From touchdown passes and slam dunks to spikes and home runs, Bill Webb has seen it all from the sidelines. A Southlake Carroll parent, supporter, fan, former Carroll Athletic Booster Club (CABC) president and its current secretary and treasurer, Bill has been a part of the Southlake community for 15 years. Bill’s love for Southlake Carroll athletics runs deep, volunteering his time for the Dragon athletes whenever and however he can. That includes livestreaming every game that he can make, even after his three boys left Dragon Nation for college.
Because as Bill will tell you, none of what he does is for himself — it’s for the Southlake Carroll Dragons.
COMING TO CARROLL
In 2006, Bill and his wife Jill took their 6- and 4-year-old boys and moved to Southlake after he finished working in Austin for 10 years. They moved to Southlake for many of the same reasons others have — the successful schools, the rural area and the close proximity to DFW Airport.
But one of the most significant reasons was the tradition of greatness in Carroll’s athletic programs. Shortly after arriving in Southlake, Bill saw the Carroll Dragons’ state championship win against Austin Westlake at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Even in a big football state such as Texas, Bill had never seen so many people come out in support of one high school football team.
“I grew up in Texarkana, where it was huge if there were 8,000 people at a football game,” Bill says. “There were 50,000 people there at the state championship game. I had never seen that many people pack a stadium for a high school game before.”
Knowing his three kids would eventually go through the Carroll athletic programs as well, Bill was motivated to get involved in the Southlake sports scene as much as he could. He cultivated his children’s athletic skills at an early age and volunteered as a coach for their youth football team when they were in elementary school.
“He was really into it, coaching all of the kids the same, not being soft or hard on anybody else,” head baseball coach Larry Vucan says. “What stood out to me was that he was passionate not just for his own son, but for all of the kids. This was a guy that really cared, and Bill’s that way about everything he does.”
As his sons made the transition from elementary to middle school, Bill increased his involvement and joined the Carroll Athletic Booster Club, attending meetings and helping out wherever he was needed. After his sons joined Carroll High School football, baseball and marching band, he assumed the role of president for the organization in 2016.
“A lot of what happens in the CABC is about fundraising, and a lot of what I do in my professional life is about fundraising,” Bill remarks. “It was really kind of a natural fit for me.”
THE CENTER OF THE COMMUNITY
When Bill first got involved with the CABC, its funding primarily came from a sports publication it produced every fall. But after Bill became president, the organization sought to diversify its revenue through new initiatives in the community.
“We really started reaching out to have more membership, involvement and visibility within the district,” Bill says. “We didn’t just want to be a bank — we wanted to be at the center of everything Carroll athletics and make it fun, enjoyable and a community-wide celebration for everyone.”
Besides increasing memberships, creating sponsorship packages and building up the Dragon Den spirit shop, one of the newest revenue sources was the CABC Raffle, which debuted in 2017. Southlake Kiwanis board member Terri Zelasko says Bill created and donated a Dragon golf cart just for the occasion, with the raffle eventually raising over $100,000.
“The funds raised far exceeded what the teams were doing on their own and put less pressure on students and parents,” Terri says. “He jumps in wherever he is needed and uses the full extent of his creativity, connections and resources to ensure that our kids are taken care of.”
Those efforts paid off in the numbers, with CABC’s membership averaging from 200 to 600 members a year and its financial contributions growing from $125,000 to $300,000. Those dollars help the CABC fund items on Carroll coaches’ wish lists every year. Whether it was for travel buses, sports equipment or facility renovations, keeping up with an athletics program as vibrant and successful as CISD’s takes a village.
“If I’ve ever asked for something, whether it was equipment or sweatshirts or shoes, Bill’s going to get it done,” head football coach Riley Dodge says. “Last year, we had to transport over 150 players, support staff and student trainers to West Texas for a football game, and within 3-4 days, Bill found a way to get charter buses for us. He doesn’t take no for an answer.”
Aside from his regular duties as president, Bill has also set up the Party In The Pasture New Year’s Eve event with Southlake Kiwanis to benefit local charities, organized season kickoff events like baseball palooza and the community pep rallies and made sure students’ needs were being addressed as a volunteer member of prior Carroll bond advisory committees. And somehow, Bill always finds time to do even more on top of that.
“When we won state in 2019, Bill kept texting me, asking when we were going to be back,” head cross-country coach Justin Leonard says. “I say 11 o’clock at night, and when we pulled up, Bill had speakers set up, flashing lights, a fire truck and like 60 parents show up, and we had this huge welcoming party at 11 o’clock on Saturday night. He goes out of his way to do stuff like that. That’s what separates him.”
