College Sports Information Directors of America

In this Women to Watch feature, Biola SID Angela Staumont is climbing the career ladder and managing a long-distance relationship with a Major Leaguer husband. 
 
Angelina Staumont joined Biola University as its full-time sports information director in February 2021, returning to her hometown of La Mirada, Calif., after almost 10 years at La Verne as a dual-sport student-athlete and athletic department employee. As the leader of her department, Staumont has an “all hands on deck” mentality and makes it her priority to give student-athletes the best experience possible.
 
Fun fact — Staumont is married to Kansas City Royals pitcher Josh Staumont. Learn more about her career path, her skills and how she manages a long-distance relationship with her husband. Hint... Facetime and pit bulls are involved.
 

 
 
Share your career path to your current position. Did you find the athletics communications field or did it find you?
AS: As a freshman in college, I had the opportunity to work for our athletics department. I ended up working all four years as a student lead for events and games management. Once I experienced the behind-the-scenes action of athletics, I fell in love and set my heart on becoming an executive-level athletics administrator. During my senior year at the University of La Verne, I was offered a graduate assistantship position with events and operations. A few months into that position I was asked to step into the role as an interim coordinator for events and operations and later that summer was offered the position full time. I worked my way up the administration chain and was named the athletics operations manager while also assisting in any way I could with athletics communications. I began to seek out positions in communications as I felt it would be a valuable experience while allowing me to further develop my skill set to accomplish my career goals. I came across a posting for my hometown university, Biola, and thought it was too good of a position to pass up. God works in incredible ways and now I am working for the athletics department that I grew up going to games at as a kid.
 
Talk about your experiences at La Verne as a dual-sport student-athlete and student. How did they shape you? What lessons did you take from your studies to your jobs?
AS: Being a student-athlete is a full-time job. It allowed me to learn valuable lessons and skills at a young age. Time management and communication were two skills that I felt I really developed during undergrad and the balancing act prepared me for real-life after college. It was never easy and oftentimes I questioned why I was doing what I was doing. I had incredible mentors from athletic training preceptors, professors, athletics administrators, and even other students who helped shape who I am today and teach me valuable lessons. During my time at La Verne, I really got to know who I am as a person, as a leader and was able to identify my "why" for working in collegiate athletics.
 
 
What other jobs did you have growing up? Did they prepare you for this career?
AS: In college, I was a dual-sport student-athlete, completed clinical rotations for athletic training every semester, served as the SAAC president, worked for our athletics department, and was also a member of Sigma Kappa Sorority where I served as a committee chair. I feel that my diverse background allowed me to see things from different perspectives and truly understand people. My experiences definitely prepared me for my career. Each opportunity allowed me to learn something new about myself while adding new skills to my toolbelt.
 
Talk to us about your job at Biola. What are your responsibilities?
AS: I serve as our SID and am the primary contact for volleyball, women's basketball, men's and women's water polo, swim and dive, track and field, and baseball. On a daily basis, I am responsible for game-day operations, events management, statting as well as managing our social platforms. In athletics, you need to be versatile and tackle "other duties as assigned" so there are times I've had to jump on the broadcast, get behind the camera, clean floors during games and even wash laundry. That's what is really fun to me, helping out our team in any way I can. It's my goal that each one of my coaches only focuses on being a coach. Let me and my team handle the rest whenever we can. As for our student-athlete and fan experience, my goal is that my team executes as best as they can and our fans and athletes have the best possible time at our contests.
 
What do you love about your job?
AS: Building life-long relationships. I mentioned that I've been very fortunate to have incredible mentors from the time I was a student-athlete. All I want to do is give my student-athletes better experiences than what I had and help prepare them for life after college. Getting to know my students and build relationships with them has been the highlight of my career. I take a lot of pride in the relationships I build, I try to be as personable as possible and break myself out of my natural introvert shell. It's also not a bad gig to get paid to watch sports!
 
 
Talk about some of your mentors - what advice or direction have they given you to set you up for success as an SID?
AS: Stay true to who you are, always remember why you do what you do, and in all you do represent God as best as you can. This is an industry with extremely high rates of burnout, especially among SIDs. In moments when you question why you work 14+ hour days for three straight days, just remember your "why." My "why" has always been to give my student-athletes a better experience than I had. I've always wanted to make things better for them because they deserve it. On tough days, I've had students come up to me and say a simple thank you and that is all the reminder you need to reassure you that what you're doing matters. 
 
