THURSDAY AM BUZZ: Some ideas for unique sports coverage this summer

Summer is almost officially here, as temperatures soar into the 90s throughout much of our regions, and for sports editors at our newspapers that means it is time to get a little creative with coverage.

Because high school sports are now over in most of our markets, times can get a little slow on the sports desk. And, yes, the rest is much deserved considering how hard you folks work during the school sports season.

That said, summer is also a time to have fun with your sports page by doing some unique stories. In the summer at the newspapers I previously worked at, we filled our sports section with local coverage of Legion baseball, football and fall sports camp stories and photos, and the occasional photo package from the Little League ballpark.

Here are 3 unique story ideas to use on your sports pages:

1) Let's play ball! Head to your local youth baseball or softball park, and instead of taking photos of the kids in action, turn your lens around and grab your notepad and do a feature on the people at the ballpark who work hard, and get little or no attention. Maybe it is an umpire who has worked behind the plate for 10-plus years and does it for the love of the game, or a coach who has been in the dugout for 30 years and long after his kids were too old to play, or interview a few moms on what it is like to watch their 8 year old swing the bat for the first time. These are all great stories and will be read by sports fans and non-sports folks!

2) It's time to play golf: I would think the majority of our markets have a golf course in town, or nearby. If so, do a feature on a local golfer who is tearing up the local league or tournament. Or, maybe it is a feature on a group of men or ladies who meet every morning and play a round, or two! These are great stories that tend to focus on older athletes — something we don't typically do during the normal school sports season.

3) Head to your local pool: Again, it is my guess that many of our markets have a city or YMCA pool, and now is the time that parents love to get their kids involved in aquatic sports. Do a feature on the local swim teacher, or maybe a feature on a local swimmer who is making waves in the pool. If those stories are not available, do a fun story on swim lessons and how much patience the instructor must have to teach young ones more than the dog paddle.

Remember, for all of these stories, think more than just how it would play in print. Maybe for the umpire feature, take some video of him working behind the plate and conduct a short 1 or 2 minute interview with him for your website. For the golf feature, maybe it is a photo slideshow or a video of what makes their swing so hard. And, for the swimming story, again a photo slideshow could be a great website feature.

Sports editors: If you take any of these suggestions and use them, please send me examples via PDFs of the pages so I can share with sports editors throughout ACM. Email PDFs to rogers@amconmedia.com.