The varsity boys’ basketball team at Mayfield High School is showcased on social media through a student-ran program, providing fans and players with a more professional and immersive experience throughout the season.
As a matter of fact, the social media for the basketball team is run by me as well as my classmate Brendon Ciraky, as part of the Advanced Digital Media Productions course at Mayfield High School. I began this account last basketball season and worked on it solo, until this year when Ciraky joined the class and teamed up with me on the account. We run the account in the most professional way we can, meaning whether it is game day posts, stat posts, highlights, or other miscellaneous posts, we do our best to run the account in a way that mirrors any college basketball or NBA team page.
Last season, the account was just simply game day posts, final score posts, and highlights outside of a few outliers that were different topics. This year, with Ciraky, I have already begun working on new types of posts with him like player stat posts and miscellaneous fun videos with the players. Ciraky’s favorite part is “definitely just interacting with the players, doing stuff they like, seeing them have fun. Not running suicides at practice. I think it’s good to see them having a good time.”
Ciraky feels that seeing the more casual or diverting side of the players creates more immersion for the fans, allowing them to feel more connected to the players even if they do not know them personally. Ciraky said, “It makes you feel closer to the team than you really are. You get to see, with the pictures, with media day, you just get to see how funny or humorous [the players] are. Or, the videos from last year, just to see how they truly act and how they are chill, funny people, just gets you closer to the team.”
Mr. Kieth Leffler, Mayfield’s athletic director, has known of the page since last year and supplies us with the necessary media passes to allow us to get into the games for content purposes. Leffler appreciates the recognition that the social media page brings to the team. Mr. Leffler said, “The more you can promote the programs and the kids and in our programs, the better. We don’t have a staff to do that ourselves, so having student involvement is great, and it’s a good experience for them too.”
Mr. Leffler knows that the caliber of the content that goes up on the team’s social media is key to retaining an audience and keeping the excitement constantly high. Mr. Leffler said, “Quality is what is going to draw people to keep coming back. If they’re not impressed or there’s not a lot of effort being put into it, then I think you lose them as viewers. But if you’re constantly putting up good quality content, that’s what’s going to draw clicks and views and it gets people to keep coming back.”
Luckily, Ciraky and I are fully committed to the page and its management. We have been planning the page together since he decided to join me in this project at the beginning of the school year. In regards to how committed he is to the page with me, Ciraky said, “I plan on helping you, however you need me to. I’m here for whatever, for ideas, and [we will] see what we can make together.”
Advanced Digital Media Productions teacher Mr. Michael Bokovitz oversees the page as a whole, and he thinks that the page is a fantastic way to get players and fans a better experience. Mr. Bokovitz said, “I think it’s fun. It gives stuff for the community, just Mayfield students, but also it gives the basketball team something that really nobody else is getting, so I like that part of it.”
Mr. Leffler, being the athletic director and an administrator at Mayfield High School, enjoys any good promotion of the school and its athletics, which is exactly what the basketball page is tailored towards. Mr. Leffler said, “I think it’s great for information, it’s a great way to promote. Throw some pictures, videos and things like that up there, just to give a flavor of the team and individual games and players and that kind of stuff. So I think from a promotional standpoint, it’s good.”
Lately, the page has made some waves and gained popularity, specifically this November, when the page amassed over one hundred thousand profile views. This popularity and trendiness is, of course, mainly due to students within Mayfield High School who enjoy following the school and their sports teams, and the players on the team. Ciraky said, “The team vibes are up, I can tell. A lot of people are happy about it, a lot of likes, a lot of new followers flowing in, so I think it’s doing well.”
This passionate following by the players is evident for Bokovitz at home, too, whose two sons are on the team and featured on the page. Mr. Bokovitz said, “They talk about [the page]. Mason [Bokovitz] really wants to be interviewed and part of it. He loves to see it, he was excited when his pictures came out when you guys did the media day, and Jackson [Bokovitz] was more subdued, but he gets pretty excited, too, about it, and my wife watches it too.”
Along with the basketball team’s success, the growing following of the page may also be able to impact attendance at games. With game day posts and home game countdowns on the page, fans and students will be constantly reminded of when and where the games are, potentially increasing attendance. Mr. Leffler said, “I know the kids are on Instagram and TikTok, and as a way to promote the program, maybe not your diehard sports fan, but the casual fan, who comes across something, sees an interesting post or an awesome video clip, and then that is what brings them to a game. I think that’s terrific.”
The only thing about the page that worries Mr. Leffler for the basketball season is the idea that players might try to look good for social media rather than focusing solely on the gameplan and the game as a whole. Mr. Leffler said, “I hope that [the social media page] is somewhat meaningful, but I hope it’s not the most important thing that they’re doing every day. I think there’s probably too much done in the ways of doing things for social media purposes. So as long as it’s not a distraction and it’s done before the intended purpose of promoting the team and what’s going on within the team, that’s great, but when it becomes a distraction and it’s interfering with warmups and what’s going on pregame or on the sidelines during timeouts, that’s when I would have a problem with it.”
However, Ciraky and I post all highlights, fancy or not, and spread out our posts to involve all players in one way or another. We also do off the court stuff and make it a point to not focus too much on certain players or flashy plays.
In the future, Mr. Bokovitz thinks that if the right person wants to take on a similar responsibility to what Ciraky and I are doing now, more sports or extracurriculars could be highlighted through social media pages. Mr. Bokovitz said, “It could. I think the biggest thing is finding someone like you who’s passionate. So many people are involved in a million things, whether it’s work, sports, clubs, and then, to find a passion to put the time in outside the school, you have got to find that combination of that person. Versus if I assigned someone to do something like that, it would not be good.”
The social media page is growing continuously with each and every post, and Ciraky and I are very excited that we have the opportunity to run it creatively.
