There was a time when we could cover most of these high school games because there weren't that many teams or individual sports. But those days are long gone, making it harder for us to keep up with all the games.

We do cover as many games as we can with a five-man staff and stringers. But usually we are limited to what we can do. I have to schedule days off, and stringers aren't always available. So we need to rely on coaches to give us information on their games. If the coach can't do it, he can always designate someone else to contact us.

We don't need a lot, just the basic information. For instance, in football we need to know who scored touchdowns, and who had a good game either on defense or offense. We would like statistics for the top rusher and passer. In soccer we need to know who scored goals and who had assists. Volleyball, golf, etc., all have their own statistics that need to be reported.

If the game is held in Frederick County, it's usually the home team that calls in the result. Sometimes the visiting team will also call to make sure we got everything.

If the game is held outside the county then we need the Frederick County team to contact us. We rarely cover regular season games outside Frederick County. If your team is playing in Washington or Carroll counties, please call us with the results since non-Frederick County schools rarely call us.

If the game is played in Frederick and it is between two county schools, please have statistics and first names for players on both teams.

Most people lately have been using e-mail to send us information on the game. This is the best way to contact us because there is less of a chance that we will spell a name incorrectly. The e-mail address is sports@fredericknewspost.com. For those who prefer to call, the best number is 301-662-1179. That will get you to all of the sports phones. You can also call our toll-free number at 1-800-486-1177 if you are out of the area and don't have a cell phone.

We need the results as early as possible, so please call us by 10 p.m. I do realize some games end after that, and we do accept calls later. But if calls come in too late, the results may not appear in the paper the next day. Please call us the same day the game is played.

As you know, our Monday paper has been suspended for now. The good news is that few high school games are played on Sunday. But if that does happen team officials can call in Sunday and leave a message or call early Monday evening.

The more calls and e-mails we get, the more local game results we can put in the paper. We want to publish as many names and results as possible, so we appreciate your continual help.