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Staff Cuts Provide Challenge and Opportunity for Pete Moore & Staff at Syracuse
by Doug Vance – CoSIDA Executive Director
“The new job assignment for me has been a challenge, because it has meant having to be even better at prioritizing tasks and budgeting my time. But it has also given me a boost. I’ve had to learn some new tools to accomplish what I need to do as the primary contact for women’s soccer. Learning is always good!”
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The last time Pete Moore functioned as the primary contact for a sport other than men’s basketball was the 1997-98 season when he was the sports information director at Ithaca College and was half of a two-person shop responsible for just about all of the school’s sports.
Since then and until the painful onslaught of Covid-19, Moore’s single focus as Director of Athletic Communications at Syracuse has been men’s basketball which represents one of the most demanding and stressful jobs in all college hoops.
That all changed last year as Moore, now in his 24th year at Syracuse and 40th in the profession, and his officemates felt the economic pinch of the pandemic with the elimination of one fulltime position and two 11-month positions from their staff.
For the remaining five full-time Orange communication office employees, the workforce depletion resulted in a modified team assignment load in communications office coverage of the department’s 18 sports.
“We all had to accept one or more additional sports,” Moore explained. “I became the women’s soccer contact because it only made sense that I take on a fall sport due the length of basketball season.”
Sue Edson, who serves as Executive Senior Associate AD/Communications at Syracuse, also was among those who accepted an increased role that in recent years was strictly administrative. Edson now oversees volleyball, ice hockey, women’s rowing, men’s soccer and softball.
Pete Moore with Syracuse Women's Soccer Coach Nicky Thrasher Adams
The Syracuse athletic communications office is just one example of increased job expectations, influenced by the pandemic and the evolving communications culture of college athletics for SIDs across the country.
Staffing losses have dictated an intensified workload and expanded sport responsibilities for scores of SIDs across the spectrum of college sports. A taxing job that has historically required long hours has intensified in its requirements.
Moore is a prime example of an accomplished veteran in the communication profession who is learning how to rearrange and balance his work lifestyle to accommodate the demands. He’s identifying some positives in the situation and taking it all in stride.
“The new job assignment for me has been a challenge, because it has meant having to be even better at prioritizing tasks and budgeting my time,” said Moore, whose wife played college soccer at Ithaca. “But it has also given me a boost. I’ve had to learn some new tools to accomplish what I need to do as the primary contact for women’s soccer. Learning is always good!”
Moore, a member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame and current chair of CoSIDA’s Past President Cabinet, acknowledges that the additional responsibilities can be daunting at times.
“Handling Syracuse men’s basketball is demanding,” Moore said. “Adding another sport to the plate brings on more challenges and it can be exhausting at times.”
The involvement with women’s soccer has also been eye-opening for an SID who has invested the last 24 years servicing one of the highest profiles programs in college basketball. But he’s learning how to adjust and adapt to the expanded job duties that have evolved since his days at Ithaca.
“It’s a dramatic difference for me in terms of the event expectations for an SID early in my career,” Moore said. “I basically just got the results and who scored and sent out the information after the event at Ithaca.”
Between attending to the TV talent, oversight of the live stats process and demanding game updates on social media, Moore’s eyes are more focused on his computer than the pitch during live competition.
“Now, you really don’t have time to watch the game competition,” Moore said. “I have to be on my toes and post video clips, graphics and continue updates on social media.
“Plus, every home game is live streamed through the ACC Network and our website,” he added. “There is a need to prep the announcers before each event.”
Pete Moore with Syracuse men's basketball coach Jim Boeheim
From his extensive years of experience in the profession, Moore recognizes that adjusting to the unpredictable chaos of being a sports information director is an exercise that goes with the territory.
In many respects, it defines the essence of the job expectations.
He’s also anchored in the assurance that his new team clientele has provided the prescription for a renewed boost of love for the job and the rewards it brings.
“The opportunity to be the primary contact for the women’s soccer team at Syracuse has served as a great reminder of the many things I’ve enjoyed about this profession,” Moore said. “I’ve connected with another group of student-athletes and staff I wouldn’t have otherwise. It takes me back to my days at Ithaca College when I was a one-man shop and covered all the teams. I was able to meet so many student-athletes at that time.
“I believe part of my drive to be successful professionally has always been fueled by having a connection to a team and its participants,” he added. “Now, with Syracuse women’s soccer, I have another program to get involved with and to root for.”
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