CoSIDA 360 Continued: "It's Just Different"
College Sports Information Directors of America
Related Content
• CoSIDA 360 Magazine, February 2018
It’s Just Different
Women in Athletic Communications Talk Shop
Stories compiled by Laurie Bollig, CoSIDA Director of Membership Engagement.
Note: In the February issue of CoSIDA 360, 12 women shared their unique adventures about being female in the athletics communications industry. Following are the stories they submitted for the final piece that appears in the magazine.
Skip to feature: Joy Ekema-Agbaw / Nicole Betker / Amie Canfield / Amanda Ghysel / Maggie Hayon / Julie Paré / Jessica Poole / Rachel Roche / Morgan Romans / Mara Rudolph / Rachel Vogel / Jenna Willhoit
The Hybrid Position – Marketing and Communications
Assistant Director, Marketing and Communications
University of Arkansas
Monday morning has come again and I find myself groggy from a Sunday full of cleaning, errands and catching up on a slew of television shows, but I muster up as much pre-coffee energy as possible and head into the office.
It’s full speed ahead today, mug and expo in hand I map out my day on the giant whiteboard behind my desk. It works two-fold, reminding of what I need to accomplish and providing me with inner satisfaction as I check off a task (and I always do) once I’ve completed it. Settling in front of my laptop and dual screen monitors the day slowly begins to unfold. Outlook up on one screen, InDesign on another, Google Chrome on the third and Microsoft Word minimized somewhere behind several other applications to be worked in.
As the only hybrid in my department, my daily work life differs slightly from my coworkers. While a marketing contact may ask a communications contact about pushing things out on our department website or a team’s social pages, I have the conversation with myself.
“Joy, can you please get that ticket sales release out by Wednesday?” “Sure, Joy, but only because you said please!”
I was drawn to my hybrid position at Arkansas because of my love of cross country and track and field, the history of the program and the chance to work in external operations for a Power 5 institution. While I had no experience in communications at the time, short of an all-female sports blog I wrote for monthly, I was grateful that my knowledge of marketing and track and field were valued so much as to give me a chance to show what I could do.
The First Year… (I may have bit off more than I could chew)
New York-based rapper Jadakiss once famously said “I’m not cocky, I’m confident, so when you tell me I’m the best, it’s a compliment.”
I too am confident, so much so that my weakness (I’m working on it) lies in my inability to turn down extra assignments. Just throw my hair up in a bun, put on gangsta rap and get sh\*t done.
Born into a family where the bar has always been set high, I’ve often struggled with the idea of failure; finding the thought of not meeting my superior’s or my own expectations terrifying.
Well with that lead-in and the knowledge that I had minimal communications experience paired with heavy workloads from separate (men’s head coach and women’s head coach) nationally-ranked track and field programs, it’s pretty easy to read into what was about to befall me in my first year.
You guessed it! I took on too much, too fast, broke down to all of my supervisors and almost threw in the towel.
Updating more than 100 extremely dated bios, constant releases, a never-ending media guide, miscellaneous additional write-ups, scripts, reads, radio, media advisories, scheduling video/poster shoots, double previews/recaps (two teams equals two of everything)…I wanted so badly to be able to do it all, but not just do it all, do it all WELL.
I couldn’t see what I was accomplishing because I was too focused on the list of things I hadn’t done, but thankfully those supervisors one-by-one lifted me out of the self-defeating depths of my mind.
Pause, Breathe, Smile… It’s All About Balance
The first three words of this heading were written on my whiteboard right above my weekly outlook for almost two years; a reminder to calm my high-strung self down.
My workload remains more communications oriented (especially during the fall), but my better understanding of my responsibilities allows me to better allocate time split between departments.
Since my first-year growing pains, I’ve been able to convey to my supervisors that while I’m capable of managing the majority of my marketing/communications tasks with the track and field programs, in order to provide the teams with the best in both areas, I would need a helping hand. The teams have since been designated a marketing graduate assistant who helps with the creation/fine-tuning of our promotional plan and meet day run of show and a communications assistant who helps with daily press releases, bios, proofreading, website updates and media guide edits.
All of the above gives me peace of mind.
I Miss Mommy
Sports Information Director
University of Saskatchewan
I was about to go to work for the seventh day in a row. This one would be just a normal eight-hour day. Phew! But then something stopped me in my tracks.
Carson, my two-year-old son, looked at me and said, “Miss mommy.”
It was then I realized I was a workaholic – a workaholic with a child.
