Donations Needed to Support illpolo.com in
2014
by Aaron Brown
Donations can be made to No Limit Water
Polo. If you are interested in helping out or have questions, you can
contact me by e-mail at illpolostaff@gmail.com, by phone
at
(815) 579-6506, or by sending mail to:
Aaron Brown
c/o
Illpolo.com
4244 E 2551st Rd
Sheridan, IL 60551
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What has started as a small web site for
Illinois High School water polo has turned into an unbelievable resource.
During the high school water polo season in 2013, the site achieved over
one million page views for the second straight year as visitors were eager
to check scores, read stories, check rankings, and find out anything else
they could about what is going on with high school water polo in Illinois.
With that being said, I need your help! My
mission is to ensure that the sport gets the proper coverage that these
boys and girls deserve, starting with this web site and hopefully moving
towards the newspapers. I will do everything I can to make this happen,
but if I could get some assistance I would be greatly appreciative.
As I sat watching the championship game at the
Fenwick Tournament between Fenwick and Brother Rice five years ago, I
couldn't help but feel that it was just as exciting as any high school
basketball game that was being played that weekend. Yet when I checked the
newspapers the next day, I saw a half dozen articles covering basketball
and not even a mention of what happened on Saturday night at Fenwick. The
scores were listed in the daily scoreboard and that was it.
If we are to continue to see this sport
sustain the positive momentum it has gained in the past few years and
continue to grow, then we need to get the maximum exposure for our players
and teams. That is the main purpose of this site...to reward the players
and coaches for all of their dedication and effort. Why should I sit
around and hope that the newspapers pick up a story when I can take a more
proactive approach and simply convince them to print information about
water polo?
The problem is, maintaining this web site has
become a full-time job. Start editing, writing, and making changes around
8:00am, plan what games to attend and travel to one or two games at
different facilities and report on games and take notes. Rush home to
check messages, emails, and instant messages for scores and updates. Start
updating the scores, records, and rankings while writing a few stories
into the night, usually until 2:00am. Contacting athletic departments for
scores from previous days the following morning. Sending and receiving
nearly one-hundred e-mails per day on average. Driving across the area
from Stevenson to Fenwick on Friday night, then spending 12 hours at a
tournament taking notes the next day. And I love every minute of it! But I
don't know how long I can keep this pace up...the cost of web hosting,
wireless Internet, domains, travel expenses, gas, and the time spent
volunteering can be very difficult when all is said and done.
