PP4 - Wild Card

Working for Texas Tech Athletics

A few days ago I got to work with Texas Tech Athletics for their football Independence Bowl Game in Shreveport, Louisiana. The thought about it came to my mind once Professor Reppert talked about it during one of the class periods. I started looking up contacts to whom I could write emails since I was interested in coming and filming during the game. I sent out an email and a few days later they told me they had secured my credentials. 

This is by far the biggest thing I have done so far when it comes to sports media and I think it was a great experience to improve my skills in videography but also photography. I got to be in the press conference room with all the other media and photographers, which to be honest made me feel very small being there with all these experienced media people, but I took it as a way for me to learn. 

I was there to help them capture videos of the players, which is the main thing I do for SAU Athletics as well, but it also made me want to get better at photography as well. I got to work next to a very talented photographer who works for Texas Tech Athletics, called Gabby, and she has now inspired me to start working on some more photography skills as well. The way she managed to get pictures of those specific moments that I never would have been able to was very cool to see. 

Another thing I noticed was how fast everything went for them. They are a big team of media people working throughout the game to keep their social media channels updated as the game goes on. I got added to their group chat so I could see the progress that happened during the game. I still don't know how they did it but the photos that were taken by Gabby and the other photographer, ended up in the group chat very quickly after they were taken. This made it possible for one of their crew members to edit them so that another person could include the picture in the graphics that were going up during the game. It was very cool to see how everything went by so quickly and how many people there were on their media team. They did a great job of keeping their social media channels updated for their fans to see. And even during the days after the game, they kept on sharing photos of the game, reminding their followers that Texas Tech won their bowl game. 

I had really fun while working this game and it made me very excited for my own future within the sports media. I also learned that all it takes is being brave enough to send an email to get an experience like this.

Link to video