The award-winning Journal Tribune Sports Department thrives on its coverage of the local sports scene.

The entire sports staff, which includes a sports editor, two full-time staff writers, a part-time sports assistant and a handful of correspondents, prides itself on both its work ethic and its ability to bring the best story lines to its readers on a daily basis.

These stories from a wide array of sports and teams, including seven area high schools, countless community and recreational sports programs, one fast-growing NCAA Division III college, two minor league professional sports franchises, a summer collegiate baseball league and, of course, New England’s very own professional sports franchises — the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics and New England Revolution.

When it comes to coverage of high school sports in York County, the Journal Tribune is second to none. The seven schools covered on a regular basis, including Biddeford, Thornton, Old Orchard Beach, Massabesic, Sanford, Kennebunk and Wells, are a bottomless pit of stories, be it daily game coverage, regardless of the sport, or outstanding feature stories. As part of its high school coverage, the Journal Tribune offers its readers a regular feature called the “High School Sports Extra” page, a full page devoted strictly to feature stories and profiles on area athletes.

In addition, the Journal Tribune also covers the University of New England and its nearly dozen NCAA sports teams. Many athletes in the paper’s coverage area also go on to play in college and the Sports Dept. offers a regular feature called Made In York County, as a way to follow these athletes after they leave home.

Every summer, the New England Collegiate Baseball League comes to Sanford where the team nicknamed the Mainers chases a league championship every season and have made the playoffs in four of its five years of existence thus far, winning the title in 2004.

Up the road in Portland, meanwhile, the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double A Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, and the Portland Pirates, the American Hockey League club connected to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, play their home games, drawing interest from the Journal Tribune’s readership area.

Finally, there are the games that everybody still plays: Those in the Community Sports. The Journal’s Sports Dept. has built up its coverage of this scene over the last few years and will continue to do so, bringing our readers stories, photos and statistics from Little Leagues to American Legion baseball to Adult Volleyball and more. Once a week, the Sports Dept. publishes a “Community Sports Extra” page devoted to these efforts.

No matter what your sport, or what your level, the Journal Tribune Sports Dept. is ready, willing and able to bring to your story and your athletes stories to its reader.

To contact the Sports Dept., call 282-1535, Ext. 315.