Welcome to Metro Sports Page.

Like many of you, our hearts were more than a little broken when our favorite coverage of local sports was discontinued earlier this calendar year. When institutions cease to exist, the vacuum created can feel more than a little cavernous. For us, it was a call to action. In that space, we have endeavored to create a platform that is of the DMV, for the DMV and of course by the DMV.

Let me lay out our initial priorities.

Local high school sports have been important to us all for as long as we have been cracking open actual newspapers. We all remember the days when the paper was chock full of box scores and results from DMV high school action. While we won’t have the high school sports bat phone that famously rang off the hook with local results that ended up on the sports page each week, we have partnered with folks who have been doing that same hard work over the last few years. It is both our hope and belief that this effort of ours will help grow the frequency and accuracy of local results so that fans, alumni, and school communities will be best represented on these digital pages. Some have compared this work to herding cats, but at the end of the day, every school and their community are partners with us in getting their story out. There will be missing info, scores not readily available, and standings that need updating, but know that our top priority is to get this as right as we can. That only happens if we all work together.

Weekly rankings hold incredible value to our fan community. We play the games, keep the scores, and play for titles. Recognition for success on the field of play means something to us, and we take the responsibility seriously. When we put out our weekly rankings in any sport, please know that we have consulted athletic directors, coaches, and local media to critique and help edit those rankings. It should come as no surprise to anyone that our region is full of folks who have spent their lives committed to the high school sports scene here in the DMV region. Their opinions and perspectives are priceless to us, and we would be fools not to listen to them.

Recognizing the individual athletes in the area has also been a hallmark of covering local sports. Utilizing the aforementioned group of folks, we intend to put out our All-Metro teams at the end of each season, honoring the sacrifice and dedication made by countless athletes, their families, their coaches and their schools. As the years go by, we look forward to looking back on those recognized as they continue their lives and careers on and off the field.

This fall, we have decided to start out by covering football, boys/girls soccer, girls field hockey and girls volleyball in the manner outlined above. As we grow, so will our list of covered sports each season. Further, we have carefully and thoughtfully defined the initial footprint of our Metro Sports Page DMV coverage as follows:

Know this—we fully intend to expand this area to include more surrounding counties and areas of interest. One thing we have learned from our experience working to build 1^st Amendment Sports is that learning how to walk before trying to run is a smart idea. Please know that we mean no disrespect to counties not yet included and also rest assured that we understand that there are programs out there that belong in our rankings. We will get there!

You can’t tell the sports story of the DMV without a heavy dose of Washington Commanders coverage. The Kool-Aid simply isn’t stirred until the latest and (hopefully) greatest topic du jour has been fully debated/argued/fought. From offseason maneuvering to on-the-field exploits, we intend to provide year-round attention to our favorite local team. The Wizards, Nationals and Capitals will also be on our mind as the sports calendar turns. Given our high school athletes fill the rosters of our local colleges and universities, we will make sure to update our readers and viewers on important NCAA stories as well.

I could go on…but part of what makes this platform so much fun is what you can find through exploring it. Our amazing partners at The Brand Guild have poured their expertise and talent into every nook and cranny of Metro Sports Page, and will continue to work with us to make this an enjoyable experience for every local sports fan. This undertaking has been months in the making, and it has involved a cast of many. We will work tirelessly to validate the support of so many people in our lives and around the region who have believed in us.

As we move forward, we hope you will make Metro Sports Page a daily visit to check up on our coverage of the local sports scene.