While I may not be the biggest fan, I'll give credit where credit is due. The River Course's location and overall atmosphere made me consider picking up a club (so grab your helmet because lord knows where that ball will end up).
This week I gained a very unique perspective on the sports world; however, it was not from my recreational sports experience. It was from a golf course. Golf you say? But you hate golf. Yes, yes I do. You would think having an ex-pro golfer for a Father and a brother who is the current Professional at Congressional Golf Course would change those feelings, but alas. Regardless, I had the pleasure of going out to Radford to see the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, the official golf course of the Men's and Women's varsity teams. The course is absolutely breathtaking and "the longest course on the oldest river in North America." How did a golf-hater end up on a course 30 minutes from the comfort of her living room? I currently serve as the Vice President of Professional Development for the Sports Business Club at Virginia Tech and our President is an avid golf fan. Ding ding ding, that answers that. Ben was able tons set up a meeting between 18 of our club members and Mr. Jay Hardwick, Virginia Tech Men's Golf head Coach for the past 33 years. Not only is he an incredibly down to earth man, but his resume and list of wins is a mile long. Mr. Hardwick took us on a tour of the practice facility, main clubhouse, and golf cart station. He talked to us about the evolution of the game of golf and what he anticipates the future to be. He had a lot of insights on how people view golf - as boring and for older, white, upperclass men - and how he things it should be. "You can spend $90 on a movie and concessions for a family of 4 where you sit in a dark theater and don't talk, or you can spend $100 on a four hour round of golf where you bond with your family. Easy choice."
While I may not be the biggest fan, I'll give credit where credit is due. The River Course's location and overall atmosphere made me consider picking up a club (so grab your helmet because lord knows where that ball will end up).
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This week was a rather slow week in the world of recreational sports at Virginia Tech. I think it's safe to say everyone has been burn out from the overwhelming number of varsity sporting events that have occurred in the opening weeks of school and inevitably took this week as a quick breather from athletics in general.
One of the issues we did try to address this week was the current system in place for Sport Club player paperwork and wether or not there was a better way of approaching it. In the past years all 1,300 Sport Club participants were required to print and fill out a Statement of Obligation, Assumption of Risk, Player Constitution, and Medical Waiver forms; overall, roughly eight sheets of paper. Multiply eight sheets by 1,300 athletes. Then multiply it by ten, i.e. the number of years back we keep paperwork in the office. That's a lot of paper, a lot of sad tress, and a lot of filing cabinet space. Our new Sport Club Coordinator has been determined to digitalize the entire form system and honestly - as the employee currently charged with organizing all of that paperwork - I'm 150% behind her. Not only would it make the office a little less cluttered, it would enable us to work on other projects such as creating an alumni database and other past contacts for teams to reach out to. The only other monumental development that occurred this week was the execution of the annual Hokie Classic Collegiate Soccer Showcase. Roughly 20 men's and women's club soccer teams traveled to Virginia Tech to compete in a tournament showcase. The Virginia Tech women's team placed 3rd while the men's placed 2nd. This was the first year the showcase included the men's team which sparked a few debates on how involved they should be in the organizational aspects as well as promotional materials. It was interesting to observe how the officers of each team designated tasks and divide up the workload. As the school year starts to pick up the pace and more and more teams attempt to put on their annual home tournaments, I'm glad I was able to see and - somewhat - assist in the development of the first co-ed Hokie Classic, hopefully improving my tournament knowledge and effectiveness in the future! This week was very eye-opening for me in numerous ways. It was one of those rare weeks where I got to experience literally every single level of college athletics Virginia Tech has to offer: Division I (the VT v. OSU football game - crying thinking about it), a Men's Club Lacrosse scrimmage, the start of the intramural soccer season, and VT Fitness programs.
