More Teams, More Families, Same Staff: What to Look for Before You Choose
High school sports participation hit another all-time high in 2025-26. The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey counted 8,415,684 participants, up 149,440 from the year before and the fifth straight year of growth.
More participants mean more teams, more games, and more families hoping to see their athletes recognized. At most high schools, telling those stories falls to the athletic director, with help from a few coaches or volunteers and no dedicated communications staff.
That's why so many ADs are exploring sports content production tools. Before you choose one, here are five questions to ask.
1. Can Someone Without a Media Background Use It?
The people creating your content are ADs, coaches, and parent or student volunteers. They know the game, but they aren't trained writers or designers. If a tool requires lengthy training or technical skill, it won't get used past the first few weeks. Look for guided, step-by-step story creation that works as well on a phone in the bleachers as it does at a desk.
2. Will It Cover Every Team?
Families of JV and middle school teams, as well as athletes competing in sports like swimming and bowling, want recognition too, and they notice when it only goes to varsity football and basketball. NFHS member associations serve roughly 19,500 high schools, and the 2024-25 survey recorded participation in 70 different sports. The right tool makes covering a bowling match as manageable as covering the homecoming game.
3. How Fast Can a Story Reach Families?
A recap posted three days after the game has already missed its moment. Parents, grandparents, and fans look for news the same night or the next morning. Pay attention to how long it takes to go from final score to a published, shareable story. Speed decides whether your content sparks conversation or gets scrolled past.
4. Who Controls What Gets Published?
You're representing students, most of them minors, along with your school's reputation. A good tool keeps people in charge. Look for the ability to edit every story before it goes live, approval workflows for administrators, and user permissions that let you decide who can create and publish. Automation should support your judgment, never replace it.
5. Does It Build Community Beyond the Bleachers?
Much of your community will never attend a game, so your stories need to reach people where they already are. Look for easy sharing on social media and a branded home where every story lives. Consistent coverage gives families, alumni, and local businesses more reasons to rally behind your programs.
Where uReport Fits
uReport is a human-powered, AI-assisted platform built for high school athletic departments that need to cover every program without adding staff. It guides users through each story, keeps every word editable before publishing, and shares finished stories straight to social channels.
Schools are already seeing the difference.
- At Ridgemont Local Schools, Mike James now covers teams like swimming and junior high basketball that local media doesn't have time for. "Each report takes 7-10 minutes, based on the information your coaches give you," he said.
- At New Richmond High School in Wisconsin, Activities Director Austin Junker turns the previous night's results into quality articles "within 30 minutes of sitting down at my desk."
Start a free trial and see how easy it can be to tell every team's story.
