ARLnow has long avoided covering high school and youth sports, instead deferring to the coverage of the Sun Gazette (now the GazetteLeader) and the Washington Post.
While we’ll link to sports stories of particular note in the Morning Notes, by and large the decision has been to focus on general local news coverage.
There are two main drivers of this: there is a limited audience for high school sports coverage, relative to those who are interested in county government or local business news, and the logistics of covering multiple sports at three high schools is quite challenging, even more so if you add in youth leagues.
The bottom line is that we — like every other local news publication — are resource constrained and choose to use those resources on subjects that have the broadest audience.
While that decision makes all sorts of sense given our current business model, it’s possible that there might be a model that would work for sports coverage.
The audience for high school sports is limited (it seems to mostly be parents, current high school athletes and former athletes) but it’s also passionate. And if that audience would be willing to pay a subscription fee for exclusive sports content — via the ARLnow Press Club, at the current rate of $10/mo — we might be able to make it work.
Specifically, it would take a minimum of 500 ongoing subscribers for us to support the salary of a full-time sports editor. But if we could get there, we should be able to publish at least two original stories per day plus score roundups and a weekly email newsletter.
(For the record, ARLnow’s current local news coverage will always remain free.)
The poll question this morning is: would you join the ARLnow Press Club if it included original high school and youth sports coverage you couldn’t get elsewhere?
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Children’s Weekday Program (CWP) is a non-profit preschool rooted in a play-based philosophy. We focus on developing a love of learning and exploration, cooperation, empathy, and independence.
Our caring and experienced educators create opportunities for children 16 months to 5 years old to play, learn, and grow in a nurturing environment of child-centered and developmentally appropriate experiences.
Initially established more than 50 years ago in South Arlington, CWP continues to be a lauded program in the Northern Virginia area. We are extremely proud to have been recognized as a Best Preschool in Northern Virginia Magazine for the last 4 years.
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The Optimist Club of Arlington is holding its 77th annual Christmas tree sale!
This year, the tree sale will be held at the Knights of Columbus (5115 Little Falls Road). The lot opens for sales on November 24th. The Optimist Club is selling small and large trees ranging from tabletop size to 10 foot tall trees! Wreaths, garland, tree stands, and White House Christmas ornaments will also be for sale.
100% of all proceeds go towards helping Arlington County youth.
For more information, please visit the Arlington Optimists website at https://optimistclubofarlingtonva.org/.
Holiday Art Show
Holiday Art Show featuring artists: Peter Fitzgerald, Claire Plante, Alanna Rivera, and Suzy Scollon. At the Barcroft Community House, 800 South Buchanan St., Arlington, VA. Dec. 8 from, 2 PM to 8 PM and Dec. 9 from 10 AM to
Christmas Tree Sales
2023 Christmas Tree Sales Begin
Saturday, December 2
Get your holiday decorating off to the right start this year! We will be selling 150 Fraser firs, freshly cut and delivered from Sparta, North Carolina.
Sale Hours:
