April/May 2021 - 30

40 UNDER 40 perspectives
40 UNDER 40
PERSPECTIVE
Dr. Kaleb Stoppel, Asst. Principal & Athletic Director, Olathe East (KS) High School
Using Social Media to Promote
Student-Athletes
An important component of
education-based athletics is recognizing
achievement and growth. This can
typically be seen through the coachathlete
relationship and the praise a
coach provides to an athlete, as well as
through the praise between athletes to
one another. Praise and recognition help
boost student confidence, especially
considering the work, commitment, and sacrifices a studentathlete
makes when performing to the best of their ability.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many challenges have
arisen in how student-athletes can be publicly recognized
for their efforts. When in-person opportunities are limited in
ways the community can interact with your athletic programs,
teams, and student-athletes, it is essential for coaches and
athletic administrators to provide other opportunities, virtually,
for these interactions. Social media is a tool that can help
coaches and athletic administrators recognize, promote, and
celebrate athletic programs and student-athlete achievement to
community stakeholders and beyond.
Social media can be used to meet your stakeholders where
they are, whether it be through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
Tik Tok, Snapchat, or a plethora of other social media
tools. I choose to primarily utilize Twitter to share athletic
accomplishments, stories, and announcements, in ways that
are both visually appealing and personally meaningful to the
viewing stakeholder.
Below are various ways social media can be used to
celebrate and promote your athletic programs and studentathletes,
which helps build excitement for your athletic
programs and student-athletes, provides important information
to all stakeholders in a smooth online interaction, and
promotes the brand of your athletic programs/department:
* Team/Coach/Athlete Award - This is a great type of
recognition for any part of your athletic department who
receives an award, no matter how small or large. The
more you can showcase awards, the more personal pride
you instill in individuals, teams, and throughout your
athletic department.
* Game Day Announcement - With all the athletic/activity
events that occur within any given day, there is always an
30 APRIL/MAY 2021
opportunity to give a personalized " shout-out " to a
team, wishing that team and its participants good luck
in their contest. Additionally, this can be a method
of communicating important event details such as
event time, location, travel directions, and livestream
information.
* Season Schedule Announcement - By designing a
visually appealing season schedule for an individual
team, and sharing on social media, allows for
increased excitement and interaction over social media,
which only continues to pour back into the recognition
of that program and the student-athletes within.
* Special/Important Announcements - There will
be canceled events. Social media is perhaps the most
important channel to share immediate announcements
to all stakeholders, so all have the most up-to-date
information. Additionally, sharing a news release
announcement on social media can grow the exposure
of the athletic program, like a new coaching hire. This
can help generate immediate excitement that will only
help support your new coach as they enter their role.
Typically, news outlets and local sports organizations
will see the announcement on social media and share
it with their followers - helping increase the exposure
of your announcement.
* Player/Coach Showcase - Everyone likes to be
recognized and highlighted for their efforts! Whether
you choose to only highlight seniors, or whether you
focus on a " player of the week " , giving recognition and
praise to your coaches and student-athletes will go a
long way to continue to foster strong relationships.
Sharing this on social media allows for extending
the reach of positive and exciting news! Additionally,
lots of work goes into planning, coordinating, and
facilitating an athletic signing ceremony event. Why
not grow the impact of that event by sharing it through
social media, resulting in a larger public community
being able to celebrate your student-athletes'
achievements?
* Game Score Updates - Not everyone can attend
all events that are offered on a given day. You likely
have many community stakeholders that would love
to know all the updates of all the events, even if they
can't attend. Providing live game updates on social
media will be positively received by your community,
as it allows others to feel involved as if they are at the
event themselves. Especially with in-person spectator
constraints due to COVID-19, livestreaming and
game updates shared on social media is the only way
parents/community members are able to interact with
teams, players, and even coaches that have a personal
connection.
For some ideas of how you can use Twitter to promote,
recognize, and generate excitement about your athletic
programs and participants, please feel free to visit my
Twitter: @ADStoppelOE.
April/May 2021

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