Name:
Bill Thomas
Team:
Dayton Flyers
Job Title:
Assistant Director of Athletics Communication
What I do:
I oversee the media relations, website, media guide and stats for the women’s basketball team along with many other sports at UD. I work in an office along with two other full-time staff members, an intern and a student staff of 10-12 workers.
How long I've been doing it:
I am in the middle of my third year at UD. I got my start as an undergrad at Susquehanna University in Central PA, where I worked in the Sports Info office for three years. After graduation, I was an intern at Xavier University in Cincinnati for three years before getting married and coming to UD.
Training/Education:
B.A. – Susquehanna University
MEd - Xavier University
My responsibilities on a "typical" day:
One of the best and worst parts of my job is that there is no “typical” day, which I am sure can be said for anyone who works in athletics. On a “normal” day, I get to the office around 8 am and have a number of projects waiting for me. My work varies from updating game notes, to writing articles for the web, to working on a media guide for the upcoming season. My job is made easier by a student staff that does a lot of the small, but tedious jobs that pop up on a day to day basis. Without our student staff, I would not have the time to promote our teams to the media and get their names/faces in the newspapers and on TV. A usual day for me starts around 8 AM and ends with me doing some work at home until 9 or 10 PM.
My responsibilities on a game day:
I usually get into the office around the same time and try to get some work done until about lunch time. Then I switch my focus on the game that night. Now with almost everything on computers, a lot of the work is simplified. With the use of email and IM, I can trade info with other SIDs much quicker than when I first started working in Sports Info, just under 10 years ago. I head over to the arena about four hours before the game and help the students get things setup. We are in charge of setting up the stat monitors and phone courtside that are used by the media and broadcasters. We also need to setup the media room for people to hang out before the game and work afterwards. As the game moves along, I can do anything from commenting on the radio, to helping out with stats, to writing a story to put on the web afterwards. When the game finishes, I help to get the box scores, quotes and story on the web and faxed out to the media. That usually keeps me at the Arena about two hours after a game has ended.
Biggest challenge:
The biggest challenge all members of the Sports Information field face is trying to keep up with an ever growing need for the public to know EVERYTHING. The web has created the need to know, right now, what is going on with every part of each team at UD. That can be both good and bad, but either way it has shortened the amount of time that we have to complete all of the tasks that are presented to us.
Biggest reward:
I enjoy watching the athletes compete. It is always fun to win championships and those teams usually get recognition. However, sometimes it is more fun to watch a team that is not as good as the others, give it their best shot. Those teams are sometimes have the best story lines for an SID.
Biggest misconception about this job:
All we do is keep stats and work on game days. Some of the busiest times of the year for us are November (when fall overlaps with winter), March (when winter overlaps with spring) and July (when the media guides need to get rolling along for the fall sports).
To be most successful at this job...
You have to have a good mix of writing skills and the ability to communicate with all types of people. Also the ability to be flexible to trying new things each and every day.
Advice I'd give to someone pursuing this career:
Make sure you understand the time commitment! I work a lot of hours, and travel a bunch during the season. I know that it is hard for my family because in order to be successful many times my job pulls me away from home.
What I love about sports:
It is unpredictable. Both teams are trying as hard as they can to compete to the best of their ability. When that happens you can have some of the most memorable games, no matter what the sport is.
When I leave this job I'd like to be able to say that I...
Made a difference. I got into this job because I loved sports. Now I am still in this job because I love sports, but more because I want to give back to all of the people who helped me love sports. Our student workers and student-athletes give a lot of time to their sport and it is important that they are able to look back on their years at UD in a positive way.