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David Mabry, a retired gent and big high school football fan, was wandering around Narrows High School when he stumbled on hundreds of old 16mm football films. “This discovery led me down a fascinating path, though some might call it a rabbit hole,” he smiles.
Film to Digital Evolution
In 1923, Eastman Kodak introduced 16mm reversal film along with the first motion picture camera and projector. It was affordable and portable and launched the home movie hobby. Additionally, not creating negatives eliminated a 2-step process, as this spawned the point and shoot technique. Less than a decade later, KODACHROME added color in motion pictures.
Optical soundtracks further enhanced the appeal of capturing motion – like high school football games – on film. Fast forward into the 1990s and early 2000s when digital audio, video and editing software stepped into the spotlight. These offered lower expenses, faster turnaround and reduced processing time and storage space.
Captivated with Football
Mabry grew up watching his brother play for Christiansburg High School in the late 1960s. “In 1970, my father took me to Gate City to witness Dublin compete against Gate City in Virginia’s first regional championship game. I was immediately captivated,” he says.
“I played in the New River District, graduated from Christiansburg High School (class of ’78) and later coached varsity football at four different schools over a span of 40 years. It was a privilege to contribute to numerous district, regional and Virginia state championship high school football teams.”
Mabry began digitizing the films at his own expense. He reached out to Blacksburg, Radford, Christiansburg and Giles high schools, all which allowed him to use their materials. The result is his YouTube page named Three Rings Football, which features nearly 700 videos, with many more awaiting digitization. The name comes from his being on the coaching staff of three Virginia State Championship teams at Altavista in 2009, 2013 and 2014.
His site is not monetized, and contributions are welcome. His investment dollar-wise tops $5,000, and time-wise is priceless. “I thoroughly enjoy every moment of this endeavor!”
The oldest video is a 1958 game between Radford and Narrows. He has 113 high school football games from the 1960s, 253 from the ’70s and many from the early ‘80s. Mabry also includes games which he coached, watching and analyzing them from a coach’s perspective to understand the strategies employed during their respective eras.
Preserving Regional Football History
Each school has a folder. Mabry also uses newspaper archives to include articles about the games in the video descriptions. He has created several short videos from the films to highlight individual players, some who remain famous. “I have received many expressions of gratitude from former players and their families who are seeing their fathers and grandfathers play for the first time,” he declares.
“I undertake this project because it represents an important piece of regional history that deserves to be preserved and shared, and I find joy in doing so.”
He is particularly interested in hearing from Floyd, George Wythe and Galax high schools to bring their history to the public. And though he hesitates to mention the money side twice, donations are always appreciated. It is interesting to note when retirement came along, David Mabry returned to the New River Valley.
Youtube-Three Rings Football
youtube.com/@mabryfamily4123
Photos courtesy of David Mabry
