The single drawback to running a high school sports site is that the summers can get very lonely. No emails from site viewers asking us to broadcast their next home game or to make sure a photographer gets pictures of their son or daughter. No calls from coaches asking why their team is ranked lower than their rival in the Power Rankings. Just the annoying buzz of flies that Clint lets in when he leaves the office door open and dust bunnies collecting in the hardware.
But, with soccer starting next week, and volleyball and football the week after that, it's time to get back to work. Here is a snap-shot of what we've been doing and what you can look forward to this fall on IdahoSports.com:
1. The 2013 State-Wide Fall Football Preview Online Digital Magazine.
Yes, we know the name is really long. We're working on it. We will be rolling the previews out over the next week as we finish collecting information from coaches. We weren't able to get a phone interview with every coach like we had hoped, but we got a really good mix of teams from all over the state, from every size of school.
2. Schedules and Scores
Matt Harris has taken over as the Sports Information Director, in addition to blogging, broadcasting and managing the previews for district 5&6, oh and his real job as a DJ at Z103 in Idaho Falls. Matt has a passion (nearing OCD levels) for schedules and scores. Our goal is to have as nearly-complete schedules and results as possible - not just for football, but for soccer and volleyball as well. As usual, we will be relying on you, the fans, to help us fill in the gaps sometimes.
3. Expanded Regular Season Broadcast Coverage
We currently have just under 100 regular season football games scheduled this fall. We have expanded our reach in to eastern Idaho by making arrangements to broadcast 28 games, including home games for Skyline, Idaho Falls, Shelley, Firth, Snake River and Blackfoot. We will also be broadcasting the Rocky Mt Rumble in a couple of weeks at Holt Arena. Not wanting to ignore our fans to the north, we also scheduled a game of the week in District 2. A full broadcast schedule will be up on IdahoSports.com by the end of this week.
4. Expanded State Tournament Broadcast Coverage
When the weather starts getting a little cooler at the end of October (hopefully) we will be getting ready for the most fall state tournament coverage we have ever shown. Not only will we be doing the state football playoffs as usual, we will also be broadcasting all six state soccer championship matches as well as the Saturday matches for state volleyball.
5. More (and more updated) Blogs and Feature Stories
You've spoken, and we have listened. Without a doubt, the single biggest request I get during the school year is more editorial content. Blogs, stories, features, etc. The goal is to give you something new to read every day. In fact, if you think you have what it takes to write for IdahoSports.com, I'd love to hear from you. Email me at editor@idahosports.com and we'll talk.
6. Action Photo Galleries
We have, without a doubt, the absolute BEST group of sports action photographers in the state of Idaho and probably 2 or 3 states in every direction. They love what they do and it shows in their work. We have added a few new photographers, but we could always use more! Interested? Email steve@idahosports.com for information on how you can become an action photog for IdahoSports.com.
At the end of the day, our goal is to give coverage and recognition to Idaho high school sports and the student-athletes who participate in them. If we can do that AND entertain you a little bit along the way, great.
This is going to be a great year.....
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