Throughout the semester in my sports communication class, I learned valuable information and skills that I probably won’t need in my career path but was very informative to me. Taking this class allowed me to gain insight on the communications aspect of sports, being that I’ve competed in sports for many years, I never knew the behind the scenes of how sports are being communicated. One big takeaway from what I learned in this class is the importance of how sports were interpreted many years ago compared to now. As the years continue to pass, the way sports are displayed will continue to evolve and be communicated in more advanced ways. Sports media is a powerful platform for shaping narratives, influencing others opinion on sports and athletes, and entertaining. I developed a better understanding of how sports media is transformed based on its consumption and distribution, ranging from social media engagement to podcast to live streams.
Professor O’Hallarn allowed us students to sharpen our skills in critical thinking through group projects such as the NIL White Paper, sports journals, and our in class discussions. These skills will be very helpful for any of my classmates majoring in sports communications/ communications and their future careers because they enable us to effectively evaluate the sports media landscape as well as the challenges and opportunities in sports media. In my opinion the NIL White Paper was the most realistic aspect of what people do in this profession on a daily basis, so for us to partake in this assignment gave us valuable insight on what it’s like to work on that level and the amount of work you have to put in. Additionally, I gained experience in sports journalism, interviewing people, and creating flyers/posters to post on social media to be engaging. This experience not only helped my critical thinking skills but also allowed me to get a deeper understanding of sports communications on a legal, ethical, and professional level.
Thank you professor O’Hallarn for the valuable information presented to us, I appreciate your time!