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CSCommunicators.com/CelebrateCSC
This feature is part of our series of profiles showcasing members throughout the CSC membership during the celebration of College Sports Communicators Membership Appreciation Week for 2022-23. See more features at CSCommunicators.com/CelebrateCSC.
Adekale Ande – The Lovett School, Sports Information Director
by Mike Robles – California Community College Athletic Association, Director of Communications // Vice Chair, CSC Membership Recognition Committee
A graduate of NCAA Division III Berry College in 2019,
Adekale Ande is now in his second year as director of sports information and responsible for all athletic social, digital and broadcast communications at The Lovett School. He is part of CSC’s growing high school communicators membership. The Lovett School is a coed, kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) school in north Atlanta.
Prior to his Lovett School experience, Ande was a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne (2019-21) and received his master’s in university leadership in May 2021. As a three-year student assistant at Berry College, he was the athletic department’s audio visual supervisor, creating the first Berry football pre-game show, was a play-by-play game broadcaster and managed over 100 games on livestream. He also served a summer internship (2018) as the NJCAA marketing intern.
Announcing during the NJCAA Women's basketball tournament.
You began your athletic communications career in 2015 at Berry College, a NCAA Division III in Georgia. What and/or who inspired you to pursue that field and what areas of sports information attracted you the most?
AA: I think the thrill and just excitement of getting to practice what I was learning in my communications major and getting hands-on experience drew me into the athletic communications field. It was my assigned work study job on campus as a freshman and I got to do everything I wanted to do whether that was writing, stats, announcing, or marketing. I owe a lot of the drive to Blake Childers, (SID at Berry for my last three years at Berry) and Dr. Brian Carrroll (my advisor). They pushed me and guided me to be in the right places and I was able to pursue and achieve my goals while gaining so much experience in the field.
There are many challenges, regardless of the level of college athletics you work at, but what did you find were some of the greater ones when you were at Division III Berry College and now at The Lovett School, a K-12 institution?
AA: I've been able to work in athletic communications at the NCAA Division II, Division and now high school level. Each level has had its own challenges. At the DIII level, I think the hardest challenge was the resources and amount of help each SID has. At Berry, we were very fortunate to have a big student worker staff and a student staff model that could help out the main SID, but many schools have more of a "one-person shop".
At the high school level, the biggest adjustment for me was to mentor more students. The students are much younger than the college age group and I think it is huge to be able to take the kids who are interested in this field and help them build a strong portfolio that they can use to get into college and get scholarships. At the end of the day, If I'm able to teach one student one new thing that they can use later in college then I think I've succeeded.
Announcing a Berry College football game as an undergraduate with his classmate Bryce Koon.
Where were you when the world came to a COVID-19 halt in March 2020? What were those first few weeks like while facing unprecedented circumstances?
AA: I was a first-year graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne University when COVID hit in March of 2020. I was kind of at a loss for words because I had such a strong first semester in announcing and in being a GA; for it all to come to halt it was definitely shocking. I also think it puts everything into perspective on how the world of sport brings people together. It was a good reset to know that I could still achieve and tell different stories about LR's athletes even in the midst of a pandemic.
What did the pandemic teach you about how to approach your job?
AA: The pandemic taught me that this job is hard, but very much so rewarding. There are still stories to tell, teams to be covered, and content to be made even in the midst of a pandemic. COVID-19 made all SIDs think outside the box and I believe it really allowed me to hone in my skills and broaden my repertoire.
Ande served as a graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne College and posed for the photo before graduation. He was part of the staff which earned the 2021 South Atlantic Conference Media Relations Staff of the Year honor.
As you look at your career currently and where you have been so far, what three pieces of advice would you pass along to someone looking to follow a similar path as you?
AA: My three pieces of advice would be to stay in contact with your mentors and colleagues who helped you get to where you are, enjoy the little moments with different teams, and always know your worth. I think it takes a village to get to whatever point in your career and I to this day always stay in contact, every week, with the SIDs and other people in athletic communications that have impacted me. I always try to enjoy whatever accomplishments the team has because I know how much it means to athletes, programs and supporters that they are getting highlighted. This job isn't easy and there are so many long/tiring nights. Just know that you are appreciated and that someone is always watching and enjoying your work even if they haven't said something to you.
And, just as importantly, what advice do you wish someone told you before you started?
AA: The piece of advice I wish I told myself before I started is to take more time for yourself. It is okay to take time off and to turn off your phone/laptop. Your employer and colleagues need to respect you when you're on vacation and things can be updated a little later. If you don't take care of yourself then your work will show that.
Working at The Lovett School showing students how he prepares to announce a game.
Ande and classmate Townsend Stewart interviewing ESPN/Boston Globe sportswriter and media Hall of Famer Bob Ryan at the halftime show of a Berry College men’s basketball game.