IT - the way

In my private email to a group of friends not long ago, regarding the setting up of the trial Singapore football forum at the mass-appealing HWZ. I told them we cannot depend entirely on the mainstream media to publicize the S.League.

It is certainly hard to face the fact that mainstream media are not doing much to raise the awareness of the local game, as much we would like them to like in the old days.

A picture (below) here should more or less tell the story.

A small obscured space on the papers

Given such a small slot on the back pages and featured under the appropriately named as "Soccer Shorts", it hardly raised the eyebrows of any readers.

Although, we can gather some S.League info from the likes of "TODAY", "Shin Ming Daily News"'s Tuesday edition (one of the two SPH Chinese evening papers) and etc., still, I felt a large part of the folks out there are still ignorant of the league because of the lack of participation from the rest.

Prepare for the worst
I'm not sure if that reached a stage that league itself is ready to throw in towel and embrace an alternative media - the IT media (or some called it infotech, cyberworld, or whatsoever).

Below are some of the few examples I can think of tapping on such an alternative.

• Avantgo

I have been using "Avantgo" since my IPAQ days.

"Avantgo" is a useful software that allows users to read their desired news on their handheld devices (i.e.: "PocketPC" or "PDA") that are pre-loaded via the internet.

• Text messages (SMS)

Although we have had this service for quite a while, the only problem is only subscribers to one particular telco are able to use it.

Brush that aside, I think this is a good way to spread the news, info, and whatsoever of the league.

The only drawback is the limitation of the 160 characters each SMS can hold (unless the subscriber willing to receive more than one SMS of particular info).

(P.S: the content in the SMSes are strictly fictional)

Now or never
Now, the critical task is to establish a link between the league and its potential "customer" (after all, the fans are the main paymaster of the players and whosoever right?).

With the scarcity of media coverage on regular basis (unless we are in some big-time tournaments), I think we will have to head straight into it fast.

There's nothing to lose anyway if the league is to attract more youngsters (mostly EPL fanatics), by whom a large number of them are IT savvy.

With the change of way that people are receiving their news, information nowadays (instead, of solely relying on newspapers or television), both league and clubs (especially, those with websites) shall maximize their presence using the IT way.