Athletic department tackles social media
Gabe Freeman
Sports Editor
Over 600 fans attended the inaugural football homecoming game as the first season of tackle football got underway. The game was a spectacle itself with kosher hot dogs and cotton candy, and the subsequent dance that followed created even more buzz around school. The game was broadcast live on the Milken live streaming website, an addition to the athletics department that Mr. Tash helped start last year. With people tuning in from as far away as Israel and hundreds of spirited fans at the game, it became clear to Jason Kelly, head of athletics, that Milken athletics has generated interest in the community.
“With the inaugural Milken football season we have enjoyed a vast amount of press coverage including full page features in the Jewish Journal, The Daily News and a video of the football team’s last game winning touchdown broadcast on NBC evening news,” Kelly said.
Kelly, who has run the athletic department for 6 years, has always maintained his goal of bringing Milken to the forefront of high school athletics. Now that the fan base has increased, he is looking for new means to cater to Wildcat fans everywhere.
His next plan for the program is to tackle social media, something he feels will keep people updated in a much more accessible way. As email has become less appealing to kids, Kelly now looks to Facebook to create fan pages, create player cards, update scores and statistics and share pictures of the athletes.
”I learned that social media is not a fad but a fundamental shift in the way we communicate,” Kelly said.
The Milken Athletics fan page will contain important information about current sporting events. Furthermore, each team will have a fan page that keeps people updated on the season. Kelly is currently working on player cards, a new way for athletes to get recognition, as well as a place to add statistics and achievements. Kelly believes kids will eventually be able to use these if they want to pursue sports in college.
Sergio Paredes, sports information director, is currently in charge of updating the pages, but he hopes to work with coaches in the future to keep the pages up to date. This way, coaches can send out practice and any other important information to the team and the community.
Milken Athletics has stepped up its game in the past few years, and is not slowing down. As people have access to Facebook on their phones, Milken athletics can now go wherever you go. The next stage may involve Twitter, and Kelly has several ideas he is working on.
“As a department we are going to take our exciting news and events to the community rather than hope that the community finds us,” he said.
Here are the links to your Wildcat teams’ Facebook pages. Like them and send the links to your friends so you can be a part of the action!
