College Sports Information Directors of America

Related Content
• CoSIDA.com/CoSIDA360 Magazine Archive

---

Note: This story appeared in the Spring 2021 May edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here. 

A Day in the Life of 'Sprall' 

Athletic communicators are grateful and tired.

by Danielle Potts – CoSIDA Intern  @dmargiep

There is never a ‘typical day’ in athletic communications. However, this spring the roles have changed tremendously for athletics communicators. Some institutions haven’t competed in a sporting event since March of 2020. Others have faced what many athletic communicators call “sprall” — a spring filled with fall, winter and spring sporting events. On top of this, sports information staff are still managing the pandemic and Covid-19 protocols on their campuses. For the five people who responded to this story, they’ve been working through “sprall.” They have been juggling multiple sporting events each week as fall, winter and spring seasons begin to blend into the summer. They show us what a day in the life is like at their respective institutions this year.

Thanks to these five members who took time out of their busy schedules to provide a look into what things have been like these past few months:

• Jesse Campbell, Cornerstone
  Assistant AD for Communications and Marketing
• Daniel Hasko, Murray State
  Media Relations Graduate Assistant
• Kevin Lanke, Rose-Hulman
  Assistant AD for Sports Information & Communications
• Romanda Noble-Watson, Claflin
  Sports Information Director
• Krista Pirtle, Baylor
  Associate Director of Athletics Communications

How many events do you have on the weekends?

Campbell: Right now we are ranging from 11-12 events per Saturday with 6-7 on a Friday, and about half of those at home each weekend. The school has a total of 19 varsity sports, but things started to slow down as basketball ended and volleyball and soccer started to wind down.

Hasko: While spring seasons are always hectic, this year has truly been a challenge with traditional fall sports competing in the spring due to the pandemic. This “super crossover” season presented new obstacles — especially when basketball and football overlapped, and our department covered 15-20 events on the weekends on a pretty consistent basis this spring.

Lanke: We added fall sports of football, soccer and volleyball into the winter and spring. We’ve had as many as 14 events played by 11 different teams on the same day. It’s a little intense!

Pirtle: (On a recent week) I had five. Soccer played on Wednesday, softball had one game on Thursday and a doubleheader on Friday and men’s basketball played in the Final Four on Saturday. I traveled with softball, so I kept up with soccer to be able to tweet highlight clips and take care of the post game recap from the hotel. I also do in-game social for men’s basketball, so we got back to Waco just in time for me to be able to take over for our Final Four win over Houston to advance to the title game.
 

What is game day like on campus for you right now?

Hasko: Game day has been a unique experience this year in that no two have been the same. In the beginning of the year, it was an odd feeling. For example, we got to play our first home softball game in 685 days in early March. The emotions that came with that were really unique. Overall, while things like capacity restrictions and social distancing have given game day a bit of a different feel, I think that we’re all just grateful to be covering live events again.

Campbell: Game day is pretty thin. Usually we have four events at once, but we have an awesome staff that works together to help each other to cover things. I have a lot of student workers, and then we have other administrators and coaches who help when needed to cover the sports info side and the general game administration duties when we have multiple events at once. I think our athletes and fans are just generally grateful to be playing so the environment is not super different right now than it normally is which we are grateful for.

Lanke: We still use a combination of students and our graduate assistants to stream live coverage of multiple events. The one major change we’ve made in the pandemic is to hire more student photographers to help cover more events.

Pirtle: A blur. No matter how much I do beforehand to prepare, it always seems like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Especially this season with only Tier 1 people having access to the field. I used to send a student worker down to handle line ups for softball, but now I’m running down to get them, running back up to put them in StatCrew and then back down again to hand them out. I definitely get my steps in on game days.

Noble-Watson: We have created a small bubble for game days so a typical game day starts three hours before the start of the game. Our protocol is set up that we get tested each game day so it makes for long days.

Do you have any help during this time? Student workers? Assistants?

Pirtle: We have student workers which makes things on game days easier. My students run the stat computers, so I can update social media and handle any photos or videos that come in as well as keep an eye on any stat trends that need to be highlighted. A fun fact? My brother is actually one of our student workers. So, when he used to say that I wasn’t the boss of him … I am now (she says with a smile).

Hasko: While we each have our own “sport assignments” in our department, this year has really been the definition of a team effort. Student workers and even some professors have pitched in on game days this year to help cover various tasks. We are extremely fortunate to know a lot of people at Murray State that are willing to take photos and assist with various game-day responsibilities that help us provide the best possible coverage for our teams. We could not do it without them.

Campbell: We are big on trusting students with responsibilities so I have a good chunk of student workers, interns, and a graduate assistant. Seth Walters, my GA, does a great job splitting roles with me on weekends and covering some sports. Our student workers and interns do a great job with broadcast, stats, and photography help as well and I trust them to take care of things even if I am tied up at other events.

Noble-Watson: I have student-interns who work remotely and a couple of student-interns who work the camera for our streaming. I’m the only one in my office daily.
 

How have you been handling away games?  

