Articles
VNN Launches Pro Shop with Amazon Business
As budget talks wrap up across the nation, high school athletic directors in local communities are being asked to do more with less. Cutting programs, sharing gear, and in some cases, being forced to fundraise nearly all the expenses they incur over a season is becoming the new norm, and nearly everything that goes into coordinating high school sporting events from posts to pylons has a price tag. At the same time, participation continues to increase, nearing 8M in 2017 who will on average play 20 games per season at 20,000 high schools, making the finding of creative revenue-earning or cost-cutting opportunities one of the most important and necessary tasks an athletic director must do on a yearly basis.
Today, VNN, America’s largest and fastest growing high school sports communication platform, is giving its 3,000 partner athletic directors a much-needed assist, launching the VNN Pro Shop with Amazon Business. The storefront gives high school athletic directors and their coaches instant access to hundreds of thousands of sports equipment SKUs stocked by Amazon, including discounts from major brands like Franklin Sports and Champion Sports. Now available through the professional portal of VNN’s communication platform, VNN Home, the Pro Shop connects athletic departments to equipment purchases alongside the key administrative and content creation functions they already use to manage and engage with their local sports communities.
“So much in high school sports begins and ends with athletic directors and their office staff,” said VNN Marketing Director Romy Glazer. “As a group, they often play an important, behind-the-scenes role in our local communities, ensuring young athletes have numerous opportunities to grow through sports programs. We’re excited about the immediate impact the Pro Shop launch can have in supporting that mission by easing the pressure on our partners who now will be able to capitalize on the power of Amazon Business to meet their goals. At the same time, we’re excited to reaffirm VNN’s dedication to being a champion for school sports across the country.”
Visit the VNN Pro Shop here.
2017-18’s Best of the Best: Boys Baseball – Presented by VNN x Rapid Replay
This Summer, we’re teaming up with our friends at Rapid Replay to hand pick our favorite fan-recorded highlights from this past school year across the VNN Network. Each week, we’ll be spotlighting a new sport’s Top Plays.
There’s nothing like a baseball game on a summer day! This week we’re showcasing our favorite highlights from across the country in Boys Baseball:
Do you want to showcase your own highlights on your page? Sign up with Rapid Replay and get started here.
Presented by: VNN x Rapid Replay
Edgewater's (FL) R.J. Harvey Jr. Given Dream Opportunity to Q.B. for University of Virginia
Last week, R.J. Harvey of Edgewater High School committed to University of Virginia, fulfilling a dream of his to continue playing quarterback in college. Several schools were looking to recruit him as a running back, but the family-centered environment at Virginia won him over.
“It feels real good because I’ve played quarterback my whole life. That was my dream to play quarterback in college for a Power 5 school so it feels good.”
Read more about Harvey’s career here: https://edgewaterathletics.com/2018/08/10/qb-opportunity-at-virginia-dream-come-true-for-edgewaters-r-j-harvey/
2017-18’s Best of the Best: Girls Softball – Presented by VNN x Rapid Replay
This Summer, we’re teaming up with our friends at Rapid Replay to hand pick our favorite fan-recorded highlights from this past school year across the VNN Network. Each week, we’ll be spotlighting a new sport’s Top Plays.
Here are our favorites from across the country in Girls Softball:
Do you want to showcase your own highlights on your page? Sign up with Rapid Replay and get started here.
Presented by: VNN x Rapid Replay
Northmont (OH) Duo Commit To Big Ten Programs
Northmont seniors Gabe Newburg and Jestin Jacobs have both committed to ‘Big Ten’ programs for next year and support each other in their respective decisions. Newburg has verbally committed to University of Michigan while Jacobs will be heading to Iowa.
Both credit head coach Tony Broering for keeping the team on track and successful.
“He really turned this team around and got everybody on the right track,” Jacobs said. “He’s a hard coach and we love him.”
Read more about the boys and their careers here.
White House High School's (TN) Alex Hampton Wins Gold At International TaeKwonDo World Championships
The White House Blue Devils had a gold medal to celebrate recently. Freshman Alex Hampton competed in the International TaeKwonDo World Championships in England on July 21-22 with an amazing turnout.
Hampton was the smallest member of the United States TaeKwonDo Team at 108 pounds. She finished with a gold medal in Team Sparring and an individual ranking of 5th in the in the world in the Teen-Female category. Alex has had several magazine features covering her rise in the sport and continues to gain awards and a following in her career.
