Senior Writer – CornerKICKSmedia.com
Robin Alam is accustomed to spending his weekends at the biggest sporting events in the world.
For nearly two decades, Alam has traveled the globe shooting Super Bowls, World Cups, NCAA Championships or working with Messi – for example – on commercial shoots a decade ago before he came to the U.S. and even national Nike campaigns.
“I love being a part of major action,” Alam said. “Sometimes you are a part of history, whether it’s someone breaking a record or something like this summer being around the world at the World Cup.”
But in early January on a cold Sunday morning, Alam wasn’t shooting a must-see sporting event. He wasn’t he even in the public eye. Quietly tucked away in a small storage room, Alam was doing his award-winning craft in relative anonymity.
He was spending time creating lifelong memories for countless high school female student athletes from all over the Chicago region. This special moment was a part of the lifesize player poster shoot for the upcoming BODYARMOR Series this spring.
The 6-foot by 3-foot full-color non-fade popular posters are one of the most exciting items about the massive BODYARMOR Series for student athletes, their teammates and families. It’s one reason why nearly 100 high school girls were eagerly lined up in a tiny hallway to have their moment with Alam.
While some knew of Alam’s amazing background, many of the players didn’t fully know that one of the best photographers in the U.S. was set to work with them for an image that will last a lifetime.
“The lifesize posters were a vision I wanted to create to help with the event branding and its cause of bringing together kids from all levels of play,” Alam said. “I love the fact it gives kids, who might never have this opportunity in the first place, an opportunity to give their families and future families an elite commemorate piece of art highlighting the sport they played during their childhood.”
Alam, whose work has been published everywhere including massive worldwide billboard campaigns and in Times Square, played soccer at Miami-Ohio.
“To hear about a family that has a poster of their child in their house somewhere gives me pride and joy,” Alam said. “You can’t put a price on that – the pure pride – because it’s a big deal for the child and their parents.
“It’s a forever-captured moment. All athletes eventually move on and grow up. But in this piece of art, they will always be that child.”
When Alam started shooting the lifesize posters nearly two decades ago for the BODYARMOR Series, the concept was foreign for most at the high school level.
“I pitched the idea almost 15-plus years ago,” Alam said. “It was not being done at all.
“I told (BODYARMOR Series founder) Joe (Trost) that I was doing some commercial photography for major companies like Nike and the McDonald’s All-America Game had brought me in, too. I knew it would look great if we could offer that to these kids. The ability to give them that grungy high-end look with professional lights and everything.
“Joe’s focus has always been on the kids, and he stresses that they’re the face and reason for anything with the event. So once you have these lifesize player posters hanging by the 100s throughout the complex featuring kids from all different schools, towns and backgrounds, then all of a sudden everyone knows this is about the kids and their passion. It puts all kids on a massive exposure stage that creates enormous amount of pride for the kids themselves and their family and friends.”
The lifesize posters, which cannot be found at any other high school event in Illinois, have become must-have keepsakes for more than 5,000 boys and girls student athletes.
Madison Ekern, a 2016 Young graduate who went onto play at Westminster College in Missouri, has her lifesize poster at her parent’s house. She said the picture evokes fond memories for her family.
“I remember seeing all of the posters when I was a freshman,” Ekern said. “I always wanted to have one.
“When I was selected by my coach, it was really a memorable experience. Thinking about it now, I always laugh at myself, because I had such a serious face.
“When my parents moved from my childhood home, my dad took a video posing with it. He still talks about it to this day and wanted to hold it up when I graduated from college!”
Among the student athletes at the recent invite-only shoot was a group of players from Metea Valley.
*“I’m so excited, because every year we get off the bus and start looking for our posters,” Metea Valley defender Zoe Kirkman said. “It’s so fun to see everybody, hype them up and to have them there almost watching us.”
*“The whole message of the BODYARMOR Series and bringing so many different girls together is really a good message and positive for girls sports in general,” said Metea Valley senior goalie Alyssa Gluting, a Fairfield University recruit. “It’s empowering to see all of these girls on lifesize posters.”
*“When I was a freshman, all of the seniors would tell me their stories about the BODYARMOR Series,” said Metea Valley senior forward Lucy Burk, who committed to Northern Michigan. “It’s just an amazing experience.”
*“Every time we go to BODYARMOR, it’s always super fun once we get off the bus,” said Metea Valley senior defender Kyleigh Jannisch, a Winona State recruit. “We compare the posters to each other and take photos with them. It’s really a fun moment.”
At the end of the shoot, Alam quietly packed up with no fanfare. But his impact will be felt in person, on social media, at graduation parties, in college dorms or hanging in homes in the coming weeks, months and years ahead.
“I get to bring my experience and do it at a level – high school – where nothing like this exists,” Alam said. “Even 15-plus years later, I am still doing it to help because we were ahead of the curve on this concept.
“I’m glad we were able to be on the forefront of starting something every school is trying to do now, a concept of putting the spotlight on kids. But it’s still nothing like this.
“Ask the kids and families, they’ll tell you because I have heard it and know. Joe’s vision and integrity of what he’s trying to promote and create for these kids is amazing, and that’s why I keep doing this.
“This is my contribution to bring all of this and give these kids an image they would never get or get to have. Not just for this event, but for the rest of their lives.”
Bio on reporter: Bob Narang has been covering prep recruiting and sports for the past 30 years. His work also appears in the Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald.
