{"id":250841,"date":"2026-04-04T00:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250841\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T00:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T00:55:11","slug":"the562-shows-a-dedication-to-long-beach-sports-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/250841\/","title":{"rendered":"The562 shows a dedication to Long Beach sports coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local sports reporters Mike Guardabascio and JJ Fidler turned their newsroom friendship into a sports empire, creating the city\u2019s first nonprofit news outlet in 2018. The562<\/a> represents more than just a scoreboard; it is a community-driven outlet built around a love for the city of Long Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The562 was early to the nonprofit model that many newsrooms now survive on, but community has always been a part of its core. Guardabascio and Fidler met at Long Beach State\u2019s student newspaper Union Weekly in 2004, where Fidler started the paper\u2019s first-ever sports section. Together at the Union, they covered men\u2019s basketball, men\u2019s volleyball, and more.<\/p>\n

After graduating, they found themselves in stable, well-paying jobs that lacked a sense of fulfillment. Driven by a desire to do something new and youthful flexibility, in 2008 they once again launched a new sports section, this time for the recently-established Long Beach Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just kind of thought, we\u2019re young and we can be poor right now, let\u2019s do something fun and try something different,\u201d Guardabascio said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mike Guardabascio has dedicated hundreds of hours of his life covering Long Beach sports with grace and care.
(Courtesy of John Napalan)<\/p>\n

At the time, the Long Beach Post was heavily focused on politics, but Guardabascio and Fidler saw an untapped market. Long Beach was a city filled with passionate sports fans who lacked a dedicated digital home. When they pitched the idea to Robert Garcia and Sean Labaski, the founders took a chance on the then-23-year-olds, leading to the creation of the Long Beach Post\u2019s sports page.<\/p>\n

The duo\u2019s career trajectory initially followed a traditional, though varied path through Long Beach publications. They eventually took over the sports section at the Grunion Gazette and were later hired to run sports coverage for the Press-Telegram. However, the unpredictability of the industry caught up with them when the Press-Telegram\u2019s parent company laid off their entire local sports staff in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool for me to have gone from covering this awesome community and obviously being born and raised here \u2026 now getting to see how great the sports community is from the perspective of a coach and a father, not just writing about it,\u201d Guardabascio said.<\/p>\n

Without Guardabascio and Fidler, a vital source of local sports coverage vanished. It was during this period of uncertainty that the idea for The562 originated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt became very clear to me when we got laid off, that as a city, we are going to have to do this for ourselves or it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Guardabascio said.<\/p>\n

The562 launched a little over eight years ago,\u00a0 built on the radical idea of local control. Publisher Andy Kerr volunteered to handle the complex 501(c)(3) paperwork, when the team decided to pursue a nonprofit route to ensure the outlet\u2019s longevity and independence.<\/p>\n

Guardabascio\u2019s role has evolved into a more traditional 9-to-5 schedule, where he focuses on features, breaking news, fundraising and business management, while the rest of the staff handles nightly game coverage. The organization is powered by Long Beach natives who truly care about the community and who are dedicated to their long-term success. This local connection is the outlet\u2019s greatest strength; the staff understands the city\u2019s desires because they were born and raised in the area.<\/p>\n

Want more local news? <\/p>\n

Sign up for the Signal Tribune\u2019s daily newsletter<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cool for me to have gone from covering this awesome community and obviously being born and raised here \u2026 now getting to see how great the sports community is from the perspective of a coach and a father, not just writing about it,\u201d Guardabascio said.<\/p>\n

Guardabascio has covered everything from global spectacles to intimate local triumphs. One of the high points was when he and Fidler traveled to the 2012 London Olympics to cover roughly 30 athletes from Long Beach, a three-week assignment funded by their boss at the Gazette, Simon Grieve. He has also witnessed local history, covering three Long Beach State men\u2019s volleyball national championships.<\/p>\n

The most emotionally satisfying part of the job for Guardabascio is often the stories that don\u2019t make national headlines. He has served as the beat writer for the Long Beach Poly High School football team for nearly 20 years, covering future NFL stars and kids who stop playing after their senior year with equal gravity.<\/p>\n

One story that stands out to him during his time at The562 is a feature on Ray Graham<\/a>, a running back for Long Beach Poly. Graham\u2019s spirit remained undiminished through all the hardships he endured, a trait that Guardabascio described as a daily inspiration for himself. The feature eventually received national recognition, validating the importance of deep, empathetic local reporting.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mike Guardabascio handles every student athlete interview with the same gravity, whether the athlete is bound for the pros or hanging up their jersey after high school.
(Courtesy of John Napalan)<\/p>\n

The562 is not just documenting the present; it is actively building the future of journalism through its high school internship program. This program was started by Tyler Hendrickson, initially under a five-year agreement with the Long Beach Unified School District, but has since flourished into a successful program that is funded at a level that allows all student interns to be paid.<\/p>\n

The high schoolers receive professional training from The562\u2019s staff photographers and writers. Guardabascio notes that this program has produced an incredible talent pool, with many students returning to work as freelancers after their internships conclude or continuing to pursue journalism in college. Guardabascio considers this program one his favorite parts about the job.<\/p>\n

Guardabascio emphasizes that the future of The562, remains tied to the people it serves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is\u2026 we won\u2019t have any news media at Long Beach if people don\u2019t support it,\u201d Guardabascio said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the era of relying on outside corporations to tell the city\u2019s story is over. Fittingly, The562 thrives off the support of monthly subscribers and donors. The mission remains clear for Guardabascio and his team: Long Beach is a city that must tell its own story, and as long as the community stands behind them, there will always be a story to tell.<\/p>\n

See the latest in Long Beach sports coverage at the562.org. Make a donation to keep this kind of coverage alive at the562.org\/support-the562-org\/. <\/p>\n

\"AngelinaAngelina Azcu\u00e9Reporter<\/p>\n

Angelina Azcu\u00e9 is a journalism student at California State University- Long Beach. She has experience writing for on campus media such as DIG Magazine and Long Beach Current with topics ranging from Arts & Life, News and is currently focusing articles pertaining to the College of the Arts. She enjoys covering topics related to local news, event coverage and features. In her free time, she enjoys trying out new food places, attending fitness classes and taking day trips with her friends.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local sports reporters Mike Guardabascio and JJ Fidler turned their newsroom friendship into a sports empire, creating the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[111569,111570,21006,11041,131,133,132,111571,111572,111573,111574,111575,63748],"class_list":{"0":"post-250841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-562-sports","9":"tag-jj-fidler","10":"tag-journalism","11":"tag-local-sports","12":"tag-long-beach","13":"tag-long-beach-headlines","14":"tag-long-beach-news","15":"tag-long-beach-sports","16":"tag-mike-guardabascio","17":"tag-sports-issue","18":"tag-sports-journalism","19":"tag-the562","20":"tag-youth-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}