HBCUSportsOnline Covers the Wild World of HBCU Sports

Need a place to check to see how bad Howard beat Hampton in their annual “Battle of the Real HU’s” football game in the fall? Curious to see how the MEAC did in the NCAA Women’s Softball tournament? Looking to see exclusive interviews and features on former sports stars from Historically Black College’s and Universities?

HBCU sports now has an online voice in the form of HBCUsportsonline.com. It’s a fact for a long time HBCU sport coverage has been an afterthought in the mainstream sports media except for Selection Sunday (NCAA Basketball) and Football Championships Subdivision playoffs (NCAA Football). The only mention HBCUs usually get is a mention of the mascot and the city where the school is located. It’s very ironic as some of the best professional athletes from the past (Walter Payton – Jackson State, Jerry Rice – Mississippi Valley State, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe – Winston Salem State) and present (Antoine Bethea – Howard University,  Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie -  Tennessee State) have graduated from HBCU’s.

HBCUsportsonline plans to bring additional focus to the popular sports as well as alternative sports such as golf, tennis and track and field. The HBCU team has a plan of getting campus reporters out to report on sports stories and events at their respective schools. The reports will be focused on giving the student perspective on sporting events.  Stay tuned for an announcement in the near future about the geographical deployment of the campus reporters.

If you are interested in submitting your name and information to be considered for a campus reporter, visit the contact section of the website.  There are also plans to promote the Homecoming schedules for the upcoming football season as well as any “classic” games being held across the country. HBCU merchandise is also available for sale from the site and there’s a section where tailgating recipes are posted. There will definitely be a wide range of content to monitor once the site is up and running at 100%. It is clear that the site is designed to be engaging, interactive and promote activities including parties, hotel deals, and anything important withing the HBCU sports community.

Jovan Riley (Southern University Class of 2000) and Russell Clark (Lousiana Tech Class of 1995) are the co-founders of the site. Clark mentions that “the team has been building the site since October 2009. We are focused on ensuring our original content will differentiate our site from others. Interviews such as Live with 2 Live Stews and Doug Williams is just a small sample, and we have more to come as summer approaches. Video and more interactive photo content will be a continued focus.” When asked what is the goal for HBCUsportsonline one year from now, Clark says  ” We want to be the dominant black college sports site.”

The site just officially launched in April of 2010 and is still a work in progress. It is not the only site the focuses on sports from HBCU’s, but their vision seems to be on covering a wide range of sports and combining that with some timely and relevant original features that should educate the mainstream about the power of sports within HBCU’s. In my opinion,  the more potential exposure for the student-athletes from HBCU’s, the better. Keep track of what is new with HBCU Sports Online by following them on Twitter.

What do you think about the future of HBCUSportsOnline? Meet me in the comment section.

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I am a developing social and digital media junkie on an adventure through life. Right now I am on the chapter in the book where I live in Los Angeles. Reach me on twitter @ahr19. Thanks for reading my post.
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