of community and closeness of friendships is stronger where I grew up, in Whitehall, Wisconsin.

I’ve photographed and read about people named #1 sports fans in their communities, but I have never met one who inspired so many people, lived to help others, and suffered through cancer so much, as my father, Duane Hammerstrom.

 
He was nicknamed the first “Hammer” in the family. I am the second, and my son, Brandon has [...]