The Citizen’s online news website — pioneered in 1996 — now has a companion local sports site: www.TheCitizenSports.com.

Countless hours are dedicated to every sport in the county by coaches, athletes, officials and fans, and the results of those labors of love should always be recognized.

That is why TheCitizenSports.com was created: to give sports fans of all ages a place to get the latest and most comprehensive local sports news in the area.

This is a website for everyone who wants to know the latest score, talk about the big games ahead and honor all sorts of athletic endeavors, from the most recognized and celebrated local team efforts to the unsung and individual accomplishments that tend to be overlooked.

In addition to a home page that gives you all the top stories for the local schools and the current season of sports, the site is also divided by sport and school.

So if you’re only interested in Whitewater athletics or the latest cross country news, you can go directly to a page that gives you what you want. And we’re not stopping with high school athletics — anything that happens on a rec field, road race, golf course or tennis court can end up on our website.

In addition, numerous local advertising opportunities are available on the only exclusively local sports site on Atlanta’s southside.

On our companion news site — TheCitizen.com — clicking on a sports headline will automatically take you to the sports site where you can browse through a variety of local sports news and information.

Exclusive to the sports website are The All Citizen teams for softball and volleyball. The coaches submitted their season statistics and nominees and the teams have been chosen. Check out the All Citizen teams at www.TheCitizenSports.com today.

Not only will scores, stories and photos be posted as soon as possible, often several times a day, but local sports fans can get in on the action by starting forums about their favorite sports or schools, participate in polls and even become a trusted user and keep us up to date on local sports news.

Fayette County is a hotbed of athletic activity and our citizens tend to always be on the run. It is impossible for our sports department (which is currently one person) to be everywhere, so please, be our eyes and ears. Help spread the word about the team you follow.

Whether you want to let us know about a specific game or would like to adopt a team for the entire season, your help is vital to keeping TheCitizenSports.com updated and will be greatly appreciated.

Please send us scores, information, tips and ideas, along with photos of the athletes and teams you want us to recognize, to sports@thecitizen.com.

In addition to going on this website as quickly as possible, each entry will be weighed for possible submission in an upcoming edition of The Citizen Newspaper.

The place to go for local sports news is www.TheCitizenSports.com.