Feature Article
April 16, 2014
Every Goal Counts
By Aaron
Brown
Recently, my mom handed over a few scrapbooks she had
stored in a closet of my old bedroom. One of them was chock full of
newspaper cutouts from instructional league soccer games I played in as a
kid. Each game report listed the goals, assists, saves and
offensive/defensive standouts for each team. We were absolutely thrilled
to see our "name in lights" even though when I look back at the clippings,
it appears that every single player from each team was listed.
No matter...our parents were proud, we were proud, we
got to show our friends, and we got to dream that someday we would make it
big as a professional soccer player. I think they did something similar
for baseball. I still have those cutouts too.
We have moved into a digital era where everything and
every thought is posted online somewhere. Unfortunately, while I can tell
you that I put pepperoni on my pizza, put cream and sugar in my coffee, and
still listen to Ludacris...I still can't tell you who the top performers
were for a handful of teams on many nights because no one is reporting the
scores.
On this end, I make every attempt to report whatever I
can related to each game and tournament. In many cases, I feel guilty if I leave out
a
single goal-scorer, since it might have been their first Varsity goal and
they might be hoping to finally see their "name in lights" when they get
around to checking the site.
By the end of this year, the main page of
illpolo.com alone will be accessed over one million times. More than one
thousand people "follow" or "like" illpolo.com on Facebook and Twitter. People
are paying close attention to this sport. It could be your family,
friends, teammates, rivals, college coaches, or your classmates who see
that you
performed at a high level and made a difference for your team. Shouldn't
your efforts and hard work be rewarded with some form of recognition to an audience
that is focused on the sport you spend so much time on?
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you
to those who do take the time to report scores and statistics throughout
the season. There are many people who are go out of their way
"behind-the-scenes" to help promote the sport and see it grow, in many cases
reporting information about their opposition as well as their own team.
Finally, a general rule is that if you don't see it
reported on the site (i.e. scores, game statistics), there is a really
good chance that it hasn't been reported. Assume that. And if you have the
time, feel free to help promote the sport by sending information to help the great
athletes of Illinois high school water polo get the recognition they
so rightfully deserve.