The great juggling act of the work-life balance as a sports information director has always been a challenge for me. I love my job. I do what is necessary to get the job done and that equated to success for me. I was a shining star on the rise in the Canadian university athletics landscape. I was chairperson for numerous committees, I’d represented U SPORTS (then CIS) at the World University Games and had the respect of my colleagues across the country. In that moment, I wondered if all of that came because I never took off my SID hat. I was Huskie Athletics and Huskie Athletics became me. And that isn’t right, whether you have a child or not.
I returned to work in May 2016 after my year-long maternity leave (yes, 365 days – thank you, Canada). I thought I made a conscious effort to slow down. With the transition to U SPORTS from CIS, many of the committees that I was part of were changing. Although I was asked to sit on new committees, I wanted to give myself time to adjust to the new working mom lifestyle.
I felt I quickly adjusted, but in reality I had merely “adjusted” back into my old lifestyle. Work quickly became my number one priority again. Every choice I made was because it was what was best for Huskie Athletics. I wanted to be the supermom and I didn’t want anyone – my co-workers, colleagues across the country, the coaches or athletes – to think that I had changed because I had a son.
But guess what. I had.
And after 18 months of being back at work, I realize it is okay. It’s okay to put your family first. It’s okay to shut off. This realization has changed everything for me.
In the time period that I was trying to juggle everything and do it perfectly, I failed. And by failing, I lost my confidence – in everything. I didn’t feel good at my job. I didn’t feel good as a mom and I didn’t know who I was anymore.
Now that I have embraced that I don’t need to be perfect in everything I do, things have started to shift back to a new normal. It’s okay to not look at my email every time the icon counts up, it’s okay to trust students to do the jobs I pay them to do, and it’s okay that I am not accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Does that make me worse at my job? No. It actually makes me better – I’m recharged, reenergized and ready to tackle the challenges instead of always feeling lost.
And – I’m still great at my job, respected and a leader in U SPORTS and the Canada West.
In the end, all of this wouldn’t matter if I didn’t have support. Without a loving and supportive husband, I wouldn’t be able to do my job. No matter how many boundaries you create, the life of a sports information director is a lifestyle choice not a career. It’s busy in peaks and valleys and that doesn’t change. But for me, still, the good outweighs the hard Octobers and the long hours.
Carson will travel to his second CoSIDA convention in 2018 and is surrounded by young role models daily. His first babysitter was a national basketball MVP and his ‘Uncle Chico’ always visits when he returns home from playing professional soccer in Iceland. He’s also a known cheerleader on the sidelines at the hockey, football and basketball facilities. And will grow up with an extra set of family in the sports world and if I’m lucky – he’ll get to experience the community sport can bring.
It’s not easy. It’s overwhelming. But it’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to make time for your child(ren) – whether you are a male or female.
Once you accept this, you will be better SID.
My Road Less Traveled
Associate Director of Athletics, Communications
Mount Holyoke College
As a single woman, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times over the last decade I’ve been asked - are you seeing anyone? Is there someone special in your life? No, I’m not looking to pry, simply making a point.
Let me give you a quick recap of my journey. I started out as the team manager for the women’s ice hockey team at the University of Vermont. I sharpened skates (yup, I’ve got the scars to prove it), filled countless water bottles and traveled everywhere. In my fifth year, I dove into the world of athletic communications, working as the student assistant for the women’s ice hockey team.
Two years of part-time work at UVM and the door finally swung open as I headed to Troy, New York, to be the sports information assistant at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Surge ahead seven years and I found myself at Mount Holyoke College, becoming the sports information director, and most recently, promoted to associate director of athletics, communications.
I’ve attended numerous conventions, been awarded two incredible honors by the organization, and capped it off this past summer with my selection for the CoSIDA Board of Directors. I’m a member of several outstanding committees at the institutional, conference and national level.
Through my 37 years, I think one of the biggest challenges facing women in this profession, or any profession really, are the expectations that the generations before us went through.
Expectations like going to college, finding yourself, settling down, getting married, having kids. For me, I think it’s been something that has plagued me for a long time. I’m currently still the “single one” in my family with all five of my stepsiblings being married and having kids. Once I slipped past the 35-year mark, I began to wonder if there was something wrong with me since I didn’t seem to fit the mold of anyone in my family.
But here’s the thing, it’s taken 37 years for me to realize that it’s okay. This past summer was a huge wake-up call for me. In July I began to have chest pains and mind-numbing headaches. My first concern was that I was sick. Maybe I was having a heart attack?
