A sports information director covers all sports in which a college or university participates, attending and summarizing events, recording statistics, organizing interviews, and reporting to the media. Accuracy is crucial in recording statistics, and the director may also organize special events to publicize the athletic department’s accomplishments and gain attention at the national level.
A sports information director essentially works behind the scenes on a sports program. He is usually responsible for covering all sports in which a college or university participates. That means big sports like football and basketball, as well as smaller sports like swimming and tennis. Some of the key duties of a sports information director include attending and summarizing sporting events, recording statistics, organizing interviews and reporting to the media.
An essential aspect of this job is attending sporting events and providing a brief afterwards. During each event, a sports information director is responsible for paying attention to player achievements. In addition, it will record the scores and general happenings of the game. This information will be distributed to various media at a later date.
Another big part of the job is consistently recording accurate statistics from sporting events. For example, if a director of sports information were to watch a baseball game, he would record information such as the batting average for each batter and the earned run average for each pitcher. If he watched a football game, he would record information such as a quarterback’s passes and touchdown completions. This information is valuable and can affect the future of athletes and coaches. Therefore, it is imperative that everything recorded is completely factual and accurate.
Arranging interviews between the media and coaches or players is another responsibility of this position. Basically, a sports information director acts as an intermediary between the media and athletic teams. To that end, he will schedule interviews and provide the media with statistics on each sporting event.
He is also often responsible for organizing any kind of special event that involves the athletic department. Some examples include autographs and Hall of Fame inductions. This in turn helps publicize the athletic department’s accomplishments and achieve notoriety. This is important because it can affect the department’s budget. Gaining attention, especially at the national level, can therefore help funnel more money into the school’s program.
In addition, reporting consistently to the media is common practice. All pertinent information such as player stats, game results and highlight plays are documented and shared with the media. Sometimes this information is distributed to a magazine and sometimes to a website or online publication. If he works at a big name school, the information might also be provided for a television or radio show. As a result, it is important for a sports information director to be organized and possess effective communication skills.
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