Losing Teams Sharpen SID Skill Set

Say you're an athletics communications professional who has a great idea of the bigger picture and the reason why we do what we do. But you feel like your technical skills of the profession might be weak and want to find a way to sharpen those skills. What should you do?

Go work for a losing team.

That sounds crazy, right? You're thinking: Wouldn't it be a better experience for me to work with a national championship caliber program? Wouldn't I make more contacts? Wouldn't I learn how to do things on a big stage in front of national media at NCAA Tournaments and working with ESPN?

All of that stuff is true, but that's not what we're talking about here. Those are all big-picture abilities. If you want to focus on building a solid foundation, it comes down to two things: (1) Strong athletics communications skill set and (2) A lesson in how to handle adversity and difficult situations. To do that, you want to work for a BCS-caliber losing program.

You've heard the expression "Winning solves all problems." It often does, including deficiencies in your skill sets as athletics communicators. Sure, your volume of workload is going to increase with a winning team, but your ability is really going to be tested when your team is losing. I say a BCS-caliber program because, in order to really learn how to handle this adversity, there is going to need to be significant interest in your losing program. If there is very little fan or media interest, odds are, it doesn't really affect your job as publicist whether your team is winning or losing.

Here are the some of the situations that working with a losing team is going to expose you to and allow you to improve. But, remember, you can't let yourself get frustrated by the whole situation. You have to know that all of the adversity is going to make you better at what you do.

*Sharpens Writing Skills: There is nothing like working with a losing team to sharpen your public relations writing abilities. Now, granted, if you don't care and write brief releases that are more AP-like stylistically, then you're not going to learn anything. But, if you take the time to craft your releases to display your program in the most positive light possible, you're going to become a heck of a writer. The point is, if you can make your fanbase and media feel like you are winning, even when you're on a 10-game losing sreak, then you have become a great public relations writer. If you can do this, you have directed the mood and attitude towards your program away from the negative things (losses) and on to the positive (i.e. - Susie Smith ranks No. 2 in the nation in rebounding or your coach earned his 500th career win.)

*Accountability: You have to run your athletics communications operation the same when you win and when you lose. That's integrity and knowing how to lose. Can you as a professional do that? Working with a losing team is going to teach you accountability. As an athletics communicator, you are going to have to show that your team is just as accountable for its losses as it is for your wins. You need to make sure your coach and players attend to all of their press obligations whether you have lost 10 in a row or won 10 in a row. That's going to test you professionally, because as a communications advisor, you are going to have to convince your student-athletes and coaches that those interviews are in the best interest of the program. They're not always going to want to do the interviews and it isn't always going to be easy.

Here's why it's harder - Very often, a media outlet isn't going to be too worried if player X misses his or her interview after a win, as long as there are an adequate number of players to fulfill their needs for quotes. Here's when it's noticed: When they player misses two free throws and your team loses the game - and that player doesn't do their interviews - then it looks bad for your program. They are failing to hold themselves accountable for their performance and you, in turn, are failing to hold them accountable to their press obligations.

*Is It In The Best Interest of the Program?: Losing will also teach you how to approve and deny interview requests based on the goal of keeping the best interest of your program in mind. Remember, the best interest of your program and athletics department should always be your main priority as an athletics communicator. When you're winning, nearly all of the coverage is positive and whatever negative coverage you receive is probably overlooked.

Throughout the course of your athletics communications career, there are likely going to be times when you have to decline interview requests. It doesn't feel good. One of my favorite things about my job is the opportunity to work with and form relationships with members of the media. I have tremendous respect for what they do and always do my best to help them with their jobs, keeping in mind, however, that is consistent with the best interest of the organization.

With a losing team, you are going to have to evaluate interview requests and whether they are in the best interest of your organization. Is that article about your star center about how she broke the school's all-time single-season rebounds record or is it about how she has missed 22 consecutive free-throws including two instances when that decided the game for your team? You are going to learn to evaluate these situations. You may get it wrong; we all do from time to time. What you learn from making those mistakes helps you get better, as well.

*Coaching Staff: Depending on who your coaches are and what their personalities are like, their attitudes may be significantly dependent on whether your team wins or loses. How do you handle that? You need to remain the same whether your team wins or loses - same demeanor, same objectives, same professionalism. Your tactics to accomplish those things may change, but your focus cannot change.

Say your team goes 7-22 during a season you work with it and your coach is in a sour mood the whole time. Say they take out their frustrations on everyone, including and perhaps especially you. What a learning experience that is for you! If you get through a season where you get dressed down on a multi-daily basis and are still able to maintain your composure and professionalism in completing the responsibilities of your job, you are going to be so, so much better at your job.

*Generating Publicity: Maybe your problem is not trying to prevent negative media coverage, maybe it's trying to get any media coverage at all. You will learn how to effectively promote specific segments of your program positively to try to generate coverage. Maybe it's also how you cover your own team. If you don't have a beat writer, become your own beat writer. Do a blog, write feature stories, do daily notebooks, make videos of your coaches and student-athletes. Keep the positive energy flowing! These are all skills that are going to make you better at what you do.

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I'm not saying that you have to work with a losing team to be good at what you do, but I am saying it helps you sharpen your skill set and your effectiveness. When you are working with those national championship teams or programs that garner a large amount of media coverage, you're going to be better at that because you can fall back on what you learned from working with those losing teams to help get you through.

It's kind of like how it's also beneficial to have experiences at other levels than Division I. How many big-time Division I SIDs out there freeze up when something goes wrong? They have to call over the IT guy or the phone tech or some other specialist. People who have worked at small schools are absolute masters at how to Win with Plan A, Plan B and 911 (see previous post) and can sometimes think more outside the box than those who haven't been forced into those situations.

It's all about building a solid foundation to solidify your career.