My doctor assured me over and over that I was fine, yet the pain kept coming. Finally, I was convinced to go and talk to someone. Therapy was not what I wanted to do, but I found myself sitting in a comfy chair not long before the fall season started, doing just that.
Okay Amie, so what’s the point of this story? I know, I’ve given you my quick recap, told you about some of my worries and what’s happened over the last couple of months. The point, well the point is that it’s okay.
Simple, I know, but in our profession there are a lot of demands. But there are also choices. It’s taken me a long time to realize that being dedicated to my career, finding happiness on my own and having an amazing family and group of friends is what I truly want for myself.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
If you haven’t read Robert Frost’s The Road Less Taken, I highly recommend you do. Yes, the small-town New England girl in me is shining through, but his poetry helped me realize that while I might be on the road less traveled, it’s my road and it really has made all the difference.
Call Me Coach
Senior Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
Hofstra University
Hockey has always been my sanctuary. Since I first stepped on the ice at age 3, it has always been where I’ve gone to get away from everything else. And 22 years later, not much has changed.
As we all know, being in sports information comes with its fair share of challenges. Though I’ve only been in the business for a few years, I’ve quickly realized the constant struggle of maintaining a work/life balance and the importance of having an outlet outside of work.
Enter hockey.
Almost immediately after I accepted my position as senior assistant director of athletics at Hofstra -- before I had even moved to Long Island -- I began searching for a women’s hockey team I could join. Hockey isn’t quite as ubiquitous on Long Island as it is in Western New York where I’m from, so I wasn’t having much luck, but I did find the name of a woman who ran hockey programs for the New York Islanders organization. I sent her an email, and she responded saying she didn’t know of any women’s teams, but asked if I would be interested in coaching at the youth level.
I jumped at the opportunity, mostly looking for any way I could get on the ice in my new home. Since then, I’ve spent as many Tuesday nights and weekend afternoons as I can (when I’m not hosting a soccer game or on the road with basketball) as the assistant coach for the Islanders Elite Girls 12U travel team.
And although preteen drama and trying to teach a forecheck to girls who are still figuring out how to keep both skates on the ice present their own set of hurdles, for that hour or two on the ice or behind the bench, all I think about is hockey.
My first season coaching, I was primarily a practice coach and was only able to make it to two of the team’s games, with soccer and basketball not leaving much room for weekend trips to the rink. But this year, my schedule has worked out a little differently, and I’ve already managed to make it to most practices and just about every game. Driving an hour to spend a brisk December Saturday morning in a falling-down rink is something so familiar and comforting to me, even though I’m on the other side of the bench now.
And on top of it, I’ve been able to see the players grow (we lost our first game, 6-0, and beat the same team, 11-2, three weeks later). I’ve gotten to see their love for the game – alongside their skills – develop, all while becoming a better leader, teacher and role model myself.
And while the hectic schedule of an SID means I may not be able to make it to every practice or game, for now I will continue to savor those couple hours a week when I can escape to the rink.
My Squad
by Maggie Hayon
Assistant Athletics Communications Director
University of Delaware
I know it’s cliché to say I wouldn’t be where I am without my family, but I truly wouldn’t have an amazing career in athletics if it weren’t for my support system.
I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. My family had no connections to the sports world and we weren’t your stereotypical gym rats. Yes, we had the basketball hoop in our driveway and often played catch with the baseball or football, but I knew early on, that even though it was their tagline, I didn’t “have next” as a player in the WNBA.
When you break it all down, it all started in elementary school when my dad taught me how to keep a basketball scorebook. My older sister played basketball all through middle school and I got hooked on keeping track of the baskets made and who was about to foul out. It was serious business making sure everything was right! To this day, there are not many things more natural to me than sitting behind that scorebook.
When I was old enough, I too played basketball on various YMCA, school and travel teams. And while I wasn’t a starter or saw a ton of playing time, I could guarantee that one, if not both, of my parents would be in the bleachers cheering my team on.
Within my first week on campus at Marquette University, I made a trip to the Al McGuire Center to inquire about job opportunities and found myself a home within the athletics department for not only the next four years, but for my future.
And who was cheering from the stands in their blue and gold for countless games? My parents. They often made the hour-long trek south to be at all kinds of Marquette sporting events. It meant the world to me that even though I wasn’t on the field or the court, my parents supported me.
