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Introducing … A 6-5 defenseman from Fall River, Massachusetts … Scott Barboza.

That was my childhood dream set to the sizzle of Alex Van Halen’s hi-hat (for those of you in high school, ask your parents who that was and then listen to ‘Right Now’). I’d come skating out donned in the six-spoked sweater just like the Providence Bruins did in the age of the immortal Glen Featherstone (for those of you in high school, don’t bother asking your parents who that was).

Obviously, things didn’t work out in that fashion. I grew into the frame of a Chara-like defenseman and I tried hard. Let’s just say it took a while for my coordination skills to catch up with my gangly frame as a youngster.

Despite my J.V. level skill set across a gamut of sports — baseball, track and a touch of basketball as a lad — I knew from before the time I attended Bishop Connolly High in Fall River (the school on Elsbree Street not named Durfee) that I wanted to be involved in sports some way, somehow.

That path took me to Emerson College and, after graduation, to the Taunton Daily Gazette, where I cut my teeth primarily on the local high school sports scene. From there, I took a spin into the world of pro sports, working the last three whirlwind seasons as a member of the Patriots media relations department.

When the opportunity presented itself to join ESPNBoston’s ranks and work with Brendan on this enterprise, I knew my ship had come in. The opportunity to join my passions for writing, video production and sports is truly a dream come true.

Here’s to the great ride ahead.

Brendan's take
One of the easiest decisions of my life came in May, when I was offered the opportunity to hop aboard ESPNBoston.com as one of its high school editors. I’d covered everything in my time with the Boston Globe, from the four major pro teams to New England’s numerous Division 1 colleges, and have even dabbled briefly in police writing.

But for me, nothing beats the thrill of Friday nights under the lights. To players, Friday night games are the ones you lose sleep over. To reporters such as myself, they’re a breath of fresh air, a healthy reminder of the experience of sport at its roots.

Try as I might in the local weight rooms, I’ll never be able to re-live my glory days as the world’s greatest high school football practice hero - I’m a 5 foot 10 power forward; you figure it out - so maybe writing about it is the next-best thing.

The fall athletic season is still more than a month away, but starting today at ESPNBoston.com, we’re working on some extra-credit projects and getting an early start on the school year.

We’re excited to break ground on this blog and offer you the freshest take on Massachusetts high school sports from our co-editors Brendan Hall and Scott Barboza. Not only that, you’ll occasionally hear from our far flung correspondents in this space to get the scoop on what’s happening throughout New England.

Today is just the beginning. Our full site devoted to high school sports, which we will unveil in mid-August, will be a comprehensive multimedia destination without rival. We will provide the same kind of intriguing, in-depth and just plain fun content that you have come to expect from ESPNBoston.com. High school athletics is more than just the contents of a box score, so we’re going to look at the talented individuals who proudly represent their schools and their communities.

Be sure to add us to your favorites and keep checking back as we amp up to the big day.

Class is now in session. Let the games begin.

SHIRLEY – Massachusetts is an all-too-familiar terrain for Chris Slade. But forgive him if he’d never heard of Shirley, a woodsy town of about 7,000 tucked outside of the I-495 loop, before this weekend.

“I didn’t even know this place existed,” Slade laughed. “When they told me, I was like ‘Laverne and…? I mean, Shirley, what are you talking about?’”

But the former Patriots All-Pro was more than happy to be out at Shirley Middle School’s Taylor Field, along with a stacked group of coaches long on NFL experience, to instruct defensive linemen in this weekend’s Football University camp. Now in its second year coming to Massachusetts, FBU makes 30 stops on its annual summer tours, starting in Hawaii and ending in Samoa.

The camps are a bit of a departure from your typical camp or combine. A more hands-on approach is taken with each individual group of line and skill players, focusing more on proper technique and building a higher IQ for the game. You won’t find any stopwatches here.

Slade, who now resides in Atlanta, has a busy plate during the college football season, with his duties as play-by-play man for the University of Virginia. But the call to do these camps during the summer was a no-brainer for Slade, who coaches at about “13 to 15” of these clinics per year.

“I was in franchise business for five years, when I first retired (in 2001). I enjoyed it, but nothing gives me that high like football, you know,” Slade explained. “And when this opportunity came about, I jumped on it. Just getting back involved with football, coaching kids, teaching kids, traveling around the country seeing some of the best high school players to watch some of them play in college. It’s just been a great time.”

A who’s who of experienced NFLers were on hand for the three-day camp, including 49ers great (and four-time Super Bowl champ) Mike Wilson, 22-year NFL offensive line coaching vet Larry Beightol, veteran NFL assistant John Fontes (for you Lions fans, that’s Wayne’s brother), and former first-round draft pick Giovanni Carmazzi.

And they had their share of Division 1-potential prospects to fine-tune, including Malden’s Aaron Semano, Oakmont Regional’s Luke Bakanowsky, Tabor Academy’s Ibrahim Khadar, and Lawrence Academy’s handful of studs that included Mike Orloff, Marcus Grant, Tyler Cardoze, Max Ricci and Anthony Knight.

A step back to teaching the game’s fundamentals was a huge draw for these guys to come out and coach the high schoolers. As Beightol explains, “I think that’s what it’s about, not about seeing who can run fast, jump high, or whatever. All that’s nice, but if you don’t have the fundamentals and the skills for the position you’re playing, you’re not going to be a very good player. It’s that simple.”

Slade echoed those sentiments.

