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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 2021. See more features at CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID.
Sydney Anderson – Shenandoah University, Assistant Athletic Communications Director
by Barb Kowal – CoSIDA Director of Professional Development and External Affairs
Sydney Anderson ’13 has served as the full-time assistant athletic communications director at her alma mater since the summer of 2018 and is in her sixth year overall serving on the Hornets’ SID staff. A former All-Conference lacrosse standout at Shenandoah, Anderson was awarded the school’s female Athletic Director's Award in 2013, the highest award given to a Shenandoah student-athlete for outstanding athletics, academics and community service. An emerging campus leader, Anderson also served on the Hornets’ RED team on racial equality and diversity and last May, was one of four people across the Shenandoah campus to earn a Wilkins Award for exemplary work in helping the department return to spring competition following competition halted by the pandemic.
Read more from this HGTV and the DIY Network fan as she talks about transitioning from a teaching career to her SID career, working in a small office, gives some productivity tips, advice for young professionals, and tells us what she is focusing on outside of work these days.
Sydney Anderson in Buzzy Plaza outside of the Shenandoah University James R. Wilkins, Jr. Athletics & Events Center before the first home contest of Spring '21.
What drew you to this field?
SA: I graduated from Shenandoah with a teaching degree and taught in the public school system for five years before deciding on a career change. After some reflection on my life goals, I realized I was using teaching to get into an administration role but also wanted the opportunity to stay in the sports world. I had worked in the communications department for (Shenandoah Associate AD) Scott Musa during undergrad and had done statistics work in basketball and lacrosse for two years. Shenandoah approved a full-time Assistant Athletic Communications Director position and it was a natural fit and transition for both Scott and I.
Favorite aspects of your job?
SA: Athletic communications incorporated my passion for sports and what I loved most about teaching, which was serving people and the ability to form relationships with people in so many different walks of life. My student assistants and the student-athletes I get to know over their college careers is the absolute best part of working in college athletics. I really value investing time in my workers and getting to teach them skills that will prepare them for the world outside of college whether they choose to pursue a career in sports, medical field or a classroom.
Does being a former student-athlete help you relate better to coaches and student-athletes? Besides time management, which is a given (!), what experiences or skills from being a student-athlete has helped you as an athletic communications professional?
SA: Being a Shenandoah graduate and continuing to work and be involved in the SU community does show student-athletes, their parents, coaches and my student assistants that I am invested in the Hornets and will do what I can to promote their stories and their success and grow the university image throughout the community. My dad still attends women’s lacrosse games and never fails to meet a recruit and their parents, and then he proceeds to gush over his daughter’s time at Shenandoah and how much Coach Lindsey Lutz and the women’s lacrosse program means to me and our family.
I spent my lacrosse career all over the field, playing every position but goalie. Honestly no one would have wanted me to replace an All-Conference goalie, anyways. I learned how to be flexible, focus on how to be a well-rounded player, put the team's success before my own, and see the bigger picture. Being a well-rounded teammate and role player rather than focusing on just one skill that isn’t always utilized is something that has translated into the sports information/communication world for me. Our position is truly a jack-of-all-trades which can be incredibly daunting but it’s really important to also recognize your limitations and not be afraid to say “that’s a great idea, but your request is above my skill set.”
Anderson was a All-League standout lacrosse captain for Shenandoah, playing from 2010-13 and finishing her career with 57 goals and 43 assists (100 career points).
At Shenandoah, currently you are operating solo as Scott Musa is on paternity leave. As we face the crossover seasons and your staff is limited, what are your productivity tips for athletic comms pros?
SA: As I mentioned before, I am really blessed to have such great student assistants and workers so I am confident we will survive the paternity leave!
Coming from an educational background, I have invested a lot of time into teaching certain aspects of our jobs to my students to the point where they can run a soccer match while I am over in the Wilkin’s Athletic & Events Center getting a volleyball match started.
My advice would be to invest time into those student workers and interns. Show them you care about them as a person before even talking about work or their job. It can be tiresome in the beginning to do that, but it pays in dividends for the future. My upperclassmen are now training first-year students and we are managing fine and will make it work with some creative solutions. Scott has been a great mentor and is always a phone call away … except for while changing a diaper or giving his newborn a bath!
