There are multiple reasons for Bridgeport High School’s successful cross country and track and field program. And long-time Coach Jon Griffith also isn’t afraid to use any tool at his disposal to continue that trend.

 

Griffith, no stranger to the internet or the power of social media, is once again tapping into the online world to help generate interest in both programs. This time he’s produced a video as to why individuals may want to consider going out for the 2015 cross country program that will see practice .

 

“The world has changed substantially over the course of my coaching career. The number of activities competing for teenagers’ time has skyrocketed.  We are seeing the number of kids participating on school athletic teams decline substantially over the last decade across the country,” said Griffith. “To combat this trend requires coaching staffs to actively recruit athletes for their programs.  One of the newest and most important methods we use to entice athletes to join Bridgeport cross country and track and field is social media.  We were among the early adopters of Facebook and Google+ to publicize our program.  In the last few years we have added YouTube, Twitter and Instagram to our outreach program.”

 

If on the field results are any indication, then the move has worked. Bridgeport’s boys cross country team has won back-to-back state titles, while in 2014 the boys and girls track teams both won their first state crowns. This year, the girls were runners-up and the boys finished fifth.

 

While Griffith won’t say that’s the reason for success, he will say that he’s not going to stop using the forum. In fact, he plans on staying up to date with any new trend that comes along.

 

“At the speed social media changes we are always on the lookout for the next big thing to further our team marketing.  Some are more effective than others, but we feel it is worth the effort to get our program in front of as many of the athletes and families through as many avenues as possible,” said Griffith. “We still maintain our Web site, but it is no longer used as much as people have transitioned to social media platforms.  Additionally, social media allows us to reach a large number of individuals with a wide assortment of information and content quickly and easily.”

 

Griffith said he uses social meeting to provide meeting notices and practice time changes, to post inspirational articles or videos, media information and photos from events as well as accomplishments of program members.

 

“Our social media outreach plan seems to be working, as we are continuing to see growth in our numbers for both cross country and track and field," said Griffith.

 

Check out the latest video below, which includes the audio portion that features Griffith's voice.

 

Editor's Note: Photos are screen shots from the video.