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 2021. See more features at CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID.
Kristin Shaffer – University of the Cumberlands, Assistant Sports Information Director
by Tommy Chasanoff – University of the Cumberlands, Director of Sports Information
Vice Chair, CoSIDA Membership Recognition Committee
Kristin Shaffer is in her third year at the University of the Cumberlands, a NAIA institution in the heart of Appalachia in Williamsburg in southeastern Kentucky. She was elevated to Assistant Sports Information Director in January 2021. Prior to that, Shaffer was a graduate assistant for the Patriots since August 2019. She serves as the main contact for men’s soccer, women’s wrestling and softball while assisting in a variety of other roles within the department. Kristin has earned several NAIA-SIDA national publication awards for her work, including seven top-ten finishes.
Prior to her time at UC, Shaffer was the video coordinator for the University of Nebraska softball program for three years and also has been a content writer for
The Women’s Game, a Australian based women’s professional soccer website. She also worked in a variety of roles for two professional softball teams - the Chicago Bandits and Akron Racers (now Cleveland Comets).
Kristin Shaffer with Assistant AD Tommy Chasanoff in the press box as they livestream a game on the CUSN (Cumberland University Sports Network).
What’s one professional development skill that you find important for SID’s to master to be successful in this profession?
KS: One of the biggest keys for me is the ability to prioritizing my time. Things are going to hit the fan but if you are prepared - or at least have idea of what you’re doing - you can prioritize those needs. It’s also about understanding what tasks need to be done first, understanding your staffing situation and the people in the office to help determine the list of priorities.
It’s also important that you prioritize how much time you’re spending covering each task, especially when covering multiple sports. This is especially critical in crossover season and when you have to prioritize what task needs to get done first at events. It would be great if we have more hours in the day sometimes, but we have to manage with what we have and produce a great product.
What made you want to get into sports information and covering an entire department’s programs after serving as a video coordinator for a specific team at Nebraska?
KS: I left the video coordinator position because I knew I wanted to get my master’s degree, which is part of why I was looking for graduate assistant positions. Sports information covers a broad range of duties that would give me a taste to figure out what aspect of this profession do I want to dive into more, whether its writing, graphics, or stats. When I came to UC, I brought my knowledge of softball and video skills from Nebraska. I also understood the importance of utilizing those skills because I knew that when I started here, I needed to learn stats and how to write recaps for athletic events on the fly. Taking those skills and being a quick learner has really helped me grow. It’s also important to take the time to go to events and ask a lot of questions.
When I went to Nebraska, I didn’t have experience either so what I did there was ask a lot of questions and do trial & error. Remember that Youtube is your best friend. Your co-workers and networking within our conference in general are great resources, because if I don’t know I’ll ask someone. Another key for me was that I understood how to work with coaches, since I dealt directly with the coaching staff at Nebraska. Every coach is different but understanding what they want helps in determining the best way to cover their teams. What seems important to us might not be what the coaches prioritize.
Kristin Shaffer working a University of the Cumberlands Patriots event.
What advice do you have for an SID that are covering a new sport for the first time? You dealt with this at Cumberlands as you serve as the main contact for women’s wrestling and covered the program’s first individual NAIA National Champion.
KS: The first thing is to find out as much as you can about that sport. Women’s wrestling is a newer and growing sport and not a lot of people know about it. Build a rapport with the coaches; this is imperative as I ask them questions all the time; if they can help me understand the sport, then I can do a lot for them and their student-athletes. It also gains you their appreciation because they see that you’re trying. Also, taking the time to learn more about the sport. I knew nothing about women’s wrestling and read a lot to learn as much as I could and just rolled with it.
Also, when covering new sports, play to your strengths. At the point women’s wrestling started I knew how to write recaps but I didn’t understand the verbiage and wrestling terms so I worked off my outline of questions; the more questions I asked, the better relationships I have formed. If I can ask them specific things in terms of lingo and verbiage its going to help them grow their sport and help us SIDs as we convey information to the readers and fans.
Kristin Shaffer operates a camera on the upper camera deck for a Cumberland streaming broadcast.
What’s your biggest career success to date?
KS: I’d have to say our department winning numerous annual NAIA-SIDA publication awards and the 2020-21 NAIA-SIDA Gary Spitler Excellence in Publication Award. We received the Spitler Award as we had the most top-ten finishes, 26, in the publications contest.
It was a team effort as we were able to get all these awards for our coverage of a variety of sports. What’s really cool about that is it has helped us grow as individuals as we continue to strive to raise the bar. Making graphics and writing stories allowed me to be more creative and try things like the “Bridgette Duty National Championship” article and different video and graphic ideas.
A career success for me that is intangible are the relationships that I’ve built. That’s really important! At the end of the day, our athletes, coaches and teams know that we care and are there to promote their success and programs. Getting messages from athletes or the coach in a 10 p.m. text just to say thanks for showing up, are big career moments.
Kristin Shaffer on the golf course capturing the action.