By: Morgan Touey
On Sunday, September 30, I attended the JMU Women’s Soccer game against Hofstra University. The game kicked off at 1:00 PM, so I arrived approximately one hour before the game began. By arriving early, I was able to review how the Sports Information Director and her crew prepared for the game. Mrs. Milla Sue Wisecarver, The Sports Information Director (SID) reviewed the starting line-up and statistics before announcing the list to the stadium. After review, she announced the starting line-up and statistics as each player approached the field upon the call of their name. To broadcast this data, the SID used a microphone that the team passed around the press box when it was their time to make an announcement to the stadium. The SID kept track of the statistics of each team by keeping track on a laptop sitting in front of her in the press box. While the SID took this position with the assistant SID, two announcers reviewed what they would be publicizing throughout the game. This consisted on an assortment of announcements that took place before the game, during the game, at half-time, and after the game. When the game ended, the referees approved the list of statistics. Lastly, the team uploaded notes of the game to their official website. As each member of the team organized themselves, I listened and observed intently while vigorously taking notes.
Some questions that came to my mind were, “How far in advance do you prepare yourself for each game?”, “Do you organize yourself in the same fashion for every game?”, and “What sources do you use to make your job easier for you?” She informed me that she attempts to be the first person at the stadium for every game; therefore, she tries to arrive at least an hour and a half early for each game. Before arrival, she is already prepared because she has statistics, announcement sheets, etc. already completed. She also told me that she does indeed organize herself in the same manner for every game because her step-by-step procedure makes it easier for her to remember all of the tasks that she must complete throughout the game. Lastly, she informed me that the use of Twitter makes her job a bit easier. Through Twitter, she is able to broadcast what is going on throughout each game, the winner of each game, and statistics about each game on JMUsports.
I learned that there are many factors to keep in mind when organizing game-time procedures in the press box. I would not have done much differently because I learned a great amount of information about life in the sports world by sitting and watching attentively. I definitely enjoyed the idea of this job because the team expressed that they are always very prepared, just as PR professionals should be at all times. I liked this assignment because it reminded me of the similarities with a day in the life of a PR sports specialist. The only thing I did not enjoy is the fact that if you make just one mistake, you could cause an array of issues.