By Josh
I sat down tonight and realized that I haven’t really explained why I started NW Baseball Report and this past two weeks I’ve actually had a couple people ask me that question. So I thought I would take the time to really lay out the what and the why of the site.
Before I get into how I got to where I’m at with the site let me lay out a goal or two I have with the site. With my other site, 9 Inning Know It All, it has been built up into one of the leaders in baseball coverage in the NW. With NW Baseball Report though I don’t want to be one of the leaders I want to be the leader in NW Baseball coverage for every level that doesn’t get the coverage it should.
I want to be the leader in NW Baseball coverage
Athletes at all the different levels work extremely hard to be the best that they can be. They don’t do it for the recognition but because they love the game and want to be their best. I want to highlight them and the teams they play for. My hope is that I can give NW Baseball the coverage it deserves.
With that being said here is how I got to where I am.
In 2014 I moved back to my hometown and got to cover the Babe Ruth World Series that summer. That actually opened the door for me to then cover the local community college, Lower Columbia Community College which is a part of the NWAC.
I was taking photos, doing interviews with players and a few articles here and there. I didn’t think too much of it until a coach who had coached at the Division 1 level let me know that a lot of D-1 schools didn’t get the level of coverage I was giving LCC. That stuck with me but I didn’t completely believe it.
Then a couple years ago I was communicating with a friend who works at a D-1 school in a major city that I consider one of the baseball capitals of the USA and I was asking if they would let a blogger like me cover them if I visited. He said absolutely because they don’t get any coverage from local media and that is when things started to click for me.
My hope is that I can give NW Baseball the coverage it deserves.
If D-1 schools weren’t getting much media coverage (with exception of the powerhouse programs) then how little coverage were D-2, D-3, NAIA and JUCO schools getting? Not only that but how little coverage were schools at those levels getting here in the NW.
So in February of this year, I decided to try to achieve two goals I had given myself years before. First was to make regionally specific sites to highlight teams and players that don’t get the coverage I think they deserve. There are college programs all across the northwest that get very limited coverage, if any from local media. Heck some athletic departments barely get coverage from their own schools. I knew that I could fill in many of these huge gaps and provide coverage myself (although I could use more writers to help out in case anyone wants to join in).
The second goal was to make what I was doing into a source of revenue for me. I’ve been a stay at home dad for almost 3 years now, so being able to bring in some income is a big deal for me and having that income connected to my hobby makes it even sweeter. Plus my wife has made it clear that I can keep doing what I’m doing as long as it isn’t costing us money and maybe helps pay for things like vacations.
The site has been up for just shy of two months at this point and it is amazing to see just how excited players, coaches, parents and fans are to have a site not only regionally specific, but one that tries to highlight all the schools that don’t get the coverage they deserve.
There is still a long way to go with the site to truly achieve my goals, but things are moving in the right direction and I hope that everyone is enjoying what is happening here.
There are some ways businesses, organizations, teams and individuals can help to build NW Baseball Report.
1. I am only one person and I just can’t create enough content on my own to truly highlight all the teams and players in the NW that I want to. I would love to have recaps that are more detailed for not only college teams but also travel ball teams and high school teams. If coaches, parents, players or even fans want to help create content for the site PLEASE contact me! The more articles I publish means the more recognition NW baseball gets.
2. I am always looking for business level partners who would like to advertise on the site, social media and podcast shows. Even if your business isn’t baseball related it can still help grow the game through a sponsorship.
3. A key source of income for the site and me is photography. So whether it is buying photos from games I cover or hiring me to come cover games and events, both go a long way to expanding my coverage of baseball across the NW. You can see photos I’ve taken and learn more about packages I offer at 9 Inning Photography.
4. If individuals want to help sponsor the site I have a NW Baseball Patreon option available. Any amount of support each month helps me get to more games to write articles and highlight players.
5. The last but certainly not least is just sharing with others about NW Baseball Report. It is great seeing so many people already connecting with what is going on but I know there are even more out there. NW Baseball Report will be the #1 place to go for all of your NW baseball content.