What is the Real Deal? High School Sports!

By Jake

Well I have been discussing this blog for quite some time, so I figured I just needed to get this up and going and hopefully it will take on a life of its own. Ideally this blog will create and foster a discussion about the sponsorship and financial support of school based sports across the United States. At the very least, this will be a forum that celebrates school based sports across the U.S. All of us at Home Team Marketing, now 40 people strong (we started with 4 ten years ago) feel a sense of appreciation because we get to travel all over the U.S. and take in high school athletic contests of varying sizes, skills, etc. We spend a lot of time sharing stories about a football game we were able to see in south Florida, on a muggy November night, or a girls basketball game in Northern Michigan, where we were praying for overtimes so as to not have to go back outside (notice that was plural overtimes). Through all the travels there are surprisingly a few constants, the absolute devotion that communities have for their local high school team, a passion for playing the game that exemplifies the best in competition, and teachers/coaches and administrators that have dedicated their lives to the development of young people. While there are certainly many more attributes I am missing, these three are the constants and it is why we love our job.

I could go on for a very long time about the benefits of HS sports and the special place it holds in this country's heart. I am hoping as this blog develops to have that opportunity. Equally I am hoping to learn from its readers and guest bloggers that we plan on inviting frequently - also every entry creates an open forum that you are invited and encouraged to contribute. One special section I plan on having is an “inside the deal” guest blog where we invite a representative from a State Association to share the details on a great deal that that they have developed for their respective Association. We will see how that idea develops as I know there is some sensitive information out there, but I trust we can find a happy middle ground where we don’t give away the farm, but provide a enough information to make it useful for all.

If there are discussion topics that you would like to see brought let me know, This is not going to be Home Team rekindling a great high school experience, we really want to discuss how partnerships can help achieve the mission of school based sports and help them flourish. By sharing best practices, and what we are seeing from companies in the marketplace, we are hoping this forum becomes a very valuable resource for those that care about HS Athletics now and into the future.

If you have gotten this far, Thank you! That is more than I expected (that will be another blog topic - managing clients' expectations). As I am sure you have figured it out now, the REAL DEAL is HS athletics.