What is something you’ve learned since starting your first full-time job that no one told you about?
AS: Time never slows down and you never get your time back. Everything you do, do with the best intentions, and never be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. I never realized how much of an impact you can have on a person in such little time until working my first full-time job. One of the most rewarding parts of the job is when someone tells you that what you do makes a difference, no matter how small it may be. I have learned a great deal during my career but each and every day, it is my goal to learn something new. You're never too successful to stop learning and no matter how much you know, you'll never know it all.
 
Got any hobbies or interests outside of college sports? What do you do when you aren’t working?
AS: I love working out; that's my outlet and what keeps me sane during the season. Getting a good lift in or going for a nice bike ride to the beach never gets old. My husband and I have rescued three pit bulls, and have partnered with Kansas City Pet Project over the past few years to help bully breeds find their forever homes. I love traveling and spending time with my husband and family any chance I get. I've been told I'm just a tad bit competitive, so anything involving competition, I'm all in! Obviously, working in sports you've got to enjoy watching sports and going to games. I try and catch as many Dodgers and Chargers games as I can as those are the two teams I grew up supporting.
 
 
Tell us about how you and your husband, Josh, met.
AS: Josh and I went to junior high together and knew one another but never really crossed paths. We caught up with each other as seniors in high school thanks to his sister Allie and her friend Dylan. We went on a few dates and the rest is history. We're coming up on 10 years of our relationship and he truly challenges and motivates me to be the best person I can be. He's my other half, my sounding board, and my biggest supporter.
 
How do you manage a long-distance marriage to an MLB pitcher?
AS: By the grace of God, constant communication, Facetime, and trust. We are both working incredibly hard to establish ourselves within our industries. Hopefully one day we can spend a full 12 months together, but in the meantime, we just find ways to make it work. We have Facetime dates nearly every night just to make the distance seem a bit shorter and they definitely help the time go by quicker. We are fortunate that we have incredible mentors in both of our lives who have also worked through long-distance relationships and have helped us navigate through the challenges distance may present. At the end of the day, we are both still big kids chasing our dreams, and I couldn't imagine experiencing life without him by my side no matter how great the distance may be at times.
 
Does Josh understand what you do in your job?
AS: If you ask him what I do, he'll probably tell you that I get paid to watch sports and help run our athletics department. He's not too far off, but not many people truly understand the role of a SID. I feel that many student-athletes don't truly understand all that SIDs do. We operate behind the scenes as much as we can and try to be as unseen as possible.
 
 
What career advice does Josh give you? What career advice do you give Josh?
AS: Josh to me: Just go out and give it your all each and every day. Control what you can control and leave it all out on the field. You're going to have good days and bad days, but if you trust the process and continue to do things the right way, you'll never look back and regret your decisions. Never let a bad day change who you are or how you act. Failure is natural in life but failure should never define you. How you choose to respond to failure and your willingness to succeed is what defines you.
 
Me to Josh: Don't give up any runs and strike out the side... I'm kidding. I don't think there's any advice I could give him no matter how well I know sports. He competes against the best of the best EVERY single night and that's something that the average sports fan will never understand, no matter how much they think they might from their couches and behind social media. At the end of the day what he does is just a job, and it's a really cool but high-stress job. I think everyone can admit that we all have bad days, but unlike his job, our bad days aren't analyzed under a microscope like professional athletes are.
 
How do you make this long-distance relationship work? Are you able to see Josh play during the summer months?
AS: I’m very fortunate that during the summer I get to travel and work remotely as much as possible. It doesn’t always work out that I get to see him pitch in person, but I’m very grateful for the times that I get to. Earlier this season I was able to watch him close out a game at Kauffman Stadium and earn the save. It was such a surreal experience to hear the entire stadium chanting and cheering on the boys in blue. As a lifelong sports fan, that save and his major league debut are two moments that compare to nothing else I’ve experienced in my career as an athlete or professional. I try and go on as many road trips as possible. It’s a goal of mine to make it to all 30 stadiums throughout his career; we’re making progress on that but still have a ways to go!
 
What advice would you give to young women starting out in the athletics communications field?
AS: Never doubt yourself. Imposter syndrome is real but you are where you are because you've earned it. Always be true to who you are and give it your all each and every day. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but when you do, be open to feedback and make sure that you learn from it. Find your board of trustees, the people you can rely on to help shape you into who you want to become. Become members of professional organizations such as Women Leaders in College Sports, CoSIDA, and WISE that allow you to network and offer opportunities for professional development. As women in sports, we experience barriers that not many people have to experience. Sometimes those experiences can weigh on you and deter you from staying in the industry. I am where I am today because women before me broke barriers and fought for me to be here. My doctoral dissertation is focused on identifying barriers for women in sports while also aiming to identify effective solutions to overcoming those barriers and eliminating them for the next generation of women wanting to enter the industry.