They continued to be by my side through the unpaid internships and were the first to celebrate when I locked down that first “big girl” job with a realsalary and benefits (which my father celebrated the most). Even when these internships and jobs meant moving across the country.
Ironically enough, my first-ever men’s basketball road game as a media relations assistant was at, you guessed it, Marquette University. The Bradley Center. The place where I grew up. My parents wouldn’t miss this for anything. And while I encouraged them to wear their blue and gold, they showed up in green. A neutral color. Because while we bleed blue and gold, the UMES Hawks are maroon and grey.
One of my favorite things when I open my email is to find notes from my parents. Congratulating me on my team’s win from the previous night. Commenting on how spectacular one of my athletes is. Telling me many times I was shown on the broadcast. To know they are continually keeping an eye on BlueHens.com, TV games and our various social media channels is incredible.
If my team is in driving distance, Jim and Kris Hayon will be on the pass list. And that doesn’t count the times when they’ll travel to Delaware to catch whatever sport is in season at the time.
While they may not always fully understand what it is I exactly do (heck, I don’t always know what I do), I couldn’t do it without them.
Mom Tribe
by Julie Paré
Assistant Sports Information Director
Furman University
Most women probably assume it is impossible to be a mother and an SID, but I am living proof that it actually is possible. While there are a variety of challenges that come with doing both, there are so many positives, as well.
I have a 15-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter, and I have been back at Furman in sports information since my youngest child was five. Prior to having my children, I left sports information to pursue another field in the hopes that it would be more conducive to starting a family, but I found that sports information truly is my calling in life!
I am in the unique position that my employer allows me to work from home many days, which helps more than just on the home front. Honestly, I can get much more work done when I am at home, which leads to increased productivity both at work and at home. I go into the office at least one day a week, and quite often several days a week, depending on the season and what sporting events are happening.
My coaches all have children, and the majority of my SID colleagues have children, so I am very fortunate that I work in a family-friendly environment. My children have literally grown up at Furman sporting events, and they have had such great role models in our athletes. My daughter, especially, gets so excited when my former women’s golfers are back on campus for Homecoming or any other events. I hope my children will stay in touch with some of these athletes for years to come.
Being a working mother in any field requires several key elements to overcome challenges. First and foremost, organization is paramount. We live by the calendar at our house. Everything, both work and family related, must go on the calendar! Because none of us are morning people, I have also learned that we must do everything possible the night before to minimize morning chaos. Lunches have to be packed (teach your children at an early age how to pack their own lunches), clothes must be laid out, all paperwork signed, and backpacks placed by the door.
Finding my mom “tribe” has been so important in hurdling another common challenge, transportation. We are fortunate to live in a large neighborhood with many children, and several utilize school transportation, so my children have spent many years riding the bus home from school and sometimes both to and from school. When the bus is late or children have some other afterschool activity, that’s where my group of friends has proven to be absolutely invaluable. Most all of us are working mothers, so we each take one day a week where we are responsible for the whole group if the bus is late, and we tag team on other events. I truly wouldn’t be able to do this job without my mom friends! When I travel with golf for days at a time in May, this group steps right in for me and gets my children everywhere they need to go, plus they text me about any important information that I may be missing from the school while I am gone.
When my children were in elementary school, I absolutely felt like I should try to attend every school party, every field trip, basically, every event that my children were involved in. I realized pretty quickly that few parents, even parents who don’t have a full-time job, can attend everything, and I began to pick and choose which events to attend and life became much more manageable! When each of my children were in their last year of elementary school, I would go have lunch with them a couple of days a month, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do that in middle school. I got to know their friends so well in that half-hour, and I didn’t sacrifice an entire day at work!
In general, I think we all take on more than we can really accomplish, and some things have to fall by the wayside. I have learned to sign up for the store-bought items or send in money for school events, don’t commit to a year-long PTA job unless it is something easy like doing the weekly email newsletter, and not be so quick to say yes to anything extra at certain times of the year!
My husband is an athletic trainer, also at Furman, and he is so supportive of my career. I couldn’t do this without his willingness to pitch in at home and with the children. We are fortunate that our primary seasons often do not overlap, but when they do, my mother or my mother-in-law come into town to help out!
I have often worried that my children don’t have parents with “normal” jobs who are always home by dinner, but I’m discovering more and more that there is no “normal” anymore and that all of our children will be just fine! I think my children take pride in my job, and I know they have fostered a true love of athletics and of Furman. They both say they want to attend Furman, but we will see in the coming years what they decide!
