Patch 101: Making Way for 2012 Fall Sports

If you are a member of a fall sports team, Suwanee Patch wants to hear from you. Whether you're a player, a member of the booster club, a coach or even a vendor, Patch is a place for you. After all, Suwanee high school football teams start play later in August.

We are not just a news portal, but more of a community hub for you, your family and your friends. But, we can't do it without your support.

Here's how you and your sports team can get the most out of Suwanee Patch:

1. Start a blog about your sports team: Here you can talk about your highs and lows, players that stand out, coaches you love, and more, including what's going on in the sports world outside of Lilburn. Blogs are not subject to the same content editing as articles. For the most part: It's your style, your way, your say.

2. Upload pictures of your team to our gallery: We wish we could, but cannot, be at every game for every team. So, we love getting photos sent to us, especially those posted by you -- the community -- to our gallery. It's a place where everyone can quickly see images you all hold near and dear.

3. Submit opinion articles or letters to the editor: These are pieces of free content that you can submit, and they may appear as featured or major featured stories that our newsletter subscribers will see in their email inboxes. We reach tons of people in the community, and we know they'd love to hear from you. Email these to Editor Steve Burns.

4. Make announcements on wins, team changes, highlights, and more: These announcements can be about anything you want to tell people in a more short form. These can also be press releases, that are published as is. We want you to feel invested in Patch and the community, and this is an easy and quick way to do it. Add a photo, as well. It helps your announcement to stand out.

5. Place events, such as fundraisers, special competitions, etc., on the calendar: We know you have lots of games or events that you'd love to see the community come to, and the more people who know about it, the better. That's were event listings come in. You pick the date it runs, and viola! The best way to then get that event featured on the front page of our Patch site is to include a photo! No photo, and it probably won't end up on the front page.

6. Place an advertisement for even more exposure for your team or business: If you want to gain even more exposure, place an advertisement on Suwanee Patch. Contact Terry Phillips terry@patch.com for more information.

7. Email me at steve.burns@patch.com: You can send me story ideas and tips, as well as like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter account, where we can also interact.

Hope this has been helpful! We look forward to connecting with you and your sports teams in Suwanee.