The Times-News huddled up to plan local sports coverage. Here are the X's and O's.

It was a direct message on Twitter – from a Times-News reader welcoming me to Twin Falls and kindly expressing discontent with our high school sports coverage.

“Is there a plan in the works to change that?” he asked me.

I told him we were working on it.

It was sports that first attracted me to newspapers. From an early age, I remember running out to the driveway on many a rainy morning to retrieve The Oregonian and then scampering back to the breakfast table to read about the games. And consume the stats. And study the transactions.

When I learned in high school that I could work in newspapers for a living, I had found my calling. At 16, I earned my first professional byline for the twice-weekly newspaper in my hometown. By 18, I was sports editor at a nearby weekly while going to college.

Before I made the move to the news side about 15 years ago now, I had been a Division I football and basketball beat reporter. I’d covered NFL and NBA games. The National Finals Rodeo, bowl games, pro wrestling matches.

But, truly, the moments I most remember are from high school sports. When Lance Pendleton quarterbacked Dixie over Cedar to the win the state football title in Utah. When Torrington’s Wade Betschart squashed one wrestler after another at the Wyoming state championships. When Lindsay Ferrell won state tennis three times. When Amanda Welsh won the barrels.

High school sports are special: They bring together family and friends, rally a community and provide a lifetime of memories. The local news should capture some of that for posterity – whether it’s the online story that gets shared around Facebook or the print story that ends up in a scrapbook.

Now, about that plan.

Prep sports is at the heart of it, with a pair of weekly features to bring attention to players and teams across the Magic Valley. Our coverage will also highlight College of Southern Idaho athletics and rodeo at all levels, plus we’ll keep Broncos, Vandals and Bengals alums in the loop with a weekly roundup.

Beginning in January, when high school sports return following the winter break:

Tuesday: The Times-News

• will select its marquee matchup of the week and break it down with interviews, analysis and more. This package of coverage will also include highlights and notes from Twin Falls (Bruin Bites) and Canyon Ridge (Hawk Talk).

Wednesday:

Whether hyping the star player at Idaho, previewing the big game for Boise State or talking X’s and O’s with Idaho State, we’ll keep tabs on the state’s three D-I programs in this wee

• kly feature.

Thursday:

• This is rodeo day! From high schools to CSI to the pros, we’ll find a good story and tell it.

Friday:

• We’ll keep our eye on the Eagles, shining the spotlight on players, coaches and teams at CSI, a longtime force in junior college athletics.

Sunday:

• There are dozens of high-performing prep athletes in the Magic Valley – and we’re going to use this space to get to know them, one at a time.

That’s not all: Sports reporter Jesse Gwin, who joined us Oct. 31, will be out and about at games. You’ll see chief photographer Drew Nash behind the camera on the sidelines. And Diane Philbin will keep tracking the nightly results like only she can.

To borrow a sports saying: We’re taking our game to another level in 2023.