I still consider myself new to sports events though it’s been part of my life, my whole life. But thinking about where I used to get my sports information from compared to where I get it from now has drastically changed, even just in five years.
Five years ago, I was 16 and in my junior year of high school. Then I was a cheerleader at my high school and an editor for my yearbook. Sports other than how my high school football team was doing, weren’t really on my radar. I paid attention to how the then-Washington Redskins were doing but I wasn’t watching games or looking up any information. I got my news about the Redskins from my dad who is a big fan. I would ask him how last night’s games went on Monday morning when he would take me to school, and he would sigh and say, “We lost, of course”. Him telling me crazy stories of games and of the franchise would be the extent of my sports diet, I would also probably hear certain things about sports on the radio when he would listen to the sports junkies religiously. My dad was my main point of contact for sports five years ago.
Now it’s a completely different story. I get a lot of my sports information from the news, watching games, and reading stories myself. Sometimes I catch myself even telling my dad things that he had no idea about in the sports world. I also get a lot of my sports consumption from my job, where I am working multiple different sports events in one week. I get to view how each sport works and be a part of the communications work, before the game, during, and after.
During the season I watched NFL football every chance I could and got to learn from my friends and my dad how the game works and how everything has a moving piece. I also watched live games where I was in the press box learning how stats are taken and how broadcasting is prepped days in advance and executed during the game!
Along with so much more, my sports media diet has changed drastically over five years, and I imagine it will continue five years from now as well. Growing my sports consumption has grown my love for sports in general and for the teams I have loved my whole life and even ones I just learned about! It also grew my appreciation for sports communications work at all levels of sports.
If I could change one thing about the sports communications landscape, I wish women could’ve been a part of it a lot sooner. Being a part of it now is so special to me, but I wish it had been a more paved road. It would be a much more inclusive community if so.