Intramurals. Oh, intramurals; you're truly a beast of its own. While I've participated in almost every intramural sports program Virginia Tech offers (minus soccer; I'm far too non-foot-coordinated to play), working behind the scenes is another story. A less I've been learning a lot lately is that so much more goes into events than meets the eye. That statement may make you go "well, obviously;" but until I actually got back there I didn't realize all of the little, little things. Are the iPads charged? Do we have 6 tables and 12 chairs? Who has the keys to all 8 gates? Who will turn on the lights at exactly 8:30pm? Who will flag down VT rescue if they're called (let's be honest - they're almost always called)? Do we have enough bags for ice? Little, little things. But it's truly those little things that make the program a well oiled machine. I've only had one shift with them but I can already tell I'm really going to enjoy intramural sports. Don't get me wrong, my heart lies with competitive sports, but sometimes it's refreshing to see guys come out and play soccer and goof around just because they want to get outdoors with their friends. VT is fortunate enough that our students truly love to be active without the university really having to push it on them. Everyone is really open to new programs - Battleship, to name the most popular - when they hear about them. That's the one problem I'm encountering though; how do you get EVERYONE to hear about it? While it's great that VT offers a wide variety of majors, many students do not travel through the same campus buildings so there's no "sure spot" to place advertisements. You have classrooms like McBryde and places like Squires that attract a large portion of the student body, but there's really no way to hit all 30,000+. I think that's my new goal - figure out how to get people in the know! This week was all over the place but I learned a lot about the various aspects of Recreational Sports and I'm excited to keep the ball rolling! Today finished the first week of my dual internship with Virginia Tech Recreational Sports Marketing and Sports Club departments. It was a whirlwind of a week because - in lue of the beginning of the semester - numerous programs were being run. Honestly though, I'm not complaining one bit. One of the main reasons I pursued this opportunity was to not only gain a deeper understanding of the Recreational Sports department as a whole, but to fill up my time; I work better as a busy-bee. Just for some background, I've worked for the Sport Clubs program since the Fall of 2013. My job there has multiple sections, ranging from compiling team's paperwork in the office, to acting as the athletic trainer out on the field. I love my job but knew that in order to be competitive at the varsity level, I would have to gain experience in as many aspects of the "athletic experience" as possible. In addition to now working for marketing, I also took up a position with the Intramural Sports department as a scorekeeper; what can I say, I have no social life.
Anyway, one of the big programs the marketing department was helping run this week was Gobblerfest. The Recreational Sports department encompasses a lot of larger campus groups including: Venture Out - the outdoor education program - , Fitness, Intramural Sports, and Sport Clubs. That being said, the Rec Sports Gobblerfest booth is no small task! I was tasked with designing and printing flyers and posters for numerous programs, gathering t-shirts and other student giveaways, and making sure each department had enough room to be equally represented. I never truly grasped just how large of a scale the Rec Sports department ran on until this week. When people talk about athletics at Virginia Tech they automatically default to our varsity programs when, in reality, its the Recreational Sports sector that is truly the heartbeat of the students. Every time a student or faculty member walks into McComas or War Memorial they are - potentially without even realizing it - expecting a certain caliber of service, and it's our job to provide it to them. Virginia Tech didn't becoming "Fittest College in America" overnight! For one of my last Topics in Sports Communications class blog I decided to go out with a bang and get a little sentimental. Ok that’s a lie; it just so happens that the first article I came across while browsing MADE me super sentimental and want to share said article with my classmates. One of my friends who plays D3 lacrosse at Longwood University just shared this article on Facebook. I’m a casual Facebook browser and never read much of the things people post (sorry, but true) but this article caught my eye. It’s called “A Letter to Every College Athlete” and written by former University of Arizona track runner, Tamara Pridgett. She talks about what it means to be a college athlete: the time; the dedication; the ups and downs; and the commitment to your school, the community, and ultimately, yourself. Pridgett wrote this article in her blog and the reason I liked it so much was that it was just her plain, honest opinions and the raw emotions she felt as she went through her collegiate athletic career. I read through the entire article and I have to admit, by the end of it I was just genuinely sad. I love my major, I love learning more about things I’m passionate about, and I love the career path I’m on, but sometimes I just have to wonder: what could have been? Could I have been a collegiate athlete? I played softball and lacrosse from a very young age and loved nothing more than getting on a field, getting dirt stains, and batting and shooting as hard as my little muscles would let me. I wasn’t the fastest or the strongest, but I had an unwavering love for the sports I played and a nasty, competitive drive that I – as did some of my coaches – genuinely believe could have gotten me far. Now when I say ‘far’ I’m talking maybe D3, not D1 (I’m a dreamer, but let’s be real). If I could go back and tell 13-year-old me anything, it would be to suck it up and commit. Yes, that’s harsh and unrealistic, but when I go to Virginia Tech Softball and Lacrosse games a little part of me aches. I’m not delusional enough to think I could have made a division 1 roster, but if I had thrown a few more balls every day or played wall ball for 20 extra minutes, who knows if I’d be in that stands still, or on the field. I thought sharing this article would be an interesting note to end my class blogs on because Topics in Sports Communication has given me a lot of perspective. We’ve learned the sacrifice college athletes make physically, mentally, and academically, just to name a few. We’ve learned the dedication and persistence it takes to strive for greatness, and the ways in which that greatness can raise you up or strip you down. For many people, myself included, sports are more than just a hobby or thing to do to pass the time; they’re a way of life. This course has only reaffirmed the reason why I want sports to play such a huge role in my future life and career and I’m thankful for the eye-opening discussions it has allowed me to experience. Gender issues in sports. Just, yikes. I’ll be honest in saying this is a topic I often shy away from because while I do have an opinion on it, it’s an opinion I have a great difficulty in articulating and often just come out sounding like I hate everyone and everything. Yeah, not my favorite topic. I’ve been involved in sports since I was 3 years old and clumsily smacked myself in the head with my first softball bat. My Mom is a gold-medal downhill skier and my parents met playing on a co-ed softball team. My middle brother is a professional golfer who has played alongside big names such as Tiger Woods. My oldest brother is….a corn hole aficionado (and since that’s really his only athletic ability we sometimes pretend we’re not related, but details…). Needless to say, I’ve grown up in an incredibly sporty family, filled with both accomplished women and men.