Read more here.
[Now Live] Roster Images
Roster images added to your roster through getvnn.com will now display on your athletic website. Click on an athlete’s name to view a player card.
Learn how to add roster images
[Now live] iCal Feeds for Schedule Pages
Parents and community members can now add their favorite team’s schedules to their own personal calendars by subscribing to the schedule via an iCal feed.
To add your team’s schedule to your phone or computer’s calendar click on the “subscribe” button right above the print schedule button on your team’s schedule page.
June Webstats: Starting Summer Strong And Staying Consistent
In what’s often thought of as the start of a long break before Fall sports, the start of Summer still brings along plenty of opportunities for school athletic departments to promote themselves. Often in June, we see recaps of championship games, athletes being signed to play at a higher level, and awards night information. Beyond that, this is the time of year where our schools get creative to keep their community engaged and up-to-speed. This month, VNN saw several schools move into the Top 100. Here’s how they did it:
North Olmsted High School (OH) jumps to #3 spot from #44 with interactive posts:
There are many ways to make page-views soar, but allowing the community to contribute with interactive posts boosts numbers significantly. By incorporating polls about student athletes and upcoming events, more fans can get involved in their local high school’s sports. North Olmsted perfected this practice in June, using voting on their site to elect seasonal winners for excellence awards in sports. Their Spring ESPY Awards article pushed them back into the top ten with 39,633 page views.
Easley High School (SC) moves into #4 slot with a focus on galleries:
By keeping the community up to date on sporting events during the summer, Easley moved into the #4 slot with 30,571 page views. Whether they were covering summer tournaments, camps for future students, or the graduation of student athletes, fans and athletes were able to experience what was happening on at the school during key moments through pictures.
Waukesha South High School (WI) reaches #6 with surveys, score updates, and photo galleries:
Waukesha South High School’s approach was around consistency, whether it be through scores, pictures, or surveys. In June, the athletic department posted these and much more, keeping communication with fans and athletes ongoing throughout a quiet month. On top of that, their views sky-rocketed with a graduation gallery which featured the senior class. WSHS rose to #6 with a page view total of 21,234 from their previous slot in May at #26.
Wauwatosa West High School (WI) breaks into Top 100 at #69 with Athletic Hall of Fame photo feature and consistent team highlights:
Wauwatosa West High School in Wisconsin recently began climbing up in the page view rankings. With a popular photo gallery that captured their Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony and consistent posts about their spring and summer teams, Wauwatosa West keeps fans in the community up to date and engaged. They closed June by breaking 10,000 page views with a total of 10,140.
Honorable mention: Brunswick High School (OH), Kent City High School (MI), Tomball High School (TX), Lumberton High School (NC)
The full Top 100 includes schools like Temple (TX), Fishers (IN), Hamilton Southeastern (IN), Northmont Senior (OH), Arundel (MD), and Belton (TX)
2017-18’s Best of the Best: Boys Lacrosse – Presented by VNN x Rapid Replay
This Summer, we’re teaming up with our friends at Rapid Replay to hand pick our favorite fan-recorded highlights from this past school year across the VNN Network. Each week, we’ll be spotlighting a new sport’s Top Plays.
Here’s our favorites from across the country in Boys Lacrosse:
Presented by: VNN x Rapid Replay
[Now Live] Event Link Sync – Location Update
This schedule update is only for schools who use Event Link as their scheduling source.
The location column on your team schedule pages and the overall athletics calendar page will now just display the location name that is entered in your Event Link software. Maps/directions will no longer be provided so that we can ensure that the location is matching the correct address/state.
Berkeley High School's (SC) Sarah Mundy featured in Swim Swam
Berkeley High School’s Sarah Mundy was recently featured in Swim Swam for her achievements in swimming. She was recognized as the “weekly wonder” in her age group.
“Mundy swam her fifth sub-27 since June while competing at the 2018 Bulldog Grand Slam. She has now been under the Winter Juniors standard six times since she first broke the barrier at last year’s season-closer. Mundy did notch a new PB in the 100 free, finishing 11th with 58.47.”
Read more about the feature here: https://berkeleystagsathletics.com/2018/07/23/bhss-sarah-mundy-featured-in-swim-swam/