What a high school team website needs

Parents open a team website to answer a few questions fast: when and where is the next game, who is on the team, who do I contact, and how can I help. A site that answers those on its first screen, and stays current, does its job. Everything else is extra.

This guide takes those questions one at a time: what to put on the page, and how to keep it right during a busy season. The example throughout is the website of the H.H. Dow High Chargers hockey team in Midland, Michigan, at dowhighhockey.mi.ourteamsports.com.

What parents check first: the schedule

The schedule is the reason most families open the site. For every game, list:

• the date and start time
• the opponent
• home or away
• the venue's name and street address, so a parent can paste it into a map app

If families drive players to practices, list those too, with the rink or field and the time.

Update it the day something changes. A game moved for weather or ice time should be on the site before the group text goes out, or at the same moment. A schedule that is wrong even once teaches parents to double-check it somewhere else.

Out of season, say that the new schedule is coming rather than leaving last year's games up. In early October 2026, before its season started, Dow's schedule section said the schedule was coming soon, counted down the days to the first game, and linked to the Michigan High School Hockey Hub, where the site says the official schedule and stats are kept.

The top of Dow's home page names the home rink, Midland Civic Arena, and the bottom of the page gives its street address with a link for directions.

The roster

Families in the stands want to match a number on the ice to a name. Jersey number, name and class year is enough for that. Dow's roster lists exactly that for each player: the number, the name, and Fr., So., Jr. or Sr. It does not list positions, and families in the stands rarely miss them.

Post the roster once the team is set each season, and update it when a player joins or leaves.

What to leave off

Most high school players are minors. Leave off birthdays, phone numbers, home addresses, home towns, email addresses and school schedules. None of that helps a parent in the stands. Anything beyond number, name and class year should be what the program and its families are comfortable with. Ask before the season, not after something is already posted. Check whether your school or league has a policy on posting student names and photos, and leave off any player whose family asks.

Coaches and one way to reach the team

Parents need to know who runs the team and how to reach someone. List the staff by role: head coach, assistants, and any team manager or parent coordinator. Then give one contact address that someone actually reads.

One shared team address works better than a list of personal ones. It stays the same when the staff changes, it keeps coaches' personal email off the public web, and parents do not have to guess who to write to.

Dow does this. Its coaching staff section lists a head coach, an assistant coach and two volunteer assistant coaches, each with their role. One team email address appears at the bottom of the page, and the same address handles sponsor and golf outing questions, with the subject line already filled in for each.

Sponsors

Local businesses that support a team want to be seen doing it. A sponsor section with each business's name, logo and a link to its website is the thank-you they can point to.

Say what the money pays for and how to get in touch. Dow's sponsor section is laid out in three named levels (Champions Club, Gold and Community). It says that sponsorships fund ice time, travel, equipment and the annual golf outing, and it has a "become a sponsor" button that opens an email to the team.

Events and fundraisers

Fundraisers and team events need the same basics as a game: date, time, place, cost if there is one, and what to bring or how to take part. Give each event its own page or section with a clear title, so a link to it can be shared in a text or a social post and still make sense on its own.

Dow's site has a section for the program's annual golf outing, which it calls the program's biggest fundraiser of the year. After the 2026 outing, the section thanks the sponsors and golfers who took part and has a button to join next year's outing, which opens an email to the team. That gives people who want to take part next time a way to say so. When the next date is set, that section is where the date, time and course belong.

Alumni and history

A program's past gives current families and former players a reason to come back to the site. A short history, past seasons and spotlights on former players all work.

Dow's home page has an alumni and history section that sums up the program's past and links to a separate alumni page. In October 2026 that page said alumni spotlights and photos were on the way, and asked former players with a story or photos to share to get in touch.

Keeping it current

Most team sites go stale for one reason: nobody in particular owns it. Settle that before the season starts.

• Give each section one named owner: one person for the schedule, one for the roster, one for sponsors, one for events. On many teams these are parent volunteers, not coaches.
• Check the whole site once a week in season. Confirm the next week's games, times and venues, and look for anything that has ended or changed.
• Make sure edits do not need a developer. If changing a start time means emailing whoever built the site years ago, it will not get changed.

That last point is the problem OurTeamSports was built for. It gives a team a website in the team's colors with schedule, roster, sponsors, events and alumni sections, and an admin area where coaches and parents update them without a developer. Access can match the owners you picked: a sponsor editor can change only the sponsors, an events organizer only the events, and a content editor the schedule, roster and other team pages. It works for any sport. It started as the Chargers' own site, which is why the examples above come from Dow.

A short checklist

• Every game lists the date, start time, opponent, home or away, and the venue's street address.
• Schedule changes go on the site the same day, before or with the group text.
• Out of season, the schedule section says the new one is coming and where to look until then.
• The roster shows jersey number, name and class year, and nothing personal beyond that.
• Coaches are listed by role, with one team email address that someone reads.
• Sponsors are listed by level, with what their support pays for and how a new sponsor can get in touch.
• Each event has its own page or section with the date, time, place and how to take part.
• Alumni have a place on the site and a way to send in their stories.
• Each section has one named owner, and someone checks the whole site once a week in season.