Running Game Day Social Media as a One-Person Team

If you’ve ever watched a college sports team’s social media during a game, it probably looks pretty smooth. The highlights go up quickly, photos are posted right after big moments, and the score updates seem perfectly timed. What most people don’t realize is that sometimes all of that content is being handled by just one person.

That’s usually the case for me on game days with Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball. While larger programs may have multiple people dedicated to social media, photography, and stats, sometimes you just have to do a little bit of everything yourself. Over time, I’ve learned that the key to making it work is staying organized, planning ahead, and moving quickly.

Here’s what a typical game day looks like when you’re running in-game content by yourself.

Getting There Before Warmups

My game day actually starts about ten minutes before warm ups. When I get to the Pyramid (The Long Beach Gym), I usually check in with the other media manager just to talk through the plan for the night. We have different responsibilities, but it’s still helpful to make sure we’re on the same page.

Since I don’t personally have access to the team’s Instagram account on my phone, I grab the coach’s phone before warmups start so I can post directly onto the account. It’s a small detail, but it’s something I always make sure is sorted out early so I’m not scrambling once things start moving.

As soon as the team begins warmups, I start posting Instagram stories. These are usually quick videos of players warming up, some short clips from the court, and sometimes a countdown to the start of the match. It’s a simple way to get the fans engaged early and show that the team is getting ready to play.

Capturing Warmups

Once I’ve posted a few stories, I switch over to my camera and start taking photos during warmups. These are important because they’re often the first real photos fans see from the match environment.

Warmups are actually one of the best times to get good shots. The players are loose, the lighting is consistent, and there’s enough time to experiement and move around without worrying about missing a big moment in the game.

When there’s about twenty minutes left in warmups, I head back to my computer and start working through the photos.

Editing & Posting Before the Match

Once I’m back at my computer, I quickly upload the photos from my camera to my Mac. From there, I open Adobe Lightroom and start editing.

This part has to happen quickly. I usually pick a handful of the best photos and make basic edits like adjusting lighting, cropping, and fixing the color so they look clean and professional.

After editing, I send the photos to the coach’s phone so I can either post a warmup photo on Instagram, or add them to the story. By the time the match starts, we already have some polished content up on the account for the fans to view.

It might not seem like a big thing, but getting that first post out before the game begins helps set the tone for the rest of the night.

Balancing Photos, Stats, and Content During the Match

Once the match starts, things start to get a lot more hectic.

Throughout the game, I’m taking photos while also keeping track of the stats. I’m also thinking ahead about which players might end up doing a post-game interview, so I’m paying attention to who’s having a strong performance.

When there are about five points left in a set, I head back to my computer. This is when I quickly upload the photos I’ve taken during that set and quickly go through them to find the best ones.

I usually pick around six to ten photos that capture some key moments. Then, I edit them in Lightroom as quick as possible.

From there, I’ll make a story post with one of the pictures that includes the set score, with our team’s score being in yellow so fans can decipher which number is ours. I then make an actual Instagram post that highlights some of the best images from that set, and once that is uploaded, I repost it onto our story so more people can view it.

Once that’s done, I go right back to shooting photos and tracking the match. Then, the whole process repeats again for the next set.

It sounds like a lot, and it is, but after doing it a few times you start to develop a rhythm. You learn when you can step away for a minute and upload photos and when you need to stay focused on the action.

Wrapping Up After the Match

Once the match is over, the post-game content can look a little different depending on the night.

Sometimes we’ll do a quick post-game interview with one of the players. Since I’ve been tracking stats during the match, I usually already have an idea of who had a standout performance and what questions I want to ask. Before we record, I’ll briefly explain to the player what we’re doing and then film the interview right after the match.

Other times, we’ll keep it even simpler. Instead of an interview, we might had the phone to a player so they can record a quick video saying thank you to the fans or reacting to the win. Those kinds of clips work really well on Instagram stories because they feel natural and give fans a quick look inside the team.

Sometimes the content depends on the theme of the night as well.For example, when we had post-game autograph night, the focus wasn’t interviews at all. Instead we spent the night taking photos of players interacting with fans and signing autographs.

Every game is a little different, but the goal is always the same: capture the best moments from the night and give fans a look at what happens beyond the final score.

What I’ve Learned

Running in-game content by yourself definitely comes with challenges, but it’s also one of the best ways to learn how sports media actually works.

You learn how to move quickly, stay organized, and make decisions under pressure while juggling multiple responsibilites.

Most importantly, you learn how to capture the moments that fans care about. Whether it’s a big play, a celebration after a set win, or a quick post-game reaction, those moments are what bring people closer to the team.

And when you’re handling it all by yourself, every post that goes up feels like a small win.