I’ve heard it said, “The days are long but the years are short,” and this absolutely sums up balancing motherhood and working in sports information. I am often writing press releases late at night when my teams are on the road, then rising early the next morning to get my children to some event, then suddenly on other days it hits me that I have an 8th grader and a high school sophomore who is driving (which is life-changing), and I have a melancholy feeling that I only have a few years left before my own two children go away to college!
#KickingGlass at the Power Five Level
Assistant Director of Communications
Vanderbilt University
I’ve never really looked at myself as different in our profession.
...
Keep Calm and Golf On
by Rachel Vogel
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
University of New Haven
I had always enjoyed competition. I was a softball pitcher and for 15 years, I got the same exact high striking out a batter as she made her way back to the dugout. The feeling of being better than my opponent was unlike any other. On May 10, 2015, my competitive softball career ended in the NCAA Division III Regional final in Cortland, New York. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sport management from DeSales University one week later. I thought I would never be competitive in a sport again.
Sure, there were adult softball leagues out there, but my heart wasn’t in it. My family lived on a golf course in South Jersey, so I played golf every once in awhile. I enjoyed it, and was pretty good at it. Swinging a club came naturally to me, just as swinging a bat did in softball. In college, I met my fiancé, Casey, who was a member of the golf team at DeSales. I became interested in his tournaments and wanted to become more of a “regular” myself. I got a summer job working in the pro shop at the same golf course my family lived on, got my first set of TaylorMade clubs the next Christmas and played every chance I got – for free. I couldn’t get enough of the competition, but it was a different kind; competition against myself. I wanted every shot to be better than my last and saw continued progress in my performance.
Golf has reinvigorated my competitive nature, not only with myself, but with Casey. He also works in athletic communications and therefore, we have similar and at times, overwhelming work schedules. Golf has been our outlet to get away from work and have fun together. It has also given us opportunities to travel the world. We took our first international trip together in 2015 when we traveled to Ireland and Scotland. During the trip, we got our first true taste of links golf at Portmarnock Golf Club, a Golf Digest Top 25 course located just outside of Dublin. In that same trip, we made our way to Scotland and attended the British Open at St. Andrews. Back in the States, we visited Pinehurst, North Carolina, and played six courses in the area including two Pinehurst Resort Courses. In addition to playing, we have attended three of golf’s four major tournaments. The Masters will be the last to check off the list.
Between the competition and travel, golf has become a true hobby and escape from the rigor of working in athletic communications. While the notion that golf is a “social sport” may be off-putting to some, it truly is a getaway from work. Golf allows me to remain around my true passion of sports, but in an environment where I get to enjoy them as a player and fan rather than as an employee. No matter your skill level, I recommend giving golf chance, picking up a club, and seeing how much enjoyment and escape you get on the course.
Me Time
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
University of Dayton
I have sat in front of panels at different conventions listening to folks talk about mom guilt and dad guilt and how they balance their work with their home life. And, as I sit there, my guilt starts to creep in. What I like to call my non-mom guilt.
I am a single woman with no kids, no boyfriend, not even a pet. I can barely keep a green plant alive. And, like those moms and dads that have to learn how to say no, I need to learn how to say no. I need time for me.
I jumped into athletics communications with no idea at all what it really was. My first job was a 10-month appointment at Tennessee Tech and involved overcoming the most ridiculous learning curve I have ever faced in my life. When I look back now, I couldn’t be more grateful for my time at Tennessee Tech. When you have to figure it out on your own, you learn pretty quickly how to just figure it out.
I spent nearly six years at Xavier where I matured in the profession before moving on to my current post at Dayton, where I feel like I have blossomed into the person I am today. I am confident and fierce and I have no doubt anything you can do, I can do better. But, I’m also feeling a little lost in my non-mom guilt.
What I have been able to figure out is that I have to say YES to the things I care about. YES to the causes and groups and organizations I am proud to have my name associated with. But, I also have to figure out how to stay sane balancing my involvement on campus, in my community, with professional organizations and my actual job that we all know is no 9-5, Monday-Friday gig.
That is the mystery.
My best piece of advice is don’t lose yourself underneath your many hats. You have to learn to integrate each one into your wardrobe. And, remember, you don’t always have to be wearing a hat. Take a vacation, take an afternoon to sit on a patio and have a drink, read a book for a couple of hours with your phone on silent. Say NO.