Campbell: My GA and I split road coverage each week. With the craziness of this year, we do not assign specific sports but instead are flexible to cover any sport at any time and just do what is best within both our schedules. It has been a relatively good system as we each take about half of the road events and do recaps and social media for those. In game road coverage we have student managers with the team we task with giving social media updates to take that off our plate.

Hasko: Before Covid, I was able to travel to most of our away games. This year, due to restrictions on visiting personnel and home schedule conflicts, I’ve only been able to travel occasionally. I’ve relied on watching the live streams of our away games much more than I ever have before to provide the best coverage of our teams when they are on the road. Additionally, the amount of help I’ve gotten from SIDs at opposing schools has been incredible. They have sent photos or video clips numerous times to help make our coverage as great as it can be in the circumstances. It really goes to show that, as a community of sports information directors, we really are all in this together.

Lanke: We link to visiting coverage and write stories at the end of the day. Our view is to post something on every team that plays in a day before we go to bed. Even if that sometimes means midnight.

Pirtle: Thankfully I get to travel to them. In the spring when I overlap as I have soccer and softball, I go with softball as I traveled with soccer during the fall. Thankfully we have somebody who can fill in for me for home soccer matches while I’m out with softball this spring.
 

What are the Covid protocols on your campus?

Noble-Watson: We have done a really good job as it relates to Covid in my opinion. The staff on campus is scheduled to get tested every two weeks and the students every week. The institution has made it extremely convenient by bringing the testing to us.

Campbell: Masks are to be worn basically at all times. Outdoor athletes have a little more freedom in that, but when together with the team they are to wear masks. Staff are to wear masks and space as best as possible as well. We allow minimal home fans to indoor events and then basically treat outdoor events as normal, we just provide limited seating and encourage fans to bring their own chairs to space around the field. All fans and athletes are required to fill out a screening form each day as well that they come to campus.

Hasko: For our non-ticketed events, we have social distancing measures and mask policies in place to ensure a safe environment for both spectators and student-athletes. For our ticketed events, we have also implemented capacity restrictions on top of these measures.

Lanke: Our teams — and visiting teams in every sport — are required to test within 72 hours of a game to compete on our campus. Our workers that go into the field of play — onto the bench or dugout to take pictures as an example — are also in the testing pool, as are the main sports information staff. We mask and distance, trying to maintain no more than 15 minutes within 6 feet over two days, at every opportunity.

Pirtle: I feel like they’re the same for most everyone else across the country. Wear your mask. Keep your distance. We’re getting tested at least twice a week now, so I’ve finally stopped having to sneeze after getting swabbed.
 

Have you been able to find the time to exercise, spend time with family or friends, eat right, etc.?  

Lanke: I’ve been trying to take Tuesday and Friday afternoons off to be more mentally ready for our busy Wednesday and Saturday sessions. It’s literally over 60 days in a row without a day off if I don’t do that.

Noble-Watson: I try to make time to get at least a 30-minute walk every day for the most part. My husband and I always make time to smell the roses so to speak, so we maximize my off weekends.

Hasko: In my position as a graduate assistant, there has been very little “free time” this spring. With an increased workload due to the unique challenges that this year has presented, balancing work while still making progress in master’s classes eats up most of the day. I will say, I did find a new hobby this year in the game of pickleball. My roommate and I played intramurals and had an absolute blast.

Campbell: For the most part I enjoy staying active so yes I have been able to find time to do that. Our structure at CU is awesome because we are pretty flexible in terms of office hours when we are working so many events so sometimes I will do something in the morning if I know I am going to be working all night. Our coaches and staff have started “noon ball” once a week as well where those who want to just take a break and play basketball for an hour on Wednesdays at noon just to have some fun together. Family and friends have been a little more of a struggle with events every night, but I do my best to stay in communication and they are all pretty understanding.

Pirtle: Not really. One of the hobbies I picked up during quarantine last summer was running, and we’ve got a great loop around our athletics facilities here on the Brazos River. Ideally, I’d lace ‘em up and put in a couple of miles when I’d leave the office, but this spring has been crossover season on steroids with not much time to breathe, much less sleep. I’m also trying to stay in a bubble as much as I can with my sports in season so the only people I ever see at this point are the guys I work with. As far as eating right, I’m super thankful for whoever puts Oreos and peanut butter in my softball snack bags for road trips. I’ve also made plenty of use out of the Keurig on my desk as I’m constantly caffeinating to keep up with everything. But when I do get the rare moment of time off, I make sure to prioritize getting rest and eating healthy.
 

What do you do to decompress after a day full of games?

Campbell: Honestly, sitting on my couch and watching a show is the best way for me to decompress and then I try and just sleep. Need that time to just shut my brain off and TV does that for me and helps me to stop thinking and get into a mode where I can rest before starting a new day.

Hasko: This might sound crazy, but after a day filled with sports, I usually decompress by tuning in to another game or competition that’s on TV. Working in this field has really made me appreciate the times where I can watch my favorite teams or sporting events as a true spectator.

