College Sports Information Directors of America

Karina Graziani is in her third year at Carlow University, serving as the Sports Communications Manager at the NAIA school in Pittsburgh. Hired full-time in February 2019, she also is the department’s Recruiting Coordinator, responsible for assisting coaches with recruiting and NAIA eligibility, and also has operations/team travel responsibilities as well.

 

What made you want to pursue a career in sports communications?
KG: I graduated from Waynesburg University with a degree in communications/journalism while playing softball, and took a winding, roundabout way into athletic communications.
 
My official career began at Point Park University where I was the administrative assistant. My mentor and friend, Kevin Taylor, is a one-man shop, and in 2015 I offered to assist him with softball gameday duties. I needed some brushing up on the statistical software, but Kevin showed me the ropes and let me fly from there. I was responsible for all of the softball sports information content, and in the fall Kevin handed women’s soccer and cheer & dance off to me as well.
 
I think the first season covering softball did it for me. Obviously it held a little more weight since I played the sport in college and was also a volunteer coach for the Pioneers during my time in graduate school at Point Park. All of that to say --- my favorite part of gameday is getting to leave the office and watch a game (even if it’s cold and rainy), and I thought: “Wow – I can do this, and I can make a living doing this.” Then realizing, yeah, sports information is what I want to do!

You wear a lot of hats at Carlow with involvement in communications, operations, and recruiting. What’s a typical day like for you? 
KG: Haha oh boy – it’s funny to think of a typical day, since our days have been anything but typical since March 2020, right?
 
A typical non-game day in the office is focused more heavily on the recruiting and paperwork/administrative side of things. I make sure we have transportation booked and itineraries sent to our bus company for upcoming away games; I run recruit reports, send Letters of Intent and keep track of our incoming class; and, I’m still working on getting some of our older archives moved over to the new website we launched in August. I work on eligibility at the beginning of each season, and I’m also in our new procurement software where I input and keep track of orders for our teams. I also spend time preparing for upcoming home games – getting my student crew together, creating programs, scheduling social media posts, creating graphics, etc.

 

 
Writing is still a very important aspect of the job. As a journalism major, is there a story you were most excited to write?
KG: I had a lot of fun writing a feature article about (now alumnus) Delaney Daly traveling to Spain to play basketball during the summer of 2019. I usually talk to the athletes in passing or when they are in the gym, but this was her first trip overseas so it was a pleasure listening to her recount the trip.

I love writing about “firsts” at Carlow. Like when Larissa Kijowski made NAIA Cross Country Nationals in 2019; more recently, when our men’s basketball team played NCAA DI Youngstown State University.
 
It’s exciting to watch history being made for your University. Trying to convey that excitement to everyone else is the challenge, but I do my best! In recent years, I have handed off some of the feature stories to our broadcaster and video producer, Sean Meyers. He does a great job.
 
Your LinkedIn account highlights a three-year stint at Ellevate - a global professional women's network “committed to fostering and promoting gender equality in the workplace.” What was your role there?
KG: I had heard about the network and attended a few local events when my friend (the Pittsburgh chapter president at the time) reached out about joining the leadership team of the Ellevate Pittsburgh chapter in 2015.
 
I was the events co-lead, which involved producing networking events for our chapter, finding and booking venues/speakers and sourcing sponsors (if necessary). I always found our meetings and events to be energizing – being around successful, talented, well-connected women in Pittsburgh got me excited to do more – in the chapter and in my own life.
 
One of my favorite events during my time as co-lead was a gun safety course and target shoot. I grew up in the country where hunting is the norm, but I was worried how some people might perceive the event. It was really well-received, and the number of women who attended and later told me that it made them feel confident and how much fun they had – it was totally worth it.
 
I’m still a member of Ellevate. I look forward to resuming our coffee meet-ups in person, but for now I have been listening to the podcasts and occasionally joining Zoom events hosted by the Pittsburgh chapter and various chapters across the nation.
 
What’s the biggest career lesson that you’ve learned?
KG: Oh, this is a tough one!
 
I think the biggest career lesson I’ve learned is that you’ve got to go out and do it. No one is going to come up and say, “Hey – would you like to do XYZ?” If you see something that you want to pursue, or there’s a job or position that you’re striving to achieve –you have to make the move and have the courage and confidence to ask for it. Don’t be afraid of taking a big leap.
 
My athletic director, George Sliman, took a chance on me when I started at Carlow, and I am forever grateful. I just kept telling myself, “You can totally do this. You can handle this,” because I knew sports information was what I wanted to do.
 
A career/personal lesson I’ve learned is that I don’t have to work 24/7 to get things done and to do them well. There is this notion that SIDs have to work 80 hours a week or it doesn’t “count,” and I think this past year has shown us all that we can dial it back and still produce meaningful content and get the job done. Sure, there will be 80-hour weeks…but when they are over, I don’t think SIDs should feel guilty for taking that time to recharge and get ready for the next one.
 
Also: Take. Your. Vacation. Days.
 
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
KG: I like to be outside any chance I can get! My father has a pontoon boat, and I enjoy being out on Youghiogheny Lake where I grew up – swimming, water skiing, just hanging out in the sun. I learned to snow ski three years ago, so I make it to the mountains when I can. Pittsburgh has a nice system of bike trails along the rivers, and my friends and I try to ride as often as possible, schedule permitting. I enjoy hiking trails in the tri-state area and all of the rooftop/outdoor dining options in the city (pre-COVID, of course).
 
If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d do with the winnings?
KG: This is always a fun one to think about, isn’t it? How much are the lotteries up to now? I think it’s something like $1.5 billion this week? Wow. I would definitely cash it all out and just take the hit with taxes.
 
I’d take care of the practical things – pay off my house, buy a new vehicle, pay off my bills. I’d pay off all of my immediate family’s bills and buy them whatever they wanted. I’d send some to my best friends to help them out.
 
I always joke with George (George Sliman, my Athletics Director) that I’ll buy property and build Carlow sports facilities. I could see myself doing something like that. When I’m done traveling the world, I would probably want to come back and keep stats!