The Varsity Football Player of the Week Small School: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the small-school football vote and who runs it?

The Varsity Football Player of the Week Small School vote is a public poll run by Times Herald-Record and presented under the Varsity 845 banner. Readers pick the small-school football player they want to honor from a list of nominees named in the poll question. The poll is hosted on Crowdsignal, which the posted details identify as the platform for the vote.

Because the newspaper ties the vote to its Middletown coverage, the program has a clear local anchor in New York. The poll address in this guide is the one to bookmark, since it leads straight to the ballot rather than to a general newspaper page. Readers who follow the newspaper's wider football coverage will recognize the Varsity 845 name across its regional sports pages.

Anyone checking whether they are on the right ballot should match the newspaper name, the Crowdsignal host and the small-school label in the poll title.

Which editions of the small-school football poll are confirmed?

Editions are confirmed for 2023 and 2025. The posted round for the small-school division runs October 29 to November 1 and is labeled closed on the poll page. The posted details say nothing about a 2024 round, so that year is not counted as confirmed even though it falls between the two named editions.

The posted round falls in late October and early November, which places this ballot in the autumn part of the football calendar. Dates for future rounds are not stated, and the notes do not set a closing hour for any round.

Anyone seeking a current window should check the Crowdsignal title before planning a vote.

How does a fan cast a vote in the small-school poll today?

The vote is cast on the Crowdsignal poll itself. The poll question names the small-school nominees, and a fan selects one and submits the vote from the same page. The nominee names are visible on the poll before a vote is cast, so a reader can compare them first.

Read the nominee list

Start with the poll question and confirm you are looking at the small-school football round. The title carries the round dates and the small-school label, so check it before you vote.

Submit the vote

Select the nominee you want and submit the vote on the same page. The posted notes do not describe an emailed confirmation, so note what the page shows when your vote registers.

Repeat voting for a nominee is not limited in the posted details, and no daily rule is printed. Crowdsignal poll settings may still restrict repeat submissions, so check the poll page before a second attempt.

How does this small-school poll sit beside nearby New York ballots?

The Times Herald-Record ballot is one of several New York football polls. The Hudson Valley New York High School Football Player of the Week covers a wider regional group, while the New York High School Football Player of the Week works at the state level. Each has its own organizer, and a reader should not assume one poll's rules apply to another.

Section-based ballots are a further category. The New York Section 1 High School Football Player of the Week is tied to a single athletic section. Readers comparing football awards may also look at the Buffalo News Prep Talk Girls Athlete of the Week, which is a girls program in a different market.

The Lohud basketball ballots, including the lohud Boys Basketball Player of the Week and the Lohud Girls Basketball Player of the Week, follow a different sport and season, so they are not a direct substitute for this football ballot.

How can a supporter help a nominee gain more votes?

Someone hoping to lift a nominee's count should begin with the poll's own terms, because the newspaper decides what counts. Passing the Crowdsignal link to teammates' families, coaches and local followers is the most direct step, since every vote still has to be cast on the same poll page.

Supporters can also post the link in community groups or on the newspaper's coverage pages, and they can explain why a particular performance stood out on the field, with the round dates and poll title kept accurate.

Coaches and families should keep the nominee's details out of any message that could be read as a promise. The message should stay honest and avoid promising a result, since no public poll can be guaranteed. For general ideas, the guide on how to get more votes online covers tactics that work across public polls.