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
Wilson Wong
University of British Columbia Manager, Sports Information 
CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee member
by Barb Kowal, CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Relations
CoSIDA Week Committee member
Wong is the Manager of Sports Information at one of the most athletically accomplished universities in North America - the University of British Columbia. UBC athletic teams have earned 110 national championships as both a member of the U Sports (formerly known as the CIS, Canadiana Interuniversity Sport) national association and USA-based NAIA, with over 200 conference titles and 200-plus Olympians. Wong entered the athletic communications field after an early focus on broadcast journalism. He began is position at UBC in September 2011.
At what point in your life life did you know that you wanted to work in athletics and when and how did you decide to go into athletic communications?
Wong: As a child, I listened to hockey, football, and basketball games on the radio, mostly hockey broadcasts with Jim Robson doing play-by-play. When I realized that I wasn't going to be outstanding at any sport, and that was when I was in elementary school, I thought being a broadcaster might be a neat way to be around sports.
My original interest in collegiate athletics was geared towards covering games and teams as a play-by-play broadcaster and a campus newspaper reporter while a University of British Columbia student. As I gained experience and got to know the UBC sports information staff, I learned more about the things they did and all the different requests and regulations they needed to fulfill every day. Since I had been a campus radio play-by-play person, I had dealt with the SID staff. It opened up possibilities in my mind about what I could do, if I wanted a career change.
Give a quick synopsis of your background and work. How did your previous experiences prepared you for your current job?
Wong: I'm a proud graduate of John Oliver Secondary School in Vancouver. Go Jokers! I went to UBC for my undergrad, and then did two years in broadcast journalism at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. After that, I did radio news, and sometimes sports, reporting at CBC Radio One in Vancouver for five years before I started at UBC in September 2011.
My time as a reporter helps me always understand what media members want when they're covering a story involving one of our teams or athletes. It has also showed me it is important to be someone who works well as part of a team. Working in a newsroom exposed me to a lot of different personalities, with different needs and demands, just like in an athletic department. And working with deadlines to get stories on air has helped prepare me for the need to get information out in a timely manner.
Your UBC departmental area is called Sports Information, Marketing, Communications and Sponsorship. As the Manager of Sports Information, what is your role?
Wong: My main role is to make sure our department meets all league and national association regulations involving statistics and rosters, as well as coordinating and updating website information. I also deal with league requests such as coaches polls, season previews and awards nominations. Other duties include some writing, social media coordination, some play-by-play broadcasting, game-day and team programs, archiving, record-keeping, historical research, and photography requests.
There are two full-time communications staffers in our department. Len Catling, our Senior Manager, Media Relations and Communications, is my supervisor and serves as the primary contact for all the teams, whereas I will be the first contact for inquiries about stats, awards, programs, etc. It is an evolving setup and things will change as we try to become more efficient at what we do.
At UBC, you have 25 varsity sports and you compete in both the U Sports (formerly called the Canadian Interuniversity Sport association), Canada's national governing body for college sports, and the US-based NAIA. Which sports compete in the NAIA, and do they also compete in U Sports competitions, too? How difficult is it to for the department to operate in two associations?
Wong: CIS changed to U Sports just a few weeks ago, on Oct. 20. Our NAIA sports are baseball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, softball and men's and women's track and field. UBC doesn't compete in U Sports in any of those sports. We used to in cross country and track and field. It makes for a pretty interesting history! Our football team also played in two American conferences in the 1940s and 50s as well.
In terms of sports information, I don't think there is a lot more difficulty to have teams in U Sports and the NAIA. No matter which association a team or school is a part of, there are regulations on timely communications, roster and schedule entries and stats, and there aren't too many major differences in those areas between the NAIA and U Sports.
Several years ago, Canadian SIDs were invited to become a part of the CoSIDA organization. Have you been able to attend a CoSIDA convention?
Wong: I was able to attend the 2015 CoSIDA convention in Orlando, Fla. It was a wonderful, eye-opening experience with so much to learn and so many people to thank for their help.
How long have you served as the CIS liaison to the Academic All-America committee and what is your role
Wong, left, working in-game with UBC student assistants.
in that capacity?
Wong: This is my second year on the Academic All-America committee. My main role is to let more of my colleagues know about the program and its many benefits, and to get them to nominate their athletes to bring more exposure - international exposure - to their amazing achievements.
What are some of the issues facing athletic communicators in the U Sports association?
Wong: It seems a lack of resources is a huge issue for athletic communicators across Canada, although it is not unique to our country. They are being asked to excel in more and more areas, ranging from webcasting and social media to photography and media relations, without getting more help or more money. There is not full understanding by decision makers on the amount of work and time needed to produce what athletic communicators output every day.
The tradition of success of British Columbia athletics is impressive - 102 CIS Championships, eight NAIA national titles and over 200 conference championships. What is it like to work at a school with such a tremendous athletic tradition of success? Does that create more expectations for your department?
Wong: Thunderbirds teams have won multiple conference and national championships every year since I've started at UBC, and it is just so inspiring. There is always so much excitement any time a national championship tournament begins. Each team has its own inspirational story of success, and I get really happy when I see the efforts of our students and staff pay off. In our department, coaches, staff and student-athletes are always talking about how we can improve at what we do and how to get better. There is a big emphasis on finding the right process and consistently improving.
The coaches and student-athletes are hoping we can be at the nationals to capture images and videos of their success - but that can't always be the case, unfortunately. Winning creates more expectations for sure, since we all believe these championships are special achievements and each student and coach who made that success happen should be properly honored.
What advice would you give a young professional looking to enter the athletic communications field? What they should know about the job, what skills they should bring to the position?
Wong: There are so many things to say! Be someone who comes up with solutions, and tackles problems in a calm manner. Learn to work well as part of a team. Acquire as many skills as possible: writing, doing stats, social media, graphic design, the technical concepts of webcasting, doing commentary, photography, and video. There'll always be a time where you'll to fill in somewhere because of an emergency, and you can always use those skills to help out a fellow SID. With the photography and video, it is very likely you'll need to be able to produce your own material to give out to the media.
Know the job is going to consume every one of your weekends for most of the academic year. You will learn a lot! When you get the job, ask for help from your fellow SIDs. Make it a priority to make your student workers' experience a good one. Work to understand the goals of other people in your department and school.
How do you carve out free time as a busy professional, and what do you do while away from work?
Wong: This is the area where I need most improvement, as I really have no work-life balance to speak of. I need to be better in terms of time management and planning to ensure I do have some time away from work, especially during the school year. When I am away from work, I try to make sure I see friends and family, especially since it seems as if everyone I know is starting a family and having babies! I am a big fan of the Cleveland Browns ... Photography is my main hobby, and I have a long-neglected stamp collection that I frequently think about.
What are some of your future professional goals?
Wong: My future goals aren't necessarily tied to a job position. I want get better at what I do. Most of my goals are related to getting certain tasks completed, like having all 101 years (sometimes more) of results and rosters on our website. I want our records to be as comprehensive as possible, and to digitize our boxes of old photographs and films. Whether it is in my current position or another, I want to be better at developing student leaders since I get to work with almost a dozen a year who are writing and doing statistics for us.