While coach Leonard remains grateful that Bill makes his student-athletes feel seen, Bill remains humble, asserting that it’s the community’s love for Carroll athletics that makes it easier to do what he and CABC does.
“The great thing about Carroll is that every parent believes their child’s sport is the best, and it’s one of the few districts where that’s actually close to accurate,” Bill says. “There’s a lot of pride, and every athlete wakes up every day thinking that they have a chance to win a state championship. That doesn’t happen in most places.”
THE DRAGON SIDE
Alongside his fundraising and organizing efforts, Bill has put the spotlight on the Carroll Dragons through his media expertise. In 2017, the CABC launched the Southlake Carroll Dragons app through Mascot Media, which features the most up-to-date news, schedules and rosters relating to Carroll athletics. It was with this same app that Bill launched the CABC’s talk show “Dragon Athletics Live!” in 2019.
“‘Dragon Athletics Live!’ provided an opportunity for our student-athletes to gain important public speaking skills, put a spotlight on every team sport and increased the exposure of Dragon student-athletes,” Terri says. “How many high schools can claim their own livestreamed talk show?”
And during the pandemic in 2020, Bill volunteered to livestream Dragon games on the same app, including football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball and wrestling. Bill devised the setup himself and handles all aspects of livestreaming, from the equipment to the cameras to the overlays to the audio broadcast by Chuck Kelly. And he faithfully follows the Dragons all season long, no matter where they go.
“Last season, he drove all the way out to Rockwall on his own to stream our JV game so the parents could see it at home,” coach Dodge says. “He did not have to do that. If he didn’t do that, no one would have said a word. Yet he drove all the way out there to video the game anyway, just so people could watch it at home due to COVID.”
Coach Vucan says it wouldn’t be unusual to see Bill jumping from one game to the next, just to make sure everybody could catch the Dragons playing.
“We had a football game at Keller High last year, and in the same night, we had a playoff volleyball game at Coppell,” coach Vucan says. “He was livestreaming the football game, packs up, gets in his car and speeds over to Coppell, and then livestreams the volleyball game all by himself. He doesn’t even have a kid in either program anymore.”
When asked where he gets the motivation to stream all of the Dragon games, Bill’s answer is simple.
“You just have to make the commitment to do it, just like you make the commitment to get up for practice on the field,” Bill says. “It’s not a matter of whether you want to this week or not. CABC said we’d do it, and we’re going to do it.”
The effort is always worth it to Bill, with the football streams reaching 6,000 to 12,000 unique viewers each night. But even when the numbers aren’t that high, Bill still knows he’s sharing the Dragon experience with someone who cares about it — and that’s more important to him.
“That’s really for the grandpa or grandmother that lives in Iowa and never gets to see their grandkids play,” Bill says. “Even if we only have 250 people watching it, we know it’s 250 people who wouldn’t have been able to see their grandkids play otherwise. There’s a lot of value in that.”
Through his livestreaming, talk show and media app, CISD athletic director Steve Keasler says Bill has brought an awareness to Dragon athletics like never before.
“Bill is a servant leader and has a servant’s heart,” Steve says. “We can never thank him enough for the countless hours he pours into our programs.”
Southlake has gone through many changes over the past several years, but the one saving grace to Bill through everything has always been Dragon athletics. Even though he’s no longer president of the CABC, he always makes a forward-facing effort that everybody in the community can see.
“It’s hard to take sides when it comes to Dragon athletics other than the Dragon side,” Bill says. “Everybody loves their Dragons.”
Whether he’s livestreaming one of the Dragons’ games, hosting an episode of “Dragon Athletics Live!” or just simply showing up to cheer for a Dragon championship win, Bill always puts his best foot forward and doesn’t ask for anything in return.
“For me, it’s not about going out, doing great things and taking credit for them — it’s about truly being there and supporting the kids,” Bill says. “I don’t get up every day with the goal of making people in this community happy. I get up to help our kids and coaches be successful. If I’ve done that, I’ve done my job. And honestly, there’s nowhere I’d rather be on a Friday night than a Dragon game anyway.”
Bill Webb’s service and commitment to Carroll athletics is a shining example of servant leadership. Southlake Style is proud to name him the 13th recipient of our annual Brian R. Stebbins Award for enduring community impact.
First awarded to visionary Southlake Town Square developer and city advocate Brian R. Stebbins in 2009, ‘Southlake Style’ has recognized one member from our community each year for their enduring commitment to our city. Past honorees include elected city officials, school administrators, local business leaders and philanthropists.