“At the end of the day, can a guy play football? Can he make plays?” he said. “So much emphasis is put on how fast the guy can run the 40, how much he can bench, how high he can jump, and that’s great if you just want to go on numbers. But to find your true football players, you’ve got to find guys that are willing to go the distance for four quarters, have great technique, play with a lot of energy, make a lot of big plays. Those are your football players.”

Lawrence Academy made a clean sweep on awards at the camp. Tyler Cardoze was the offensive line MVP, Boston College commit Max Ricci was the defensive line MVP, and Iowa commit Marcus Grant was the overall MVP for his work at wide receiver and defensive back.

Lawrence Academy’s football program will now be sending two of its seniors off to Iowa City in 2011, as head coach Mike Taylor has confirmed that Spartans quarterback/linebacker Mike Orloff verbally committed to the University of Iowa last night.

The 6 foot 2, 205-pound Orloff, a Danvers native, chose the Hawkeyes over Louisville, his other Division 1 scholarship offer. His top returning wideout, Marcus Grant, committed to the Hawkeyes last May.

Orloff was one of several key components to the Spartans’ perfect season in 2009, in which they averaged more than 40 points per game and captured both the ISL title and a NEPSAC Bowl victory. He totaled 1,561 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns in directing the offense, and recorded 72 tackles on the defensive side of the ball.

Initially projected as an option-style quarterback at the next level, he turned many a head this past season with his jarring open-field hits on the defensive side of the ball. Per our friends at Scouts, Inc.:

Orloff is a dual-threat QB that is a good enough athlete to play another position as possibly a SS/OLB 'tweener on defense. He plays in a multiple spread set where his skills as a runner are accentuated and he displays adequate skills as a passer...He is elusive and athletic enough to keep the play alive and make things happen with his feet when he needs to and is a very effective designated runner. Possesses adequate speed and change-of-direction skills. Is a tough runner and is not afraid to lower his shoulder. Defensively his athleticism is better suited closer to the line of scrimmage...Plays as a high point safety here where he can roam, key the QB and use his instincts and reads to make plays on the ball...Orloff is an athlete with redeeming qualities on both sides of the ball. He has positional versatility and is a competitive prospect.

That now makes it three Spartans in the senior class to commit to BCS schools since May, with Grant and Orloff joining Anthony Knight (North Carolina State).

Correspondent Roger Brown has more on Orloff's commitment on his recruiting blog.

Day 13 brought a thrilling close to this year's Bay State Games, with Sunday's Boys' Scholastic Finals at Marlborough's New England Sports Center.

Courtesy BSG Director of Communications Peter Cohenno:

Gold Medal Game
Southeast 4, Metro 3

The shorthanded Metro squad fought tough against a talented Southeast team, but in the end Southeast got vengeance for their only loss of the tournament, beating Metro, 4-3, in the gold medal game of the 2010 Bay State Games ice hockey tournament.
Ryan Hall (Westwood, Xaverian HS) scored twice and Tim Driscoll (Hingham, Hingham HS) tallied a pair of assists to lead Southeast to victory.

For Metro, Nick Finn (Canton, Boston College HS) had a hand in all three goals, posting two and adding an assist.

Southeast’s Gerard McEleney (Canton, St. Sebastians) slipped a goal past the goalie just over four minutes in to start the scoring.
Hall scored the next two goals giving Southeast a 3-0 lead. On the first tally, he raced ahead of the pack and beat the Metro goalie high, and then the forward broke away shorthanded and found the back of the net.

Metro answered just 38 seconds after the second Hall goal while still on the power play when Finn ripped a wrist shot past the Southeast goaltender.

Patrick Gill (Hingham, Thayer Academy) extended the lead to 4-3 in the second period after a couple penalties on Metro gave Southeast a two-man advantage.

Metro refused to go quietly, however, as Finn and Mike Vecchione (Saugus, Malden Catholic HS) posted back-to-back goals to cut the lead to one.

In the end, Southeast hung on to claim its second consecutive Bay State Games gold medal under head coach Mike Ciarletta.

Bronze Medal Game
Northeast 5, Coastal 2

As has been the case for most of Northeast’s opponents during the 2010 Bay State Summer Games ice hockey tournament, Coastal fell victim to the offensive barrage of the line of Sullivan, Czarnota and Rolli, as Northeast cruised to the bronze medal with a 5-2 win.

Joe Czarnota (Reading, Reading HS) scored four goals while teammates Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Burlington HS) and Christoper Rolli (Stoneham, Stoneham HS) posted four assists apiece. Sullivan, the tournament’s most outstanding player, also added a goal to bring his point total in the six-game tournament to 32 – 12 goals and 20 assists.

Coastal actually took the early 1-0 lead in the game and played Northeast tight for two periods. It took Coastal more than four minutes to get its first shot on goal, but Ryan Gouveia (Dartmouth, Dartmouth HS) made the best of the opportunity as the sophomore blasted a one-timer into the back of the net from the right face-off circle.

Northeast’s Czarnota redirected a shot from Sullivan between the goalie’s pads to tie the game, 1-1, and with a 5-on-3 advantage early in the second period, Czarnota, standing alone in front of the net, tapped in a pass from Sullivan.

However, Kevin Seely (Berkley, Coyle-Cassidy HS) knotted the game 2-2 on a power play goal midway through the second period, as he squeezed the puck between the goalie’s blocker and the post.

Northeast took advantage of a bad give away by Coastal in its own zone with just a minute remaining in the period, and Czarnota buried a pass from Sullivan. That proved to be the beginning of the end. A minute into the third, Rolli hit Sullivan as he broke to the net, and then Rolli hooked up with Czarnota in front on a nearly identical play just moments later.