It constantly seems to be under debatable whether or not women are as strong as men or whether or not they have the same level of stamina or strength. To me, it’s apples and oranges. Why does it matter? Each athlete should strive to work to the best of their ability and reach their full potential. In my mind, the discussion overall is pointless and we should be focusing on the athletes as just that: ATHLETES. Not their gender. I know there are injustices and people always yell at me that “I’m a woman and should be more concerned about those inequalities,” and don’t get me wrong I am, but at the same time I’m not. My friends always tell me my super power is the ability to avoid controversy (I don’t know if they mean that as a compliment or not but…) and I stick true to that by just not talking about it. If someone says “come watch basketball with me” I don’t ask “men’s or women’s?” I just go. I love sports and gender doesn’t really stick out to me when I’m watching. The one strong opinion I do have is against lingerie football. I’m sorry, but that is not a sport. Yes, I’ll give the women credit that they’re athletic, but it’s the female football version of the Harlem Globe Trotters: it’s a show, not a game. They’re probably lovely women in their day-jobs but I will just never understand the appeal of playing a “sport” in your underwear for drunk, gross old men. For any of my classmates who chose to read this blog, I do apologize. I’m fully aware that my thoughts on the matter are all over the place and not even entirely understood to me, so sorry for your suffering. You did good, trooper. There is no better feeling than being packed into a stadium, shoulder-to-shoulder with friends and strangers alike, screaming at the top of your lungs, eyes and mind focused on one thing only: the game. I am one of the few left who despise technology at sporting events and think it takes away from the experience we as fans yearn for. Yes yes, I’ve heard the arguments that “the Internet and, inevitably, social media enhances the game by allowing fans to discuss the plays and interact with one another.” But, here’s a crazy idea: when you’re at a game, TURN to the person next to you and talk to THEM instead of freaking @sportsRlifeYo on your Twitter account. You can imagine my joy when the headline “No-phone policy at Masters offers rare escape from technology” came across my computer today. I may have embarrassingly jumped with glee (even though my usual love of golf is questionable). “Fans and golfers alike will have to abide by Augusta National's no-phone policy at the Masters this weekend forcing everyone to leave their phones at home, in the car or checked at the gate and if anyone is caught with a phone will be escorted off the grounds.” Preach Fox News, preach. FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT; all hale The Masters. Sports are an escape; an experience to bond over with family and friends; a place to feel included; a special moment. Why does this generation, which I’m sometimes hesitant to equate myself with, insist on ruining the magic of the game? When people have their phones out at games it – whether they like to recognize it or not – completely destroys the atmosphere for themselves and everyone around them. There are a lot of reasons people go to sporting events but I think it’s safe to say the atmosphere, interactions, and socialization are right up there at the top. If you’re in the stands but socializing with your virtual “friends” on your phone as opposed to the thousands of people beside you, you may as well be at home, on your couch, in your dirty sweatpants, with a bowl of Cheetos resting on your stomach. Sorry, but enjoy that image. “But I only look for maybe 15 seconds every 5 minutes to check updates!” No. 1: you’re AT the game; the “updates” are LITERALLY happening right in front of you. No. 2: let’s say the average game is 2.5 hours long. Now math is not my forte, but missing 15 seconds every 5 minutes in a 150-minute event adds up. Why waste the money on tickets? Let people who want to be there for the show be there! I like to compare sports to improv comedy. You never know what’s going to happen next. You have plays, you have plans, you have old men in suits forecasting the outcome, but until the moment is actually happening, it’s all just speculation. Why would you miss the main act to look at and read about other people’s interpretations of the event? You truly have to live in the moment because it only happens once. Enjoy it. And in the words of Eddie Hunter, "Having a good time far outweighs Facebook.” Lastly, before I end my rant, go read the Fox News article about The Masters..it made me want to hug whoever wrote it. Image Credit: http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/200244684-001-stadium-crowd-cheering-one-man-looking gettyimages.jpgv=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d =GhSDEdQU%2Bx3LE4Rl9slTcDE5jn3rLu6YWkEasn12i%2FSKFvWKTALzdysNRefJdD8MRDrQLttB0P2Y9wfzmiLPVA%3D%3D This past week in my Sports Communications class, we’ve been talking a lot about what it means to be a fan. We discussed everything from the various levels and dedication of fandom, to why we love the teams and idolize the players we do. What about the other side? Did we ever stop to wonder what it truly means to be an athlete? When the game is over, the fans go home and the past becomes the past; the game becomes just a game. But for an athlete? That’s not always the case. Whether you’re a major league