The Sumter Item holding 1st high school football Media Day

The Sumter Item sports staff is hosting the paper's first-ever Sumter Item Media Day to showcase tri-county high school football teams ahead of their fall season.

The inaugural event, presented by title sponsor Hines Furniture, will feature players and coaches from public and private school football teams around Sumter, Lee and Clarendon counties. They will take part in question and answer sessions discussing their upcoming season with The Item's sports staff. Each school will be broadcast on Facebook Live, where the community can comment to send in their own questions.

"Think about it like we're bringing our version of SEC or any other college football Media Day right here to Sumter," Publisher Vince Johnson said. "Our goal is to highlight the student-athletes and their coaches through an event that gets everyone excited for fall. This will be a great way for us to continue on our mission to be the area's premier local news source and engage with our community around us."

Sumter Item Media Day will be held at Sumter High School on Aug. 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anyone is welcome to watch in person, but everything will be streamed live on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theitem, and coverage will run across The Item's print, video and photo platforms.

The event will also coincide with The Item's annual Gridiron Preview, which will publish prior to the start of the 2018 football season on Friday, Aug. 17.

For more information and to find out about partnering with The Item through advertising or sponsorships, contact your sales representative or email marketing@theitem.com.