FirstString.com Launches Online Community for High School Athletes

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FirstString today announced the nationwide launch of its online social community designed to replicate the local structures of high school athletics. Using FirstString’s technology, athletes within the same conference and division are automatically connected – allowing instant access to their teammates, opponents and friends and to content that is relevant to their location and sport. Users in over 10 sports can safely communicate via FirstString’s SportCast, Highlights, Watchlist and Rank Voting system at www.firststring.com.

“FirstString has devoted a great amount of time and energy in simulating the competitive dynamics of high school athletics to the Web”

FirstString was developed to promote an efficient means for players to converse with one another, post photos, videos, awards, press, coordinate schedules and stay up to date on player stats. FirstString brings the competitive and dynamic “on the field” playing environment to the Web through a clean site design and rich feature set that is tailored to encourage team bonding, healthy competition, and enhanced athlete participation.

“FirstString has devoted a great amount of time and energy in simulating the competitive dynamics of high school athletics to the Web,” said Jonathan Eppers, Founder and President, FirstSting. “FirstString is built to deliver engaging and relevant content that is happening on the field and inside the school district. Our team is very excited to deliver such an exclusive community that touches high school athletics in a local way, and will continue building features that enhance the on-field experience.”

The core of FirstString consists of Athlete and Team Profiles:

Athlete Profile – A personal profile that is viewable by all teammates, approved friends and opponents. This profile includes personal details, player highlights, stats, rank, team information, friend listings, and a comment board. Exclusive features include:

• SportsCast: A constantly updating feed that displays game outcomes, new teammate and opponent sign-ups, new Highlights, and events happening in a user’s conference.
• Highlights: Users can upload photos, videos, links to team press coverage and show off individual athletic awards.
• WatchList: Tool allowing athletes to privately track information about rival opponents including stats, profile photo and status updates.

• Rankings: Voting system that allows players in each conference to vote for best performing teammates and opponents once a week.

Team Profile – Athletes join the team profile—a collaborative space that is managed by all team players and is viewable by all FirstString users. The team profile displays Roster, Schedule, Team Stats, Team Highlights and Comment Board. Exclusive features include:

• Team Stats: Automatically calculates and posts the team's overall score and record, allowing competitors and other users to view each teams’ standing
• Team Board: Allows opponents and teammates to publicly post comments about the team
• Team Roster: Simple way to keep track of current teammates and the positions they play
• Team Schedule: Displays the opponents of a team and the full season’s scores

All high school athletes are invited to join FirstString at: http://www.firststring.com.

Downloadable Media: Photobucket, flickr, YouTube

Blog: OffTheBench

About FirstString:

FirstString is an online social community for high school athletes that allows players to safely interact in an environment that mimics the action on the field. Designed to replicate the regional structure of high school athletics, FirstString’s technology instantly connects teammates within the same districts and conferences. FirstString is available nationally at all high schools in a variety of sports.

By automatically integrating a user into a high school conference, athletes can instantly connect with their teammates, opponents and friends via FirstString’s SportCast, Highlights, Watchlist and Rank Voting system. All features simulate the competitive and dynamic “on the field” atmosphere of high school sports, while encouraging team bonding, healthy competition, and enhanced athlete participation.