College Sports Information Directors of America

Related Content
CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID

---

This feature is part of our series of profiles showcasing members throughout the CoSIDA membership during the celebration of CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week for 2019. See more features at CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID.


Katie Green – NAIA, Manager of Athletic Communications
by Tommy Chasanoff – University of the Cumberlands, Sports Information Director

Katie Green is in her third year as the Manager of Athletics Communications for the NAIA national office. In her time with the NAIA., Katie has covered numerous sports and serves as the liaison for men’s & women’s cross country, men’s & women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, swimming & diving, and track & field. Katie started in the profession as a graduate assistant at Missouri Baptist before working a year as the Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations at University of Louisiana-Monroe.  She also serves as the Legacy Juniors club volleyball coach for the 12-under team based in Kansas City, Kansas.
 
Is there an achievement or contribution that you are most proud of?
I guess I would say that I am most proud of my contribution in being a part of the NAIA championship experience for the sports that I work with. I get to be a part (while maybe a small part, but important) of making the experiences at the championship come alive for the student-athletes. Having been an NAIA student-athlete myself I strive to make the championship experience as good and hopefully better than what I experienced when I attended my respective championship as a volleyball student-athlete. That experience was something that I will remember for the rest of my life. So knowing how much of an impact it had on me it makes me want to make sure that I am doing everything that I can to come through on the things that I am working in to make that happen for many numbers of student-athletes in the NAIA. 
 

How does working at a national office compare to working at a school?
One of the biggest differences for me is not having direct contact with the student-athletes. At the national office we are able to influence the influencers at each of our member schools and I think that’s something that is very neat to think about. It becomes kind of a chain reaction. Another difference is within our day-to day-scheduled. At the national office we have a little bit more of a regular schedule without regular season game days to worry about, but it catches up to us when it’s championship week.

Your career path took you from a graduate assistant at a NAIA school to a Division I school to the NAIA National Office. What’s the biggest lesson that you’ve learned from each of those experiences? 
Probably the biggest thing that I learned as a GA and an intern was time management. I was a student, an athlete, working in the sports information office and trying to occasionally hang out with people that were important to me. While I look at that list now and think it doesn’t seem like a lot, it really was.

While at Division I UL-Monroe, the biggest lessons I learned were that there is such a need for work-life balance. Sometimes you have to draw the line and say no; you can’t please everyone. I don’t think I did anything that did not involve work (except maybe sleep!) and it’s hard to keep up that pace without any kind of recovery time. My emotional/mental stability definitely took a hit because of it. Thankfully, I had a small group of friends there and of course my family (though they were far away) who really helped me through the craziness.

The big lesson while working in a national office – prepare, prepare, prepare. If you do not prepare for an event it makes it very hard to get anything done during the event, prevents you from having the tools that you need for problem-solving, and you end up making a lot of mistakes that could have been limited/prevented had you been more prepared. Also, always prepare for change. I have walked through a lot of change while I have been here at the national office.

Overall, sports information is sports information. Sometimes it is oddly different yet the same from place to place. It’s about finding the right fit for you.
 

What's one communications/social/PR tool that you could not live without and why? 
I’m not 100% sure that it fits in with those specific categories, but the most valuable work tool to me is a mix between my calendar and/or my to-do list. With juggling 15 different championships, I set a lot of reminders on my calendar to keep me on track and give me an idea of how to better manage my time to get each task accomplished. My to-do list is more of a breakdown of things on my calendar. I love to check things off of my list at the end of the day. It gives me a sense of accomplishment - like I am getting somewhere! Sometimes, I will admit that I put the simplest of tasks on my to do list so that I can check it off and hopefully jump start my motivation for some of the bigger tasks that I need to do.
 
How do you have fun at work?
Having fun at work can be easy and challenging at the same time. Keeping things light is important and not jumping to the worst. It is also helpful to have great co-workers to go get bagels or coffee with when you need to step away from your computer for a few minutes. Probably what I have the most fun doing at work is the creative things. For those who don’t know one of my hobbies outside of work are “crafty” (like cross stitch and quilting). So when the crafty side of work comes around, I tend to have a little more fun with them.
 

What is it like to get to cover multiple national championships both as an on-site media coordinator and working from the national office?
Covering each championship is very special. It’s the culmination of all of the work that you’ve been doing for the last three months if not more. The championship atmosphere still gives me all the feels like it did the first time I ever attended one, even if it was several years ago. There’s just something special about a championship tournament and there’s a buzz or electricity that is in the air. (It’s what keeps me going even if I didn’t finish the daily recap and such until 1 a.m. that morning.)

I would be lying if I said working a championship through a media coordinator was just as fun as being there. It makes it harder to be in tune with what is going on and to properly service some of our membership. BUT it does provide a great experience for the media coordinator and all of my media coordinators have been an absolute joy to work with.

When I was in college and looking for a career, I didn’t want just an office job where I felt like I was chained to a desk all day. As it’s been said before, this business is about people and championships are what largely get me out from behind my desk, away from my computer and working with our membership a little more directly. It helps to get real feedback (we all know how easy it is to misinterpret an email) and it goes a long way in building trusting relationships.
At championships, I can create stronger relationships with our membership, and also benefit from working alongside our hosts. It’s the best when you’ve been working with someone for months and primarily communicating through email - and then you get to meet them in person and work collaboratively during this huge event. Because of NAIA championships, I have colleagues all over the country.