COVINGTON, Ga. -- The Covington News, in conjunction with the Walton Tribune, will host the second annual East Metro Atlanta Football Media Day at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Porter Performing Arts Center in Covington.

The East Metro Atlanta Football Media Day is the brainchild of News sports editor Gabriel Stovall, who is also the executive director of the Georgia Sportswriters Association and Tribune Sports Editor Brett Fowler. The duo wanted to bring exposure to the level of athletes in the east metro Atlanta area.

“One of the things I quickly noticed when I arrived in the area almost three years ago, and it got confirmed to me by what coaches were saying, is that this east metro Atlanta area has far more football talent than many would think, simply because I believe it’s a grossly underserved area as far as media coverage goes,” Stovall said. “That’s something I wanted to change through my work as sports editor of The Covington News. But what’s cool is others in our area, like my colleague Brett in Walton, recognize the same need to get our athletes out there, so it’s awesome that we can collaborate and make this media day happen this year, and hopefully for years to come.”

Participating in the event will be nearly a dozen schools from Newton, Rockdale and Walton counties, as well as local media outlets from the three counties with some media guests from around the metro area. 

The tri-county area features schools with several players such as Newton's Nyland Green and Robert Lewis -- 4-star prospects at defensive back and wide receiver -- who've been commanding recruiting attention regional and nationally. Also, two of Newton County's three GHSA-playing schools will be breaking in new coaches and Eastside will be coming off of a locally historic and record breaking season.  

“I’m excited that The Tribune could help be a part of this,” Fowler said. “Gabriel has done a great job of organizing this event and I hope we can continue to make this event happen, and hopefully expand it, in the future.”

The inaugural event last year was a big success, but Stovall and Fowler wanted to find some ways to make this year’s event run even more smoothly.

“We got some great feedback from our coaches about ways we could speed up things and keep the event in its allotted time slot,” Fowler said. “I think the changes we’ve made for this year’s event will help accomplish that goal and benefit all the parties involved.”

Last year featured all 12 Georgia High School Association affiliated schools from Newton, Rockdale and Walton Counties as well as Georgia Independent School Association’s Piedmont Academy. This year will see the addition of another GISA school in Loganville Christian Academy as well as the return of teams that previously attended the event.

The East Metro Atlanta Football Media Day will be open to the public and all members of the media and will be streamed live on Facebook.