Wednesday | April 11, 2007

Subscriptions to Texas Track?

When I first began this site 10 years ago, I planned to never charge a fee for it. Part of the reason was to not compete with Larry Story's Texas Track and Field News. I didn't want to be a commercial enterprise and I thopght it would be a small website with a few odds and ends relating to the sport. At that time I never imagined what it would quickly grow into.

Things have changed now. Larry has retired and his publication is no longer available. And Texas Track has grown into the largest state website for our sport in the country by far.

A lot of people have suggested subscriptions to TexasTrack and many have said they would be glad to support the site in this way. So here's my thought:

Would a voluntary annual subscription of $25 for adults and $10 for students be reasonable? I know Larry charged the same for his newsletter which came out 9 times a year. I am nervous about the idea of the website beocming a business, but since I'm doing the work of a business, perhaps it's time to begin to support it as such.

When I think about the high school coaches who rely on the site for results so they can know what the competition is doing, the atletes and parents who do the same and rely on the site to help them get college scholarships, and the college coaches who use the site to save lots of time and money with recruiting -- it seems an acceptable amount.

And if the support is there, perhaps it will allow me to do other things with the site so that it will grow in even more areas.

Please let me know what you think. You can either email me at phil@texastrack.com or leave a comment here.

Posted by Philip at 12:08:33 | Permanent Link | Comments (31) |
Comments
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1 - I am just a Dad who loves his son and wants to see how he is doing compared to others. I recently stumbled across your site and found it helpful. I would be more than willing to support you to recieve the information you provide. I only wish there were a site for my sons other passion, soccer! You do a great service and should be applauded for it (Comment this)

Written by: Gary Walsh at 2007/04/11 - 14:29:56
2 - Phil,
I have been out of the state for the past 3 years on several construction projects. Your website is the only way I have been able to stay "up" on Texas track and field activities, especially since retirement brought about the demise of TTF News. I must admit, that with my schedule, I have not been reading your blog or any comments to it. I also make it a general point not to read some of the junk written on other sites! Having said all that, I would offer the following comments: 1) Thank you for your efforts that have benefited the athletes and fans of our sport! Please recognize that the knuckleheads of the world do not speak for the majority of us who have nothing but respect and admiration for you. 2) Has it really been 10 years?!!? It seems like only yesterday when my son was a high school, then college hurdler and I spent several hours a week reviewing results on your "new" website. 3) I believe a $25 annual subscription would be a small price to continue to be able to stay up to date on the greatest sport in the greatest State around! I doubt seriously that you will get "rich" by asking for a $25 voluntary subscription, but then I also doubt that is your main concern anyway! 4) Lastly, thanks again for your love for track and field and the athletes that compete! (Comment this)

Written by: Clint Miller at 2007/04/11 - 14:32:05
3 - That is a great idea. This site is too important to come to an end and you do WAY too much work to not be compensated in some way. (Comment this)

Written by: michael at 2007/04/11 - 16:06:18
4 - I think the fee is reasonable, and unless this site is generating a large amount of advertising, it is very reasonable to pay a fee for the information. I hope that you decide to do it. Glad you are posting again, and also glad to know what happened to Track and Field News. I enjoyed that publication for a number of years, and I wondered what happened to it. (Comment this)

Written by: Mike at 2007/04/11 - 17:27:47
5 - Phil,

Certainly an annual subscription of $25 for adults and $10 for students sounds very reasonable for the kind of information that you provide each week.

And it would probably help insure better compliance with reporting results since "people" tend to cooperate better when they have to pay for a service instead of taking for granted a free one.

I would pay for the subscription (my son is a junior in high school this year and will be a senior next year) because I have noticed fewer newspapers bother to keep up with TNF results statewide.

Good luck with your poll and let me know if and when you decide to start offering subscriptions. (Sure would hate to see you end it all...your news is worth paying for!!!) (Comment this)

Written by: Larry Davis at 2007/04/11 - 21:52:04
6 - I know as a head track coach I need this website. THis is by far the easiest way to keep track of our teams athletes and their competitors. I would pay for the subscription definitly!! YOu do a great job. I am at a 1A school and it is nice to be able to see how we are doing going into area and regionals. Thanks Phil and keep up the great work. PS I bet South America was awesome. (Comment this)

Written by: Paul at 2007/04/11 - 22:25:33
7 - I know as a head track coach I need this website. THis is by far the easiest way to keep track of our teams athletes and their competitors. I would pay for the subscription definitly!! YOu do a great job. I am at a 1A school and it is nice to be able to see how we are doing going into area and regionals. Thanks Phil and keep up the great work. PS I bet South America was awesome. (Comment this)

Written by: Paul at 2007/04/11 - 22:26:47
8 - Phil,
Your website is priceless. I have found it very helpful to see where our competition lies and you provide that avenue. 25 dollars is by far more than reasonable, I know that as a coach, I would pay for it, particularly if a have some special atheltes. So many newspapers and other publications do not even post track results. It is therefore hard to find the information that you provide. Make people pay, nothing is for free especially time. And if they fax you results, dont post em, only post emails. At least with a paying site, you might be able to format the site where people can post the results electronically thereby saving you time and money. And if you do decide NOT to keep this site going, I will and I will charge a fee, everyone can always use some extra money in their pocket. (Comment this)

Written by: Frank at 2007/04/12 - 00:16:32
9 - Speaking as a college coach, the $25 that you would ask is more than fair. To access the information you provide in one place helps immeasurably in identifying athletes to recruit. (Comment this)

Written by: Curtis Collier at 2007/04/12 - 07:44:00
10 - I found your website last spring and have enjoyed seeing all the results. As a mother of a Freshman daughter this year who loves track, your website has been very helpful in looking up what other schools are jumping in the hight jump and running times. We come from a small 1A school and I know about doing things for the love of the sport and the kids then not receiving any reconigtion, help or thanks for a job well done . I have found that the ones who are the most ungrateful or rude are the lazy ones that only like to grip and complain. If you will tell them to do it themself they will usually shut up (for awhile). It takes a lot of personal time and dedication to do what you do with this website and I for one - really do appreciate it. I would pay $25 for this information, because you can not get this information anywhere else. I wish more of the schools would report the results in the West Texas area. Thank you for all that you do. Some us really do appreciate your hard work. (Comment this)

Written by: Lynn at 2007/04/12 - 10:28:20
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