It's July. The fields are quiet, the locker rooms are empty, and social media is the last thing on your mind.
Fast forward to week three of the season: game schedules are shifting; a parent is asking why the JV volleyball recap never got posted, and nobody's touched the Instagram bio since last spring. Athletic directors and coaches care about social media. They just don't have time to build a system from scratch once the season starts. The athletic departments that look buttoned-up all season long aren't posting more than everyone else. They did the work to get setup in July. This post walks through exactly what that setup looks like.
A simple, low-lift system you can put in place this month, so social media runs almost on autopilot once games begin.
1. Audit What You Have (Before You Plan What's Next)
Before building anything new, take 30 minutes to see where things actually stand. Most accounts aren't starting from zero; they're starting from neglected since the school year ended.
Here's a quick checklist to run through for each platform your program uses:
- Is the account still active, or has it gone quiet since last season? Note which platforms are worth keeping and which aren't worth the effort.
- Is the bio current? Check for outdated season references, broken links, or an old coach's contact info.
- Is the profile photo and header image up to date? A stale logo or last year's team photo is an easy fix.
- What are your pinned posts? If they're from last November, it's time to refresh them.
- Look back at your top 3 performing posts from last season. What made them work so well? A candid photo, highlight video, game recap, tagging players? That's your signal for what to repeat.
This audit doesn't need to be exhaustive. The goal is just to walk in with a clear picture instead of a foggy one.
2. Build a Simple Content Calendar Template (Not a Full Season Plan)
Here's where a lot of well-intentioned ADs get stuck: they try to plan out an entire season's worth of content in July, get overwhelmed, and never start.
Skip that. Instead, build a repeatable weekly template — a small number of recurring content "slots" that repeat every week of the season. For example:
- Monday: Week preview / upcoming schedule
- Wednesday: Athlete or coach spotlight
- Friday: Game day hype post
- Sunday: Weekend recap
That's it. Once the season starts, you're not staring at a blank page trying to figure out what to post — you're filling in a template you already built. The specific content changes week to week, but the structure doesn't, which is what makes it sustainable when things get busy.
3. Batch Evergreen Content in July
Not everything you post has to be tied to a live game. In fact, some of your best content doesn't depend on anything happening on the field at all — which makes it perfect to create now, while you have time.
Block two hours this month to create a batch of evergreen content, such as:
- Coach introduction posts or short bios
- "Meet the team" content for each program
- Facility or program spotlights
- Announcement graphics for the season
- Sponsor or community partner shoutouts
Aim for 10-15 pieces. Save them in a folder labeled "ready to post," and you'll have a buffer for the weeks when there's no time to create anything from scratch.
4. Recruit Your Content Army Early
You don't have to be the only one capturing content. Coaches, team captains, and student managers are already at practices and games. They're an underused resource for in-the-moment photos and videos that an AD juggling six sports can't be everywhere to get.
The key is setting expectations before the season starts, not mid-way through when it's too late to course-correct. At your summer coaches' meeting, cover:
- Who's expected to snap photos or short clips during games
- Who has access to accounts, and how that access is granted?
- What a reasonable turnaround time looks like (same day? within 24 hours?)
- Do any of your teams have their own accounts?
A one-page "social media expectations" handout works well — something simple enough that coaches will read it and refer back to it.
5. Set Up Systems, Not Just Content
Content is only half the equation. The systems behind it are what keep things running when the season gets chaotic. A few things worth setting up this month:
- A shared photo folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, whatever your department already uses) so coaches, parents, and staff have one place to drop game photos instead of scattering them across texts and email threads.
- A simple naming or tagging convention so photos are actually findable later — by sport, date, or opponent.
- A clear list of who has login access to which accounts. This one matters : a surprising number of athletic departments lose access to accounts when an assistant or student manager who set them up moves on.
None of this is glamorous, but it's the difference between a program that can course-correct quickly and one that loses weeks untangling access issues mid-season.
Looking for more social media ideas? Browse guides, checklists, and social media webinars built for athletic directors.
6. Know Your Non-Negotiables for In-Season Posting
Once the season starts, protect your energy by knowing what actually matters and what doesn't.
Do: aim for a consistent, sustainable cadence — three posts a week done consistently beats daily posts that fizzle out by October.
Don't: stress about production value or being active on every platform. Pick one or two platforms your audience actually uses and do those well, rather than spreading yourself thin trying to maintain a presence everywhere.
Building the System So You're Not Scrambling
All of this comes down to one idea: the work you do in July is what determines whether social media feels manageable or overwhelming once the season is underway. A quick audit, a repeatable weekly template, a batch of evergreen content, a few extra hands trained and ready, and some basic systems in place is all you need to make it happen.
The good news is you don't have to build all of this from scratch, either. If your program already uses GoFan, MaxPreps, or the NFHS Network, you have a head start. Fan Zone gives athletic directors an easy way to keep storytelling consistent — from match-up graphics and final score recaps to NFHS Network highlights, all in a brand-consistent template. It's a simple way to keep fans engaged all season long. The tools you're likely already using for ticketing, stats, and broadcasting can double as your content pipeline which means less scrambling, and more enjoying the season.
PlayOn
PlayOn: Jul 8, 2026 8:46:31 AM
