Opinion: Arizona prep sports media is special if done the right way

By Zach Alvira

Head of Content

Photo by JJ Digos/Contributor

I always knew the high school sports media landscape in Arizona was good.

That is clear on any given Thursday or Friday in the fall, or any day of the week throughout the winter or spring. While not every school or team can receive coverage, media typically tend to spread themselves out enough to highlight as many teams as possible.

For that, Arizona high school coaches, players and their parents should all feel thankful.

I’m sure most do feel this way. In fact, I know it. The countless messages myself and my colleagues receive via direct message, email, text or simple Twitter/X interaction makes that clear.

But just how extensive is the media coverage in Arizona? And is the rise in credential requests a good thing? The answer: it’s not clear.

“I have seen a very large growth of people wanting to cover certain athletes or teams. Not so much high school sports as a whole.” said Seth Polansky, the Director of Media Services for the AIA. “With the emergence of Arizona as a sports powerhouse state in the last 5-10 years, individuals and groups wanting credentials has grown in step with where the superstars and super teams are.

“It seems like the more rural community schools will always have their traditional outlets covering them. The more urban areas seem to have a lot more ‘new media’ folks who consider themselves media, when in many cases they are a photographer or videographer with an Instagram page.”

Polansky is the one responsible for issuing media credentials to reporters, videographers, photographers and any other category people come up with. Have I been a critic in the past about the policy being too lenient? Absolutely.

Polansky realizes that, too. In recent years, new guidelines and stricter regulations have been created for state championship games. Most outlets now only receive field/court access for one member of the staff. Established organizations often receive two, but no more than three.

It was a welcome change, for the most part. Depending on who you ask, anyway. I enjoyed it to some extent, but I still questioned how some individuals gained access. Even when I worked for the AIA, I said that.

I’m sure it takes a village – and many long days – to vet through all the applications Polansky receives. But he has become stricter with who gets approved. However, sometimes being denied by the AIA opens the door to be welcomed by shools.

That’s another issue in itself.

“There is a definite difference between traditional media all these young 20-somethings who think they are media,” Polansky said. “They can’t understand why I just won’t approve them (and the other approximately 800 people who have applied for credentials since I started in 2017) a credential for all access to minors.

“If I approved every credential from someone who thought they were legit, there would be more people on a sideline or courtside than the number of fans in the bleachers.”

When media is approved, the content is spread out across several media sites.

The Arizona Republic has a staff of at least three writers, two of which – Richard Obert and Logan Stanley – are dedicated to preps (as well as some other beats). They also have interns, all of which do a great job.

The Morales brothers have changed the landscape of coverage in Tucson. Here at Hypamark, we are trying to build a team of great writers to give coverage to the student-athletes. So far, I think we’ve done well.

Sports360AZ employs extremely talented journalists who cover stories that go much deeper than inside the playing field. When I was with the Tribune, I did my best to give East Valley schools the best possible coverage. For six years I dedicated my life to it.

When I left, I was not replaced. We won’t get too much into that.

But Joe McHugh has done his best juggling sports and city news for the West Valley View. Arizona Varsity continues to be one of the top sources for news. Lee Patterson has Eastern Arizona on lockdown. The Arizona Daily Sun does a great job up north.

The list goes on and on. And I haven’t even mentioned all the talented videographers.

Then there’s AZPreps365.com. The flagship website for the AIA. Jose Garcia, Brian Bergner, Andy Morales, Ben Stapley, countless Arizona State students. New content gets uploaded on a daily basis, something that can’t be said for other state organization websites.

Especially not here in Colorado, my new home.

The Colorado High School Activities Association primarily only covers championship games. The Denver Post, the leading newspaper in Colorado, does the same.

The Colorado Springs Gazette, my local paper, has a dedicated preps sports editor and reporter. They do a great job, but two people covering an entire city can be difficult. Now compare that to Arizona, where on any given night you may see at least one media member.

How would you feel if that were changed?

“Over the past decade, I’ve said on our radio show that there isn’t, I think, a group as big and as dedicated as the one in our state,” Garcia said. “And that goes for every major metropolitan area in the nation. As the Valley continues to expand, expect the coverage to grow as well.”

There’s no doubt media sites receive countless views in Arizona. The AZPreps site, according to AIA Chief Business Development Officer Brian Bolitho, received over 177 million unique page views since 2022.

It’s a staggering number that many other state association sites can’t compete with.

So, while other states are relying on national coverage or word of mouth, Arizona has multiple outlets to look to for unique features, game stories, rankings, etc. from a local angle.

But here’s the thing, I don’t write this to be thanked or to make others thank the outlets covering preps in Arizona. I write this to simply share why I personally believe Arizona is unique.

We are all passionate about the work we do.

We’re passionate about the teams, the athletes, the schools, the administrators and the parents. We enjoy seeing the triumph and tears of joy from student-athletes when they win a championship. We have also built a rapport with them to talk to them after defeat.

We enjoy seeing Arizona teams go up against and beat other states. It’s a pride thing.

But perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of it all, we love to see kids playing at the next level.

Not every athlete will make it to the next level. It’s hard to be Bijan Robinson and Kelee Ringo in the NFL, or Lathan Ransom, Denzel Burke, Benjamin Morrison and countless others prepare for that journey.

It’s hard to be guys like Christian Clark (Texas) or Jerry Washington (Desert Edge), who is one of the nicest young men I have ever met and received a major Division I offer at the final hour before signing day.

It’s hard to be guys like Jalen House, Jalen and Cody Williams, Elijah Saunders, Koa Peat, D’Andre Harrison, Michael Simcoe, the list goes on and on. And I haven’t even touched other sports. Looking at you Gabbie Garcia (Oklahoma) and Jocelyn Briski (Alabama).

But it’s OK to not be those athletes. Because whether you go the JUCO or NAIA route, or play in the SEC, we all root for you and dedicated time to share your story. Sure, most of us do it for a paycheck. But more than that, we do it because we simply enjoy it.

It’s a grind to do what we do, one that often takes us away from our families. Hell, JJ Digos has spent more time at a baseball field than home the last four days. But he, like all of us, do it because we simply love it.

So, what’s the point of this article? To share that the media members in Arizona – the REAL media members – love what we do. And that’s because of you, the person taking the time to read this.

Arizona is a special place for prep sports because of the athletes and media who enjoy sharing their stories with the world. And it’s only going to get better because we enjoy making a difference.

“For most athletes, this will be their last chance to see their names in the paper or online,” Garcia said. “In Arizona, because of the numerous prep media members, there are more opportunities for a keepsake for athletes.

“You are capturing a moment that will last a lifetime for students. We are hopefully making their high school experience more memorable.”