Notebook about youth sports will appear weekly
Is there an end to sports seasons for today’s young athletes?
It doesn’t seem like it.
The high school state championships just concluded last week and already athletes are playing games in summer leagues. Does anyone take a vacation anymore?
Each year at this time we struggle to provide a consistent report on youth sports activities. Half the teams want everything they can get in the paper, the other half doesn’t have the time or inclination to report it.
Starting Tuesday, we will begin a weekly youth sports notebook that we hope will help give the youth sports community a focal point in the newspaper. The notebook will be compiled by Jessica Brown.
Because of the incredible number of summer sports leagues and events, we can’t possibly report on everything. The aim of the notebook is to report on the highlights of the week for high school-age sports. This would include things like American Legion baseball and select softball.
It is also our intention to give highlights of state or national events involving all youth sports. Qualifying for a state or national event would also fit the criteria for this notebook. In years past, we compiled many of these tournaments in our Sunday Locally column. Look for it now in the Tuesday notebook.
I anticipate a few complaints from some readers who are used to seeing a daily report on Legion baseball. I understand that initial reaction. However, I believe this weekly notebook will give us a chance to go beyond the usual stat-line highlight.
To gather this information, we will rely on coaches to call, e-mail or fax with details about an event. Coaches can call me during the day at 459-5503, call the sports desk at night at 459-5500 or call Jessica after 6 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays at 459-5511. You can also leave a phone message anytime with Jessica.
Our e-mail is sports@spokesman.com and our fax is 744-5655.
Please keep in mind that not every highlight will make it in the youth sports notebook. We will pick the best stuff each week to compile in the notebook.
Busy summer
It is already shaping up as a busy summer in the Inland Northwest.
On Saturday, the U.S. Olympic softball team will be at Franklin Park for an exhibition against local all-stars in preparation for Athens. We kick off the coverage of that event with a story on Monday about Olympic star Stacey Nuveman.
On June 24 we will publish a special section on Hoopfest that will include every entrant’s name and the court they will play on. It will also include a map of the courts. The event is June 26 and 27.
Also on June 27 is the Ironman USA Coeur d’Alene triathlon.
We catch our breath a bit in July and prepare for the Northwest League All-Star game in Spokane on Aug. 3. The Seahawks open camp in Cheney on Aug. 2 and the Summer Olympics start on Aug. 11.
Vacation anyone?