Also, I have to give a massive shoutout to Opendorse and their partnership with us. I cannot tell you how valuable it has been to be able to schedule out our social media posts for the week using their platform. Prepping everything you can ahead of time makes game day so much smoother and keeps the focus on the game operations aspect of our job.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing our athletic communications industry today?
SA: I think resources are the biggest challenge. Coaches and administrators approach me with really great ideas, especially when it comes to social media and digital content. I really do appreciate that they truly believe my skill set is the same as digital creators and graphic departments at Power 5 schools. I would love to have someone on staff be solely dedicated to the digital marketing and creative role because of the role those play in recruiting, but partnerships with BoxOut and Opendorse have lightened the burden a little bit for our small communications shop.
Tell us about the 2020-21 James R. and Mary B. Wilkins COVID-19 Special Award you received from Shenandoah this past May. Congratulations on such a tremendous recognition, as you were one of four faculty and staff members honored!
In nominating you, your supervisor Scott Musa wrote “Sydney has done excellent work this past year as we have gotten our student-athletes back to competition. Sydney worked tirelessly to make sure every event went off seamlessly and improved our product in the process. Her work in moving us to a multi-camera system for basketball was a huge success, as was the addition of two weekly podcasts. I can't say enough of the work Sydney has done during her time here, but it is especially noticeable in 2021.”
SA: Thank you. It was such a wonderful and humbling honor. The award winners are selected by President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., her vice presidents and the Board of Trustees. The criteria reads “These special awards are presented to members of the faculty and staff with consideration of the following criteria: outstanding leadership during the COVID-19 crisis that helped to sustain life, continue/enable education, or make life more fulfilling for the university and for our communities.”
Working alongside Scott and our staff, we hosted nearly 100 home events in the spring and had nearly 225 events in total, like many of our colleagues. Scott nominated me for this award, and I am so grateful.
At the 2021 NCAA Division II & Division III Women's Lacrosse Championships, hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) and Roanoke College. L to R: Piedmont Assistant AD of Communications and CoSIDA Executive Board member Danielle Percival, ODAC Assistant Commissioner J.J. Nekoloff, and Sydney Anderson
What advice do you have for someone new to the industry?
SA: Take the time to develop genuine relationships with people across the board, whether it’s within the media, conference, region, community, school or department. All of those relationships are necessary to be successful. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from those people and when you become in a position to do so, always pay it forward and help the newcomers after you.
What are your biggest career successes to date?
SA: We were able to produce some podcasts last year while sports were limited; that was pretty fun. We intend on starting them back up after Musa’s paternity leave is done. My hosts and I are excited to do those in person, rather than on Zoom.
I have gotten pretty lucky with the teams I get to cover. The women’s basketball team won the conference championship game as an eight seed. I have seen quite a few school records be re-written in baseball, football, field hockey, cross country, and track & field. I am also especially proud of watching how far both the men's and women's lacrosse teams have progressed since first stepping onto the field in that jersey in 2009, but I might be a little biased there!
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference along with Roanoke College and Randolph-Macon College have hosted the last two DIII NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championships and I was fortunate enough to be a part of both of those operations. I led the statistician crew last year with Piedmont’s Danielle Percival (a CoSIDA Board member), with us under the direction of ODAC Associate Commissioner J.J. Nekoloff. Those have been great professional experiences that I look forward to continuing.
During the fall of 2020, Sydney Anderson and her Shenandoah college lacrosse teammates Sam Donaughy, Amy Rollins, Ashley Cross went to Ogunquit, Maine for a vacation on the Maine coast.
After hours, outside of work, what would someone find you doing (hobbies, relaxing, etc.)?
SA: I bought a house right before the pandemic. She’s a bit of a fixer-upper, but I was raised on HGTV and the DIY Network so outside of work I have been doing a lot of small projects to make the house feel more like a home.
Would you rather work in a big city or a small town (if you could have the same job both places)?
SA: Small town - big city driving stresses me out.
This or that: Are you an introvert or extrovert?
SA: I think it depends on the situation. I have no problem making a friend out of a stranger but there are also times where I just want to sit back, observe, and listen.
This or that: Would you rather be famous in your career field or celebrity famous?
SA: Neither … I think I would prefer to be a small-town celebrity if that’s a thing. I would much prefer genuine connections with people rather than be recognized by just sight.