Privacy Policy

VarsityBeat ("we," "us," "our") is a Sonoma County high school sports publication. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have.

Information We Collect

• Newsletter signups: name, email, optional school preference.
• Player registrations: athlete name, date of birth, grade, school, sport, position, jersey, height/weight, bio, and an optional profile photo. For minors, we also collect parent/guardian name, email, and phone.
• Team registrations: school, sport, level, league, season, roster size, and coach contact info.
• Photo submissions: submitter name, email, team affiliation, caption, and the photo itself.
• Site usage: standard server logs (IP, user agent, referrer, pages visited).

How We Use Information

• To build and display athlete and team profile pages.
• To send the weekly newsletter and occasional VarsityBeat updates.
• To moderate and credit photo submissions used in game recaps.
• To improve coverage and editorial decisions.

Children Under 18

VarsityBeat covers high school athletes, many of whom are minors. We require parent/guardian consent for athlete registration, and parents or guardians may request edits or removal of any minor's profile at any time by emailing privacy@varsitybeat.com. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13.

Data Storage

Submission data is stored in Google Sheets and Google Drive (for photos) hosted on the VarsityBeat workspace. Access is limited to VarsityBeat editors. We never sell personal information.

Sharing With Third Parties

• We use Google (Workspace, Apps Script, Drive) to receive and store submissions.
• We use a third-party email service to deliver the newsletter.
• We may share aggregated, non-identifying analytics with advertisers and partners.
• We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information.

Cookies

We use a small amount of browser local storage to remember whether you've already subscribed to or dismissed the newsletter popup. We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies on the site.

Your Choices

• Unsubscribe from the newsletter using the link in any email.
• Email privacy@varsitybeat.com to request a copy, correction, or deletion of your data.
• Parents may request removal of a minor's profile at any time, no questions asked.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy as the site evolves. Material changes will be announced on the homepage and via the newsletter.

Contact

Questions? Email privacy@varsitybeat.com.