Advice On Landing An SID Gig

Since your entry into the field is non-traditional, you should reach out to ADs at schools that will be familiar with the papers you've worked at. It's not unusual, particularly at smaller schools, for an SID to come from the media world, but it's almost always someone that comes from the area and has covered the school.

 

StatCrew is not hard to learn. I can't do basketball play-by-play on it, but everything else is pretty easy.

 

Although comical, this is a good point to keep in mind. My wife spent two-plus years as publications director for the governing body of an olympic sport. The first thing that turned them off in interviews was when someone came in with a stalker-like knowledge of all the athletes. Sure they wanted someone who'd seen the sport and had a basic understanding of it, but they didn't want to hire a "fan."

There were a couple of people who applied for nearly every job the organization advertised. Needless to say, it only took interviewing them once or twice to determine that they'd never get a job in the building.

 

Like Moddy said, writing skills are key. I didn't know statcrew when I started, but you can pick that up quickly. Once you have done a volleyball match live (I don't recommend doing this solo), everything else seems easy.

 

Talk to Gregg Ellis, who recently landed (I'm told) the basketball contact's job at Mississippi State.

This man was a straight-up college reporter/beat writer with, I think, zero experience at SID work.
Now he's working an SEC gig.

Having pulled that off, he's bound to have some advice to lend on how to get into the biz.

 

You think he wants to go there? A lot of people don't have the choice. God forbid the guy get out of a business determined to kill himself so that can provide for his family and, perhaps, feel appreciated for his efforts. (The latter, of course, is not true for all SIDs)

 

Not to be a complete party pooper... with the way newspapers, this seems like a better route to go.

 

Tell them you've been reading the drivel SIDs have been shoving your way for years, and you know the PROPER way to distribute info to the media.

 

Sorry I'm late to the party...

This was my attitude coming in to my athletic communications gig (I'm NOT a SID... that's old hat), which is currently with a Division I mid-major.

I came from local television (sports, news, everything else inbetween), but had a background in sports information/athletic communication in college, and in my first job out.

My feeling was that: a.) I wanted to get the hell out of TV while I still could... I had fun, but wanted a little more job security, and better pay; b.) I've been on both sides of the table, and I thought I could bring some fresh ideas, insight, and better content to the equation with my background in print, publications, the web, and on-air.

(Plus, I'm not completely socially inept like most SIDs are, so I can build relationships... and I know when to get in a reporter or editor's ear when something really cool is brewing, and not just sitting behind a computer and pumping them useless drivel about things no one cares about like statistics and streaks.)

The problem was, most schools don't buy this. I heard back from a small percentage of the places I applied, and following a number of interviews, I was told I didn't get the job because they wanted someone with more experience in athletic communications/sports information. Even D-III schools told me the same thing.

After a lot of waiting, and a lot of uncertainty, I landed a great job at a school that really values my complete skill set. I think they made the right decision, and I think a lot of schools would benefit from having former newspaper and television people to help them deal with a changing group of media members, while creating more content and better quality content, with the backing of university committment and resources that many media companies simply don't have.

Thing is, it takes some time, but the right gig is out there. Sometimes it's knowing people, sometimes it's your portfolio and background.

 

Maybe this is on another thread as well but what is pay like for these kinds of gigs? I talked with a long-time SID at an ACC school a few years ago who oversaw baseball and a few other sports (plus helping out with football like everyone else there), and he told me he made around $25K a year. I was shocked. I don't know if he was pulling my leg or not but he seemed serious.