Creating Balanced Content Is Key For Editor In Chief Of Lacrosse Flash Austin Owens

The opportunity with Lacrosse Flash came about at a time when I was coming off a layoff. I had been covering the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock for two years and I had gotten to know a number of the faces of Flash. 

At the time Lacrosse Flash was in its infancy, but I had been keeping tabs on their content from the start. They had incredible growth from the jump and offered content that was unique to the sport at the time. So when Tyson Geick, the founder of Lacrosse Flash, reached out, it was a no-brainer for me.

With Lacrosse Flash, we’ve been able to build a solid audience in a two-and-a-half year span while also becoming -- in my opinion -- one of the leading media sources in the sport. 

We started out solely with video content, doing analysis for every week of NLL games. Now, we’ve grown into video and written content along with our growing social presence. I was originally brought on to get the written content off the ground. 

In my current role with Lacrosse Flash, I help to coordinate written and social content while creating graphics for the various leagues that we cover. 

Writing has always been my primary focus, and with this position, I’m able to both contribute and edit to push content. As the head of content for Lacrosse Flash, I also have the ability to work alongside some of the most talented individuals in the sport.

One of our main goals is to push up-and-coming talent in the sport of lacrosse and showcase the personality within the game. We want to give a platform to new writers and students who have an interest in covering lacrosse.

Our stable of contributors has grown substantially over the past year, as we’ve started to cover the Premier Lacrosse League on top of the NLL. 

I’ve always had an interest in Photoshop, so the social content and graphics just ended up happening when we tried to push social content and gain more of an audience.

Flash really came along at a down point in my career and has given me more opportunities than I could imagine. I’ve met some incredible people while building a brand that I’m truly proud to be a part of every day. 

2As the Head of Social for Lacrosse Flash, what style do you gravitate toward, quick turnaround content or long-form storytelling, with high production value? Do you have a preference? Tell us some of the pros and cons you toggle for each.

We try and strike a balance between the two. With a sport like lacrosse, the fanbase isn’t as high as the bigger sports in North America, but the fans of lacrosse are hardcore.

Most fans have been invested in the National Lacrosse League for over 20 years and are very passionate about the sport. 

Professional lacrosse players are also quite different from other professional athletes. I’ve had lacrosse described to me as a blue-collar sport -- which I think is the perfect example.

The majority of players work second jobs on top of being top-flight athletes. So they have some incredible stories to tell. 

We love to have longform feature pieces to showcase the individuals within our sport, but the reality in this age of social media is that most individuals aren’t going to read a 1,000-plus word story. Many are just going to read the headline and story’s lead. 

With Lacrosse Flash, we really thrive off our social content, and capturing games through GIFs and short videos has helped us get the attention of devoted and casual viewers alike. 

So I would definitely say that we lean more towards the quick-hitting social pieces to push engagement, but we also still love to use longform storytelling from time to time.

3What are some of the big creative challenges you face with content creation? What about smaller ones?

I think with lacrosse, you get some more freedom when it comes to new content that we want to try out. There aren't as many outlets in the sport as there is for others, so some concepts haven’t been bled to death like in one of the big four leagues. 

When I do content personally, I really wrestle with whether people will care about what I have to say.

That’s more of something that just goes through my mind, but when I put an idea together, it’s something I keep in the back of my mind.

You’re trying to reach a specific audience with every article and I want every piece I do to live up to standards. 

Luckily, I do have a team with me that is open to trying a lot of different things and seeing how we can take an idea and push it to the best it can possibly be.

So I don’t want it to sound like a cop-out, but the Lacrosse Flash team is a tight-knit group and really bounces ideas off one another.

That makes content creation much easier on me and the other team members as a whole.

If I’m stuck on a particular project or need some advice on how to better content, I have the people there to pick me up and help the product be exactly what we want it to be.

4Which social networks under your responsibility with the team do you enjoy working with the most? The least? Why?

Facebook is definitely the outlet that we use the least with Lacrosse Flash.

The layout is very good for the posting we do, however, our content (GIFs, videos, graphics) definitely caters more towards the audiences on Twitter and Instagram. 

We generally have all our graphics up on Instagram with small clips from our various podcasts.

We focus on Twitter the most because it’s definitely the best for posting quick, digestible media that can drive engagement for us. We get the most impressions from Twitter.