Latin School of Chicago

athletics INFORMATION OUT LATIN TAKES ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY TO SHARE ATHLETICS NEWS With more than 65 different teams and almost 75 percent of students participating on a team sport, Latin has a lot of athletics news to share. Practice schedules, game dates, rosters, directions and, of course, scores are all hot topics for players, coaches, parents and fans. Over the years, we have communicated in a variety of ways. Starting in 1989, the athletics office produced Sports Flash, a weekly, hard-copy newsletter for students and parents with game highlights and scores. Coaches relied on printouts for practice schedules. Our Sports Hotline served as a go-to place for information about game cancellations. In 2004, the Illinois High School Sports Association (IHSA) required all schools to report game schedules and scores through a Web site called HighSchoolSports.net. This made information-gathering a bit more streamlined because the site acts as a repository for all the schools in the league, essentially making it a one-stop shop for high school sports. Throughout, our upper school coaches have held to the Now, with the touch of a finger (and an iPhone or iTouch, of course), parents and students can access schedules, rosters and news for all of Latin's fantastic teams. practice of calling the daily papers after each game to report results – win or lose, we want to make sure that accurate scores are reported to the public. When Latin redesigned its Web site in 2008, one of the priorities was to provide greater ability to share information about sports teams and to make it easier for parents, students and alums to find the information they need. Under the Athletics pages in the Student Life section of our public Web site (www.latinschool.org), our new software allows us to post team and player photos, game results and updates, coach bios and contact information, directions to games, announcements and other team information. At the same time, coaches can make handbooks, permission forms and other documents of interest to players and their families available electronically through the Web site or RomanNet, Latin's password-protected intranet. According to Jason Tebbens, a two-sport coach at Latin, RomanNet "has been a way for coaches to enhance the team experience and increase communication all around." With not even a year of experience under their belts, Latin coaches have eagerly embraced our new ways of communicating and are dedicated to growing the information on our site. Most excitingly, our new iPhone/iTouch app provides a unique way to get information about Latin teams. In partnership with our software vendor, Whipple Hill, and Terriblyclever, a start-up company that develops mobile applications, Latin is one of a very few independent schools to have an application in the iTunes App Store. Although the application is still in its preliminary stages, it does offer some features the school community has found very useful, like access to the school calendar and family directory. The greatest feature for many, however, has been the athletics module. Now, with the touch of a finger (and an iPhone or iTouch, of course), parents and students can access schedules, rosters and news for all of Latin's fantastic teams. The application is password protected and free to download. (Get it now by typing "RomanNet" into the App Store search.) With Latin teams in state competitions across the board, individual athletes setting school records and award-winning coaches, this news is too good to miss. • – Katie O'Dea 16 Latin Magazine

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