As promised last week, here is the ultimate volunteer/parent/coach guide to submitting your local high school’s scores!

As someone who played sports at Amador Valley High School – yes, years ago – I can attest to how cool it was to see my name in the newspaper.

As a parent, it was great to see my children’s names and their friends’ names in the newspaper throughout their high school years.

That’s why I do this every week for the Pleasanton Weekly – I give the kids the recognition they deserve for the effort they put into every game.

Each year, high schools have three sports seasons: fall, winter and spring.

One of the most important things to remember is the weekly deadline for results, which is no later than 12pm every Sunday. If you send something in by 4pm on Sunday, it probably won’t make it into the paper.

You don’t have to wait to send me the results. In fact, I’m happy to get them early. For example, if your sport is Tuesday and Thursday, you can send them in Thursday night!

I also always look for images to accompany the results. There are a few basic rules I look for when it comes to images.

First, I need the names of the team members in the image (including numbers if visible). Second, I need the name of the person who took the image. And finally, it cannot be an image taken by another media organization.

And finally, I’m happy when I get a list of teams, because the worst thing that can happen to an author is to misspell a name!

Let’s go through the sports and figure out what results I need to ensure maximum coverage.

Volleyball: I need the result of the game, the opponent and the highlights. The highlights are straightforward: player name and highlight.

Here is an example – Susie Smith (15 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs), Jenny Jones (25 assists, 3 digs, 12 service points), etc.

Tennis: Opponents and final score, as well as a list of players who won games. Please be sure to include the players’ first and last names.

It is very important that you send me a list for tennis so I can make sure all the names are spelled correctly.

Water polo: Be sure to send me the opponent and the final score. You can also score by quarters if you want, especially if there was a big comeback in the game.

For the highlights, send me the player’s name and stats. For example: Susie Smith (7 goals, 3 assists), Jenny Jones (8 steals, 1 goal, 2 assists), Kerry Kent (15 saves, 2 assists).

You can include information like a last-minute winning goal, a big comeback, or other relevant information.

Golf: Opponents, final score, course played and par of the course are the basics. From there you can enter the names of the scoring players and their score.

Cross country: Seems to be a constantly evolving sport. If there is an invitational race on the weekend, send me the name of the event, where it was held, the distance of the race and finally the runners and their times.

Flag football: Score, opponents and all highlights are great! Highlights can be players scoring touchdowns or throwing passes for touchdowns.

I would also love to hear about great defensive performances and details about the game, like when the touchdowns were scored, if there was a comeback, etc.

As a reminder, the deadline is Sunday at noon each week (you can submit the information earlier) and you can send it to [email protected].

CYO Basketball

The Catholic Community of Pleasanton (CYO) basketball program has opened registration for the upcoming season.

The program is open to boys and girls in grades 3-8 who reside in Pleasanton or Sunol. Player evaluations will be held August 25-27.

For more information and to register for the upcoming season, visit ccopcyo.org.

Editor’s Note: Dennis Miller is a sportswriter for the East Bay Division of the Embarcadero Media Foundation. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email [email protected].