College Sports Information Directors of America

This feature is one of the many profiles we are doing to showcase our diverse CoSIDA membership during 2016 CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week. To see all the feature stories leading up to - and during - CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week, please click HERE.

OUR STORIES

Craig Hicks
Denison University Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications
CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee member

by Barb Kowal, CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Relations
CoSIDA Week Committee member


We know that today's athletics communicator fulfills a lot of roles, possesses a tremendous skill set and wears many hats as:
Count Denison University's Craig Hicks among the very best at representing what an athletic communicator's role should be.

Hicks is in his 15th year at Denison, a nationally-recognized Division III liberal arts institution in the heart of Granville, Ohio, located 35 miles northeast of Columbus. This fall marked his first year in a new role as Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications. From 2002 through 2016 he served as the department's sports information director.

It's the work of Hicks throughout the years which has helped position athletics - and Hicks himself - as a key partner in the overall Denison University branding and outreach efforts.

Responsible for the publicity of 23 varsity sports with one full-time assistant (Jason Miller), Hicks has overseen the creation of the Denison Sports Network as he and Jason organize and train a team of student broadcasters to provide live audio and video play-by-play; enhanced the Big Red social media platforms; done four complete website redesigns in 13 years; and headed a committee that developed a visual identity guide for athletics.

And, two years ago, he successfully nominated and promoted one of Denison's all-time top scholar-athletes, football's Dr. Grant Jones, for CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame honors and accompanied him to his induction ceremonies in Orlando during the 2015 CoSIDA convention. His feature on Jones being inducted earned Hicks a district award in the 2016 CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest.

This nomination followed Hicks' many years of serving on the Academic All-America committee.

"I thank Mark Beckenbach (Ohio Wesleyan and current Academic All-America committee chair) for getting me involved in the AAA committee many years ago," Hicks said. "I have been a district coordinator and now I am helping Mark and (Rose-Hulman's) Kevin Lanke on the internal operations of the balloting.

"Getting Dr. Grant Jones into the AAA Hall of Fame was tremendous. And, the process of nomination is easy. You just have to allot time to prepare the materials. He got in on his first try which was exciting. It proved that you did not have to be a Grant Hill or Shane Battier and a super well-known name to get in. The college was thrilled. We did an institutional video on it, my boss flew down for it. It was a great thing and a big highlight of my career. It realy helped that Grant is a tremendous guy who loves Denison. He is now in our athletic hall of fame and the AAA Hall of Fame and these have brought him back to the college more - aweome, priceless stuff. I don't know if I will be able to top that!

With a campus culture that enables management and staff to work together in a positive way to shape their messages, Hicks is empowered in his role.

"I am fortunate to be part of the group creating the strategic communications path of the university - I feel looped in daily," he remarked. "Our President, Adam S. Weinberg, is watching us and his office is in constant communications with ours as we all make sure we are on message with our university communications. Jack Hire, now in our Office of Alumni and Family Engagement, was our SID and coach a long time ago and I can pick up the phone and contact him.

"I am now in bigger email groups and our groups holds strategic meetings and I never miss the opportunity to participate," Hicks said. "President Weinberg calls it the "visibility team." He recognizes how many eyeballs are on Denison athletics daily. He know the number of people following our videostreams - and is receptive to new ideas. For instance, on our streams before, we filled dead time (timeouts, halftimes) with music. Now, we've changed our production strategies and we air campus PSAs and commercials on internship opportunities, mentoring, the campus arts scene. Our communications office does this messaging and we implement it for our parents and fans to see."

It's opportunities like this - and the fact that he can stay in constant contact with coaches and student-athletes in the small department- that has kept Hicks at Denison all these years.

Hicks talked about why he chose sports information as his career.

"My first job in sports was writing for a local paper covering my high school teams. I got into arguments with editors that I was too biased, and that rubbed me the wrong way," Hicks noted. "Then, in college at Ashland University, I started working in sports information, and I saw this new opportunity and a new world where I could be embedded as part of a team and promote from within. That became my No. 1 priority, yet I knew there were only so many of those jobs out there. So, I decided to get more experience in other athletic areas like marketing, minor league baseball, college ticketing, just to market myself better."

Hicks received his degree from Ashland in 1999 and graduated with majors in journalism/English and sports communication. He went on to receive his Master of Science in sports education, also from Ashland, in May of 2002.

