| He
may live in Quedgeley but 14-year-old David
Snowball's heart and sporting loyalty lie miles
away. The
Sussex-born teenager has been a fan of Second
Division Brighton and Hove Albion ever since his dad
took him to a match when he was five years old.
After
moving to Gloucestershire two years ago David wasn't
able to attend as many Seagulls matches as he would
have liked.
So
he started to follow his team's progress online. And
when he felt not enough had been done to mark
Albion's centenary last year he decided to do
something about it - and the Seagulls Centenary Site
was born.
"I
noticed several messages on the team's official
website from fans saying they wanted more about the
centenary so I thought 'I could do that!' "
said David.
"I've
always been interested in computers and web design
so I spent my summer holiday setting it up."
Hours
of research resulted in a site featuring pages of
history, pictures of every club shirt since 1901 and
a centenary quiz on his heroes.
Since
last summer devoted David has spent hours every week
adding to the site which now includes message
boards, quizzes, games, downloads, travel
information for both home and away games, and a
comprehensive post-match analysis section called the
Sunday News. There's even a section where fans can
get Albion logos and ringing tones for their mobile
phones.
 |
| David
spends hours updating his website. |
An
ingenious marketing campaign has resulted in over
3,000 hits and David's hard work was rewarded when
he found he was in the top 150 sites on the
SoccerLinks Hit List, a league table of the most
popular football websites on the internet.
He
said: "Every week I publicise the site on
message boards for home and away fans with a game
called Guess The Player.
"I
was delighted to find I was so high on the
SoccerLinks Hit List."
But
David is not satisfied with his current success - he
is working on a redesign which he plans to launch in
time for the start of the next season in August.
Has
he any tips for other youngsters who want to set up
a website devoted to their favourite hobby?
"Go
for it and use the internet to help - it's a great
place to get advice when you're not sure how to do
something. And always ask for feedback from your
site visitors - that's how I got some of my best
ideas."
Do
you have an unusual hobby? Or a success story to
tell us? Tell us at gloucestershire@bbc.
co.uk and you could feature on BBC
Gloucestershire Kids.
David Snowball's football website
follows the Seagulls.
|
