Help me help you make this a memorable Big Bend high school sports season | Jack Williams
I never thought in my life that I'd be excited for the summer to be over.
However, considering my job is based around covering prep sports, it only makes sense.
The football pads are back on, volleyball nets are back up, runners and swimmers are stretching again, and golfers are putting their school-colored polos back on.
Another Big Bend Preps season is around the corner, and I couldn't be more excited to get back into the swing of things.
The whiteboard calendar above my desk is filled out with game after game as I impatiently count down the days until I can see all my favorite teams and athletes compete once again.
Will I be losing sleep? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely.
20 Big Bend high schools, just one me
The Tallahassee Democrat/Big Bend Preps covers about 20 different schools in the area from as far west as Havana to as far east as Taylor County. I'd love to find a way to clone myself and be at every game, but unfortunately, society has not progressed that far just yet.
However, that doesn't mean we can't provide coverage for every game, and you can help!
Players, coaches, parents, fans and anyone who is at any Big Bend Preps athletic event, feel free to send us videos of a notable play/performance. If you have game stats or even just a score, let us know and we'll publish it into our nightly round-up. Whatever information or media you have from a game, we'd love to see it and make it a part of our coverage.
Create a Twitter account for you team and/or schools athletic department: I love team and school specific accounts. It's a great way to spread news about your specific team, tweet our your scores and stats, and keep everyone in the loop. Accounts like @Linc_TrojansFB, @Rhsathletics1, @NFC_Baseball and @FSUS_Athletics on Twitter are some great examples.
Tweet, Tweet, Tweet: Twitter is essnetial to sports journalists and we are on it all the time. If you have a video clip or highlights, live game updates, final game scores, game stats or frankly anything at all, we can us it. Any information we can get is fantastic.
Update MaxPreps constantly: If I'm not on Twitter, I'm on MaxPreps. If you have the final game score and stats, do not hesiaite to upload them. The more stats and scores, the more information we can publish and more information we'll have in figurging out nominees for Athlete of the Week and All-Big Bend.
Don't be afriad to ask questions or send ideas: There are no stupid questions or bad ideas. If it's important to you, it's important to us. We'd love to hear what you have to say
Crazy play? Send it my way
Especially with football, if there's a crazy play that you caught on video, or we're taking video highlights of the entire game or you're just tweeting game updates, feel free to include us in on the fun.
On Twitter, feel free to tag me (@jackgwilliams) or the Big Bend Preps account (@bigbendpreps), or use the hashtag #BigBendPreps, so we can see retweet your videos and game updates. Feel free to tag us on Instagram as well @tlhbigbendpreps.
If you're a little more traditional, you can email me at jwilliams@tallahassee.com. As a 25-year-old, I have my phone glued to my hand 90 percent of the day, along with my Apple Watch going off on my wrist, so I'll always be in the loop with whatever is going on. If you need my phone number, you are welcome to ask.
All the sports, all the time
Again, it doesn't just have to be football. If it's a five-set thriller, a hole-in-one, a screamer goal, or anything you'd like to share, send it over! We aren't just Big Bend football, we are Big Bend Preps. We cover every high school sport in this community.
One of the things I value most about this job is hearing your stories and being able to tell them. If you, a friend, a family member, a teacher, a coach, or anyone in the Big Bend Preps community have a story they'd like to share, do not hesitate to reach out. Some of my favorite stories I've ever written have come from emails or text messages from you all.
And they don't entirely have to be about sports. I've written stories about lifelong friendships, coping with loss, and self-discovery that have sports as a common theme. We may not all be athletes, but we're all human begins.
Help me help you! Don't be afraid to play a part in our coverage or contribute your videos, stats, and story ideas. Our job is to cover for you all, and I'd like to have you all play a part in how I do my job.
Jack Williams covers prep sports for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Help the Tallahassee Democrat cover every game, every week. Here's how.