In between his undergraduate and graduate years, he spent time as an intern in the athletic ticketing office at the

University of Notre Dame (1999-200) and also served internships with the Cleveland Indians AA affiliate, Akron Aeros (now Akron Rubber Ducks) and the Ashland University public relations office.

"I always knew deep down that sports information I was the job for me. I knew I preferred small schools. I loved my Notre Dame experience in ticketing but it reinforced that the small school environment fits me better," Hicks said.

"Working with everyone here at Denison, I feel invested in every sport. That's unique and special. We know it can be frustrating at times to have a small staff, but if I was working one or two sports at a big school I would miss so many other things."

In addressing some of those challenges felt by athletic communicators, Hicks offers some advice on how to combat them and talks about important skills for those in the profession.

"Number one, I wish I sometimes saw more energy and positivity and a love for the athletic communications job," he remarked. "Generally, I am excited to be here at Denison. As are many, many of our peers. Yet, I cannot get over how some people are negative about the field and the position. You need to be in this for the right reasons. This is a job that pays you back a ton - sometimes when you need it the most. Who knows what is going to happen each day? You might get a big win, you might have a crisis that calls upon your skills, you might get a great local TV feature done on an athlete, you might get a thank you from a coach or alumnus. These are the things in this job that continue to pay me back and fill me up."

"Sometimes what gets overlooked is that our summers are pretty good," Hicks said. "I probably work 30 hours per week in the summer. My wife, Amy, is a teacher and we can travel and do a lot of things in the summer, so that helps. I would tell people to take advantage of the chunks of down time you have."

Hicks encourages athletic communicators to constantly evaluate why they are in the positions they hold.

"I have the long hours and stresses on home life, like everyone else. I know many are worried about FLSA overtime policies and pay. We know what we are signing up for! I let my wife know that, too. But ask yourself - why are you doing this?," Hicks added. "I love sports. I get to write about a 7-0 football team. No job is perfect. And, we need to do a better job of letting our leaders know all we do for our organizations and be strategic about letting them know the role we play in creating awareness for our universities.

"Positivity and attitude are huge. Work on your skills to be an excellent communicator and learn how to be able to work with all kinds of people - which takes getting used to. That is learned over time. Be a people person. Be a good listener. I get out of my chair and walk the coaching office halls - that's a great use of time. Don't be a "time vampire," as one of my coaches puts it, but spend constructive time."

The ability to be a problem-solver is another critical role of the SID.

"It's also important for athletic communicators to be problem solvers. Be prepared in meetings and offer solutions. Be able to think on your feet and not freak out. Of course things go wrong - a lot - and that's a hard part of the job. Your stream might go down, stats program freezes, a local feature doesn't run when you thought it would, there are constant deadlines to hit - that can be frustrating and wear on you but keep your cool and keep it in perspective. All this will help you connect to others, especially the upper managers, and in turn, others will appreciate you and your value to the overall department," Hicks noted.

And that value does not go unnoticed by Denison staffers.

"Craig is recognized in our department and across campus as amazing at what he does," said Denison head men's basketball coach Bob Ghiloni. "He is genuinely excited and invested in each team and their successes. The other day, I was meeting with my team having a "core values" discussion and one of my players said, 'Coach, talk about a good teammate - that's Craig our SID. He does a great job behind the scenes.' I think a lot of SIDs are good journalists and do a good job, but Craig is all in and really cares about all our athletes and the programs."

Ghiloni went to to tak about how he tells recruits, their parents and friends of Denison athletics about Hicks being a teacher for their sons and daughters.

"Several of my basketball players have worked in the sports information office, and they come away fully prepared for their first career jobs," Ghiloni noted. "Two of my players went into SID work and then went down other paths. Mike Garabedian went to Oregon for an internship and now is in PR in Chicago. Mike tells others how Craig let him do 'real work' from day one, taught him the ins and out of communications, and connected him for internships and job interviews. My former player Shea McMahon, another student worker for Craig, is doing PR and advocacy work for an architecture firm. He was taught his graphic skills and communications skills by Craig, and credits him for jumpstarting his career."

"Craig is a friend and advocate for coaches and a real mentor for students," Ghiloni concluded. "First, his staff and students do fantastic work for our teams. Second, it's like having another professor work with these kids. That means so much to all of us here."