I was never a big fan of the NBC drama “Friday Night Lights.” In my experience, real life — especially high school — was not as dramatic as the program’s cliché characters made it out to be.

One thing the series did get right, however, was the universal impact of high school sports on a community. I saw it as a student at Westview High School in Beaverton and during college at Arizona State, when I covered preps as an intern for a local newspaper in Phoenix. I expect to see it again here in Central Oregon.

Sports are the great unifier. They provide an escape from reality while also serving, at times, as a platform for social change. They divide people into teams, but unite them around a common cause. For young people, sports provide an opportunity to build character and learn important life lessons.

Above all else — in my opinion — sports is where the best stories are.

This gig with The Bulletin is my first full-time job in sports reporting. After 18 years in Beaverton and four in Phoenix, I am brand new to Central Oregon. I would be lying if I said I knew the history of high school sports around here, much less the various ways it affects readers from Warm Springs to Gilchrist, and from Sisters to Prineville. I can absorb only so much from the veterans on our sports staff. I need your help, too.

The Bulletin is changing the way it reports on prep sports in our coverage area. Gone are the days of detailed accounts of each and every varsity game. We will be focusing, instead, on the biggest stories at all 13 local high schools. While we plan to provide all the scores and standings you need to follow your favorite teams, we are more reliant than ever on the community to let us know what stories matter to you.

If there is a compelling sports story to be told — in Bend or anywhere in Central Oregon — I want to know about it.

That is what people want to read about, anyway. Stories that transcend sports, provide a unique perspective or shed light on a potentially overlooked or marginalized community. Issues beyond the field are just as relevant, if not more so, than what happens between the lines.

In pursuing our renewed mission, we believe this coverage strategy makes the best use of our resources.

We have a lot to cover around these parts, from the great outdoors to a wide range of community and high school sports. That, of course, means prioritizing certain stories over others.

If you have a story idea, tell us. Call me at 541-383-0307. Email us at sports@bendbulletin.com. Send me a tweet @RyanTClarke.

It is our goal to serve Central Oregon with thorough, incisive high school sports coverage, because it matters to communities like ours.

We intend to keep our eyes and ears open. As “Friday Night Lights” coach Eric Taylor told his football team before games: “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0307, rclarke@bendbulletin.com