- November 1, 2024
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Throughout the year, I tend to get many questions about how the Observer covers sports. Usually, readers want to know why a particular game or team isn’t getting in print. So, at the risk of taking up more space on something other than results of games, I’d like to explain our approach.
The Observer publishes two weekly sports sections in print, one in Palm Coast, one in Ormond Beach. We cover all sports for five high schools — Flagler Palm Coast, Matanzas, Mainland, Seabreeze and Father Lopez — all youth leagues and other community sports.
Unfortunately, we aren’t able to cover every game, although that does sound like fun.
As a weekly newspaper, our coverage is more like Sports Illustrated than “SportsCenter.” Our aim is to center on human interest stories and capture the few games that spark interest from the most readers (i.e., crosstown matchups).
Mainland football is the most successful and popular program I cover, but I’m still not able to cover every game they play.
By presenting news this way, we can also draw attention to the less-popular sports. Most readers may not care about golf, but they will read about a particular high school golfer who overcame a rough upbringing to win a state championship. If we merely focus on the best golf team competing against another great golf team, only golf enthusiasts, the players’ and friends will give the story a read.
I often reach out to athletes and coaches for any feature story ideas, and coaches can send in all scores, stats and accomplishments. From those submissions, I select the stories that I believe will interest the most readers.
With that said, I look forward to hearing from players, coaches and fans. What stories am I missing? Who should be recognized for a job well done, both on and off the field?
Have you taken a great sports action shot that everyone needs to see?
Most weeks, we not only publish a couple of longer stories, but also a half-page of shorter stories called Sidelines, in an attempt to be more comprehensive. Email your story ideas and Sidelines submissions at [email protected]. Thanks for reading the sports section!
