A true mark of pride for any team is how they are represented on social media. Many fans love following and feeling personal connections to professional teams on their Instagram pages. These pages can be funny and informative, with bonus points for cool graphics and creative ideas. The Jacksonville Jaguars (unbiased) have an especially fun and creative Instagram, so shoutout to their social media team. On a smaller school scale, it’s fun for friends, family, and athletes to follow the Instagram pages of the teams they are involved in or have a personal connection to. These pages are run by team captains or coaches, rather than professional media teams like the Jags, so it is understandable if they are less symmetrical or impressive. I, for one, have been guilty of forgetting to post regularly on the Talon or the Girl’s Cross Country Team’s Instagrams. Finding content is hard! I would like to give a shoutout to Coach Knauer for his running of @amhsraptorathletics, because that page is updated constantly and I honestly do not know how he has the time. I am also impressed by his tagging of every sports team involved on every post and his use of symmetrical graphics. I am ranking the Instagram pages in this article based on graphics, ease of accessing information (I cannot be the only one who has spent 2o minutes searching different Instagram pages trying to figure out how to buy football tickets or trying to figure out my friend’s soccer schedule), and funny/creative content. This is by no means a comprehensive list, so email me if you want to hear my thoughts on your favorite sports team’s social media pages. I am not including the pages I run in my ranking because of bias but also because if I am being honest, I would get ranked last. I need someone to teach me how to make the gameday graphics.

7. Softball

Starting off in last place, this Instagram could use some help with the graphics. The contact information and gameday schedule originally got some information points, but after closer inspection they are from 2022. This page needs to be updated! While this page does have the lowest follower count, they are advertisiting their Tik Tok in their bio so perhaps they have a larger following on that platform. The gameday graphics, while they exist, are not consistent and leave something to be wanted. The most recent three posts do look more cohesive so perhaps they are finally getting into their groove.

2/10 Graphics

1/10 Information

0/10 Creativity

6. Football

Trailing closely, we have the football team. While they do have the most followers of any other team on this list, they are not delivering the content to deserve it. The photography quality is good, and the feed colors match well (though it is kind of easy to make an AMHS sports team’s feed green and black so I doubt it was on purpose) but there is a distinct lack of graphics. Where are the gameday and score announcements? Also, please start announcing themes for home games. I do appreciate the ticket link in the bio, but I think the seasons schedule should be pinned to the top of the page. Additionally,  you could get more creative with the highlights.

0/1o Graphics

3/10 Information

1/10 Creativity

5. Boy’s Volleyball

This page has so few posts that I only needed one screenshot to encompase both the bio and the overall feed. This team is more newly established than some of the other ones, so I will give some grace in that regard. They have definitely earned some creativity points for their innovative, if not cohesive, edits. Highlights and a season schedule need to be added for full information points, though the arrows in the bio do make it easier to locate the tickets.

4/10 Graphics

2/10 Information

6/10 Creativity

4. Baseball 

This page has the opposite problem of many others on this list: what they have in cohesion and graphics, they lack in personality. While I appreciate the drama of the bio, I am curious to know, what is that mission? I guess the headline does draw you in. Perhaps you have to go to a game to find out. Looking at the feed, the gameday posts are very consistent, making it easy for any prospective fan to find the location and opponent of a game. However, it would be helpful to post and pin the schedule so that people can plan their attendance in advance. I would say that this Instagram seems more like it is run by a coach than a player, and I think they would be able to garner a higher following if they loosened the reigns a little and posted less serious and more funny content about the team.

8/10 Graphics

6/10 Information

0/10 Creativity

3. Girl’s Tennis

This page has the most obvious team spirit of any of the other pages. The birthdays highlight is a cute and fun way to celebrate members of the team, and I think the inclusion of a Spotify playlist is a funny and original idea. The feed itself has a l0t of personality, and you can tell that the players are involved in the posts, something that makes the whole thing feel a lot more personal. Points are deducted, however, for the lack of information and graphics. There is no schedule or gameday announcements, making it hard for a student section to show up to cheer on the team.

0/10 Graphics

1/10 Information

9/10 Creativity

2. Girls Varsity Soccer

This Instagram, while very impressive (6 time state champs!), lacks cohesion. I love the use of graphics and gameday announcements. This page is also regularly updated, something to give credit to its operator. However, the colors and fonts are all over the place. The multiple shades of green are distracting and without a common marker or symbol for all of the gameday announcements, it can be hard to easily find what one is searching for. I appreciate the posting of the schedule, though I do think it should be pinned to the top of the profile.

5/10 Graphics

8/10 Information

2/10 Creativity

WINNER: Boy’s Lacrosse

In first place is the boy’s lacrosse team. The schedule is pinned to the top of the profile for easy access, and the gameday graphics have a large similar font to be easily recognizable, but they are not all identical so they do not become boring. While the feed looks professional and cohesive, the captions of the posts show personality and make the page more fun and engaging. The highlights could be edited from just “Raptors” and “Raptors ’23”, which I feel is repetitive and also boring, but overall a solid Instagram.

8/10 Graphics

7/10 Information

6/10 Creativity

Instagram and other social media pages are a fun way to show your team’s personality and also to spread information for aspiring athletes and fans. A lot of work goes into running these pages as one must be very involved in their team. While it may not seem rewarding, know your hard work is recognized and don’t forget to put your involvement on your college applications!