Noble-Watson: I generally watch my favorite TV shows on DVR and sleep.

Pirtle: I try my hardest to stay off my phone and laptop once I get home. I’ve been on social media all day for game coverage, I don’t need to keep staring at a screen once I get home. I’ll usually take my dog for a walk around the neighborhood and either read or watch something on TV. I’ve got one of those over-the-door basketball hoops in my house, and I’ve been working with my dog on becoming the next Air Bud. It’s not going well…
 

Have there been any ‘lessons learned’ during this chaotic time?  

Lanke: I’ve learned to appreciate what we DO have. We didn’t play anything at all for almost 10 months, so I’d rather have an 11-event Saturday that ends at 1 a.m. than have no events at all for our student-athletes.

The other lesson I have been reminded of is trust. I can struggle with that at times as I am often a control freak when it comes to my work, but I have been forced to let go of some things this spring and just trust people to help. Through that, I have learned that there are a lot of people I can trust and a lot of amazing people who are just willing to help.

Noble-Watson: Yes, be sure to do self-care, mentally and physically. When things started last year, I did not do any physical activity for the first month, but then my husband and I made the decision that we need to at least walk to keep our minds and bodies stimulated. I also learned that so many things that I thought were a necessity — weren’t.

Pirtle: I can’t remember who said it, but I heard something before everything shut down that I’ve tried to keep in mind as things got crazier. It’s something about juggling, and you’ve got some of the balls that are rubber and others are glass. The rubber ones will be OK if they get dropped. The glass ones not so much. Instead of trying to stay perfect and answer every email instantly or constantly striving to stay one step ahead all the time (which is exhausting, by the way) I’ve changed my perspective to decide what’s OK if it gets fumbled for a moment and what needs to be my top priority.

Campbell: There have been tons of lessons during this time. First and foremost, I have been reminded that my attitude reflects the result of how I am going to feel about busy days. I have been reminded so many times this spring that despite the craziness, God has blessed me with a job that I love, amazing people surrounding and supporting me, and outstanding leadership at our university who continually invests in me as more than just an employee.

Hasko: I think the biggest lesson I learned during this chaotic time is that, in this field, we’re all in this together. Going the extra mile to help out an SID at an opposing school could mean more to them and their student-athletes than you’ll ever know. I remember sending some softball photos to an SID at an opposing school back in February and him thanking me because his team wasn’t scheduled to be at home until April 10th and photos of his team would be hard to come by until then. Going the extra mile when preparing for a broadcast, capturing that extra bit of detail in a game recap, and all of those little things that we do have a massive impact on the student-athlete experience. And at the end of the day, that’s who it’s all about -— the student-athlete.
 

If you had to do this schedule again, what would you do differently?

Pirtle: I honestly don’t want to even have to think about doing this schedule again. Let’s keep those fall sports in the fall because this spring is absolutely nuts. But if we had another spring like this, I think I’d do what I’ve been doing. I work with a great group of guys who are always there to help out with anything. And after being stuck at home with no live sporting events this time a year ago, I don’t want to take the grind for granted again.

Noble-Watson: Prayerfully we won’t, but the one thing I would do is use my time more wisely from the onset. Learning to work in a virtual environment was hard for me. I had so many ideas of what I would do at home but didn’t. I had to figure out how to be equally as productive at home versus in the office, I didn’t figure that out until shortly before I returned back to the office on a part-time basis.

Campbell: Honestly I don’t know what I would do differently if I had to do this again. The most insane part of this year is despite the fact we are dealing with a pandemic that seems like we are stuck in the same thing over and over again, every single day presents a new thing or a new challenge. I think just accepting the fact that I literally have to take things a day at a time and be okay with that is what I have learned to do and I would say if I could have gone into this semester accepting that a little better that would probably be what I would do differently.

Hasko: It’s all about prioritization. Obviously, hindsight is always 20/20, but gaining an understanding of where various job functions rank on the scale of importance is crucial. I think it’s critical to have open lines of communication with administrators, coaches, and student-athletes to gain a feel of the things that have the biggest impact on the game-day experience.

Lanke: Hopefully we don’t have to do this schedule again — it’s not sustainable for mental health and well-being long-term. We pretty much got it right. Trust our students and staff to do their jobs and try to get everything done that we can.

 

Have you had to pick up any Covid-related jobs/responsibilities on your campus?

Lanke: I’ve been a Support Coordinator for students that do test positive. Basically we created an infrastructure where every positive student has a point person that they can use to help get through the quarantine time, both mentally and academically. We’ve tried to be there to help. I’ve been assigned about a dozen students — mostly athletes — but fortunately our overall school positivity rate has been about 0.4% so our school has done a great job minimizing the number of positive cases.

Pirtle: Not that I’m aware of. Just let me give a quick shout out to our fantastic Athletic Medicine team at Baylor. They’ve done a phenomenal job of keeping us safe and healthy during this crazy time. From scheduling testing times to making sure we’re taken care of at home and on the road, they’ve done so much for us so that we could return to play.

---

Talk about these stories on the CoSIDA Slack Community.