baseball player or a backyard whiffle ball aficionado, you get “the feels” after every game. Win or lose, there’s always a “why did X happen” or “how could we have done Y better.” There’s never an off season; there’s no such a thing as 100% relaxed; “role models” are never out of the spotlight We give them so much flack for some of the things they do and always forget to consider hey, they’re people just like you and me. Many argue that with elevated status comes the social responsibility to others and I do agree; but there’s also a line. Peyton Manning is a hero to a lot of little kids. But, just like every other living, breathing, stressed-out human, he should be able to kick back on his couch with some popcorn and Pulp Fiction without having to worry about what others think of him. People are athletes; athletes are human people. I feel as if sometimes fans forget that. Peyton Manning Image: http://img.deseretnews.com/images/article/mcontentimage/886937/886937.jpg This week in class we discussed what it means to be a sports fan and how we perceived that way we all fit into the respective categories. While I wrote a blog awhile back about how “a” sports teams becomes “your” sports team, I didn’t truly stop to consider some of the key driving points behind some of my “fandom.” However, for me personally, understanding my fandom and overall love of sports runs a bit deeper I think. Eustress Desire: stress that is deemed healthful or giving one the feeling of fulfillment I LOVE the blood-pumping adrenaline that comes from watching sports, playing sports, or ANYTHING to do with sports! It’s addictive (and I may or may not have a problem). I have always been good under pressure and enjoyed the high-emotion and high-stakes that seem to be the “feel” that accompanies athletics. When Dr. Watkins talked about the eustress desires concept I really had an “ah-ha” moment because I’d never been able to give a title to the way I felt. There’s something about truly feeling the pressure, calming yourself to the point of pure clarity, and then kicking into gear to solve problems that gives me a wonderful, successful feeling. To be honest, I think that part of the reason I want to go into sports management and public relations is because I do my best work when I’m feeding off of stressful situations. It’s a weird concept, I know; but I love it. Another part about our class discussion that really got me was social identification theory. The theory is most importantly concerned with how we identify with a group or an organization and that hit close to home. I was a three-season athlete all through high school as were my best friends. We spent four years moving from softball season to basketball season to lacrosse season; back to back to back. That was my “identifying group” and how people knew me. When I got to college I made the sad realization that intramurals were not as competitive as I once thought and I was now out of that team atmosphere. That social identification concept is what drove me to go out for the clubs and organizations I did because I wanted that belonging feeling and that eustress desire back. YouTube: it makes us laugh; it makes us cry; it causes us to procrastinate on our work; it provides us with endless entertainment and possibilities. It’s safe to say we’re all guilty of spending unnecessary hours browsing the site for funny cat videos or clips of people embarrassing themselves, but there’s no denying the powerhouse video has become. I once asked my friend why he was late to work and he said he’d been watching YouTube blogs for five hours and lost track of time. Apparently people do that; who knew. In the past decade’s technology boom professional sports franchises, and even a number of its standout athletes, have been increasingly recognizing the golden opportunity that video presents its marketing and branding efforts. Video offers a unique perspective and inside looking, making the experience more intimate and inclusive. It’s one thing to read an article in which a player is quoted, or even potentially wrote themselves; it’s a completely different ball-game when the player breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to his or her audience. I’ll be completely honest; I’m not a huge Paul Rabil fan. Rabil, There is no denying he is a talented athlete and I respect him for his impressive branding tactics, but from the several professional interactions I’ve had with him…he’s just not my cut of tea. However, I’d be lying if I said the YouTube video he produced with Chesapeake Bayhawks attakman, Drew Westervelt, didn’t get me hyped. The video features Rabil and Westervelt comically attempting to toss a lacrosse ball the half-mile across the frozen Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. The video is made with Rabil’s GoPro – who, conveniently, happen to be one of his sponsors – and makes the viewer experience feel more personal because he commentates the entire shenanigan. While it may just have been a spontaneous adventure between two incredibly talented and – no shame – attractive friends, it’s easy to see the marketing behind the mayhem. So what other possibilities does YouTube offer its viewers and creators? I guess we'll just have to explore and see. |
WHY BLOG?Throughout the Spring 2015 semester I used this blog as a means in which to voice my ideas and opinions regarding the discussions held in my Topics in Sports Communication course at Virginia Tech. Archives
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