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Grace Media Timeline

March, 1995

Grace Media begins

Grace Media is founded to run a marketing study to start a girls high school basketball magazine.

Lonestar Basketball

Grace Media publishes Lonestar Basketball, a preseason basketball magazine cover Houston-area high school, college and professional teams.

October, 2000
October, 2001

Bobby Knight cover

Texas Tech men’s basketball coach Bobby Knight is the subject of the 2001-2002 Lonestar Basketball cover story.

Managing Editor

Founder Sarah Hornaday leaves her position as a sports editor at the Houston Chronicle to beginning building the database for TheAthleticsDepartment.com.

May, 2006
January 2007

Hometown Sports News

While developing TheAthleticsDepartment.com. Grace Media starts HometownSportsNews.net an aggregation website devoted to Texas high school athletics. Grace Media uses news from the website to create a weekly newsletter for the Texas Girls Coaches Association. This is the early home for regional track and all-district teams.

TheAthleticsDepartment.com

TheAthleticsDepartment.com launches with a school directory, alignments and mascots.

January, 2010
September, 2011

Team Sports

TheAthleticsDepartment.com adds team sports playoffs information

Realignment Summary

TheAthleticsDepartment.com launches its realignment summary with UIL 2012-13 realignment announcment

February, 2012
August, 2012

Football

TheAthleticsDepartment.com adds football regular-season schedules/results

Spring sports results added

TheAthleticsDepartment.com begins adding individual sports with the addition of Golf, Tennis and Track regional results

April, 2013
August, 2013

Data Services

TheAthleticsDepartment.com debuts “widgets” to supply schedules, standings, playoffs information to media websites.

Football Standings

TheAthleticsDepartment.com adds UIL, TAPPS and SPC football standings

September, 2013
October, 2013

Cross Country honors

TheAthleticsDepartment.com adds regional and state honors for cross country, golf and tennis. It started with cross country and includes a certificate on the website for honorees

THSCA coaches poll

TheAthleticsDepartment.com coordinated voting for the Texas High School Coaches Association’s 48 regional football polls voted on by the coaches.

August, 2014
October, 2014

Playoffs history for individual sports debuts

Pages displaying playoffs history such as a multi-state champion individuals and schools launches for individual sports, beginning with cross country.

TAD foundation awards $6,000 to schools

TheAthleticsDepartment.com awarded six $1,000 awards to schools.

March, 2015
January, 2015

Swimming & Diving history

Swimming & Diving year-by-year postseason results added to TheAthleticsDepartment.com in addition to all-time state champions

Wrestling history

All-Time UIL state wrestling results added to TheAthleticsDepartment.com

August, 2015
September, 2020

TAD Stats debuts

The Athletics Department Stats debuts with weekly football statistics reports for five districts