Lodge Reflects on Div. III CSC Student Program
Rising senior was one of eight students chosen to attend athletic communication convention
This summer, I had the opportunity to attend College Sports Communicators Unite, a convention for college athletic communication professionals hosted at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the NCAA Div. III CSC Student Program. Eight Div. III students were selected to be part of the mentorship program this year. This program is meant to provide students with the opportunity to interact with current athletic communication professionals, build a career plan, and network with the hope of diversifying the profession.
As part of the mentorship program, I was paired up with Amanda Phillips, associate director of athletics communications and digital media strategist at Oberlin College. During the program, my mentor helped me create goals, network, and support me both inside and outside of the convention. Before the convention, we connected over a video call and talked about a plethora of subjects including my current position as an athletic communication intern at The College of Wooster, softball, working as a sports information director, my time at Wooster, my Independent Study topic, and of course, the convention. During the convention, Phillips recommended sessions, introduced me to people, and provided me with resources. One of the goals I created with my mentor was to learn more about the statistics side of the athletic communication profession. At the Div. III level, athletic communication professionals wear many hats rather than specializing in one specific area, so I attended a stat-specific session.
One of my favorite events of the convention was speed networking. During this session, I had the opportunity to meet athletic communication professionals from all over the country and across all college divisions in a short while. This allowed me to get to know others in the industry in a fast-paced, welcoming environment. This was my first session outside of my specific NCAA student programing and it was the perfect way to get started. Other highlights from the convention were talks from ESPN's Holly Rowe, NCAA President Charlie Baker, and Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of the Las Vegas Raiders.
I had the opportunity to participate in Divisional Day, which is a day full of programming curated for each separate division. At Div. III Day, our first session was led by RADical Hope, which focused on setting priorities and boundaries as someone who works in an athletics department and interacts with coaches, administrators, and student-athletes on a daily basis. Another event on Divisional Day was Div. III community-building miniature golf with a group of Special Olympics athletes. Div. III has a longstanding partnership with Special Olympics, and it was rewarding being a part of this event. As a member of Div. III's national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), I will be participating in a similar event with the Special Olympics this summer at the NCAA's headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. While at convention, I had the chance to meet one of my fellow Div. III SAAC members, Holly Hall, in person for the first time. Hall is a tennis student-athlete at Alma College in Michigan.
On Wednesday, I attended educational lounges, which focused on different topics. The social media session was led by Katie Mucci, who is the assistant director of Div. III governance communications and the point person for the student program. I also attended the social media branding session that highlighted University of Southern California – Los Angeles' football and volleyball teams, University of Wisconsin-Madison's volleyball team, and Providence College;s basketball team. As an athletic communications intern at Wooster, my focus is on social media. I found both of these sessions very insightful. I hope to use what I learned during this upcoming year!
A special thank you to Katie Mucci, Amanda Phillips, Kevin Smith, and Matt Anderson for helping me make the most of this program!
Sarah Lodge is a rising senior at The College of Wooster who is entering her third year as an athletic communication social media intern this fall. The economics and education major is a member of the softball team and is heavily involved with SAAC on the national and institution level.
Learn more about the Div. III CSC Student Program by clicking or tapping here.