With summer at the midway point and the fall sports season rapidly approaching, I’m actively planning our coverage of Rutgers athletics for the upcoming year. First off, thanks to everyone who reads this site. Whether it’s only once or twice, occasionally, regularly or dare I say, all the time, we appreciate your support.

I began as managing editor of On The Banks six years ago this coming August and I never imagined we could have grown as much as we have over that timeframe. Our readership has multiplied several times over and are now the only site offering free and complete coverage of Rutgers athletics in the world.

The mission has always been the same... deliver the best coverage possible in a professional manner but also in a way that is true to what makes our site unique. Every contributor of OTB is a fan first, above all else. Whether an alumnus, or because of a family connection, being a New Jersey native or for any other reason, we all care about Rutgers sports in a meaningful way.

It is my belief that our site is at its best when we have multiple contributors in the mix, which creates a greater depth of opinions, views and takes on what we all come here for in the first place, Rutgers sports. The more contributors we have, the more passion the site is generating out to the fan base and the community we’ve established here. It also means we can physically cover more ground with our coverage too.

With that purpose and goal in mind, now is a perfect time to grow our staff ahead of the new school year ahead. If you are a regular reader of On The Banks, you know we are dedicated to covering as many Rutgers sports and related news as possible.

The only requirement is as follows:

A Passion for Rutgers Athletics

If you are passionate about Rutgers sports, that’s the most important quality that will be evident above all else in your writing for the site. It’s what makes On The Banks special.

If you have previous writing experience, that is certainly a plus. However, it’s not a requirement.

Writing for the site would be on a volunteer basis and how you contribute would be completely flexible to your current life and work schedule.

A willingness to take direction and constructive feedback, as well as being open to suggested content ideas and engaging with our readers is important.

While football is a priority for coverage this fall, there are opportunities to take the lead on coverage for certain sports. At a minimum, there is opportunity to be involved in covering those teams you are interested in writing about.

Any video production or editing experience/interest is a plus as well.

As managing editor, I’m completely open to new ideas, new approaches and new ways to connect with the rest of the Rutgers fan base. If you like On The Banks, tell me how we can make it better.

A friendly disclaimer though is that we are not a forum to use a byline to rant and rave after a bad loss. If that’s what you are looking to do as a contributor for our site, then respectfully this isn’t the place for you. Being critical after losses with well argued, fact based articles has always been part of our coverage. Hot takes with little substance are not.

Anyone interested should send a writing sample on anything focused on Rutgers sports to me directly at breitmanaaron@gmail.com . If you do have writing experience, please also send me a previously published article or links to review. If you don’t have any experience, pick whatever Rutgers topic you are interested in and write about it. Pitch me your first article.

If you still aren’t sure that you want to apply or aren’t comfortable doing so, please note that I had zero experience before becoming a contributor and then soon after, taking the lead of On The Banks. If I can learn along the way, you can too.

Thanks again to all of you who are readers of On The Banks. If you aren’t interested or don’t have the time to be a contributor, but you have ideas for how we can better serve the fan base, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly as well.

This next year is going to be as exciting as any in recent memory for Rutgers athletics. If you want to be part of how it will be remembered and celebrated among the fan base, now is your chance to do it.