If You Don’t have a Social Media Presence, You May Want To Rethink Your Strategy If You Run a Sport.

Photo by Adem Ay

The explosive growth of content creation in human existence has never been higher. Digital tools and the Internet are the strings to the puppets, but this time you get to control the show. This is in an age where Jermaine O’Neal can now tell his version of the Malice in the Palace, or where curating content for the local high school is creating a competitive edge. Embracing technology and being purposeful in your creativity can elevate the status of your organization. Here are few examples of why it is critical for athletics to embrace the digital movement to capitalize on emotional investment of their constituents.

It Provides a Cross-Curriculum Opportunity

College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) is a significant measurement category when rating an accredited secondary school in the State of Texas. In many cases, there exist an opportunity for coaches of athletic programs to set up an agreement with their Career and Technical Education (CTE) Departments across school districts to create home grown content. Practical implementation of technology skills learned in classes such as a Digital Media or Marketing can serve extra-curriculum programs immensely, helping students internalizing the lessons learned. If you are a school like Brackenridge High School in San Antonio, Texas, which has a Media and Film Magnet School that produces the live feeds to the district’s jumbotron, or Communications Arts High School serving the Northside Independent School District Community (NISD), there is an opportunity to become content creators for your school with an intimate perspective. The endgame may be exemplars like the Ranger Network at Smithson Valley High School. Check out Lanier High School’s tribute to long-time Head Football Coach Don Gatian on his final season of his career. Though this video was created by Lanier Alumnus Adrian Gomez, the intent to create engaging content is going to elevate everyone’s social media presentation.

Galvanize your Constituents, Celebrate Your Constituents

The Hispanic Texas High School Football Coaches Association (HTXHSFCA) has created a movement that has uplifted all members of their association. The weekly “Rep-it Wednesday’s” are often shared on their social media as members statewide wear their polos. Additionally, there are weekly “Coach of the Week” ballets cast from statewide members of the organization that vote on their peers. This movement certainly facilitates their goal of providing networking opportunities and professional support. For the members of HTXHSFCA, this opportunity to invest in their social media presence has created a following in represents the organization like a badge of honor.

Celebrating your star representative is having quite on appeal on the masses that follow. Take Brandeis High School’s Aiden Inesta-Rodriguez of NISD. This young man has created such a wave of excitement in Bronco country embracing his “The Technician” moniker earned through his impressive social media videos of his defensive back skills. Having star players like this transcends the allegiance of your program as a direct result of higher profile athletes.

Transparency is the optics that connotes trust, accountability, and positive vibes for organizations. The opportunity to communicate everything your program is about has increased in demand with the consumption of social media and the challenges of COVID. In response, communicating protocols and offering live game feeds have become a recent norms for many Texas High School programs. There are many programs out there that have elevated the sports landscape. Applications like SportsYou, YouTube, Twitter, and Hudl are forcing coaches to become technology savvy, or rather hire technology gurus like Marco Regalado, who at the height of the “Tik-Tok Coach” videos, was the most popularly referenced coach in the State of Texas. Regalado is an example of if done right, there is tremendous upside to the mastery of social media branding.

Creating your narrative and utilizing digital tools is elevating programs beyond the physical. Coaches with substance can utilize these tools to facilitate a culture of buy-in. Fact is that young people really dig technology and the social media component. This is an opportunity to create purposeful and strategic content that will benefit your program. It is the new version of the popular phrase in the movie Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come.”

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