Behind the Scenes of College Athletics: Longwood University

The game and the players. That is all people usually see or think of when they think of their favorite college team. Most people have no idea what goes on behind the scenes within a collegiate athletic department. There are many positions and aspects that are important to keep things moving within.

From planning the day and time of the event, scheduling live television broadcasts, live game stats, student athlete interviews and marketing; there are many moving parts.?

Even more parts are needed when it comes to larger universities. According to a LinkedIn article in previous years, Ohio State University had 251 members on staff in 2015, and Duke had 136 members on their staff the same year.

Smaller universities are run on a very smaller aspect than those. Multiple staff members take care of many different responsibilities depending on their skillset. The Longwood University athletic department has 18 staff members who work directly within the athletics administration department.

The campus size is a huge factor when it comes to the amount of staff members needed. At Longwood all facilities and fields are within a five minute drive of one another and facilities also have the ability to drive a golf cart to other locations quickly if needed.

One major part of an athletic department is the marketing aspect. Almost nothing would be possible if nobody came to the sporting events, or businesses didn’t want to come out and sponsor teams or events.

Marketing

Brian Rushing is the assistant athletics director for corporate & community relations and marketing at Longwood University. Rushing is in charge of the marketing and community relationships.

Pre-Longwood, Rushing was a color analyst at USC Upstate, the Director of Marketing and Broadcasting at Belmont Abbey College, and started off at Longwood as the Director of Marketing and Fan Engagement and has been promoted since.

Students who have attended any of the sporting events at Longwood in the past two years are more than likely familiar with Rushing’s voice, as he is the announcer on the intercom during most games.

If Rushing is unable to attend certain games, he lets his marketing and fan engagement student intern, Matthew Bartle, have the opportunity to be able to announce those games. Bartle was previously Longwood’s men’s basketball team student manager for two years, and now works with the marketing department for the past year and a half.

“The public address side and broadcasting side of what I do, was not part of my initial job description. It became as needed by the athletics director. It’s something I have a long history of, it’s something I enjoy, but it was never something that I was supposed to come in here and do,” Rushing stated regarding announcing games.

Besides being in charge of announcing during the games, a huge part of Rushing’s responsibilities is the marketing aspect. “We really want to drive: what is next and what people need to be on the look out for,” Rushing stated.?

This involves a lot of work with the communications department pushing out new social media content.

“Part of what I do now is corporate sales and community relations. If an organization wants me to come speak to them like the Lion’s Club, I will go and speak and tell them the story of Longwood athletics,” Rushing said. “If there is a corporate partner that wants to engage with us, they sign out at the baseball field or want PA reads at basketball or Elwood for an event, all of those things are things I do to help drive the marketing narrative for Longwood athletics.”

The marketing department also has an opportunity for students to join and use the opportunity as a resume booster and learn some soft skills. The students are also given the opportunity to see what life is like inside of the athletics office and work on things that will actually affect the athletics department as a whole.

They call themselves Lancer Creative, they are a group of students with different skill sets, whether it be video editing, graphic design, music editing, interpersonal communication skills, and Microsoft office skills, that help prepare any event for students and spectators to make it a more enjoyable experience.

These students assist with creating a more enjoyable game experience for the athletes as well as the fans in the stands. Part of this experience involves potentially using fog machines, flashing white and blue lights, sound effects, and creating engaging entertainment on the video board.

Communications

When it comes to the communications athletics department at Longwood, there are three main contacts. First is the Associate Vice President/Athletics Communication, Chris Cook. Second is Sam Hovan, the assistant director of athletics communication/digital media. Lastly, Emily McNamara, an assistant director of athletics communication.

Cook

Cook has been working with the Longwood athletics department for a little over seven years now, starting in August of 2014.

Previously Cook worked at much larger Duke University for seven years, as the assistant sports information director. He served as the secondary media contact for the basketball and football team; and the main media contact for the fencing, rowing, baseball, and volleyball teams.?

Now at Longwood he is looked at as the main media contact for the majority of the teams at the university.

Cook is in charge of the athletics communication office, which also works hand in hand with the university’s marketing and communications team. “We see what we do in athletics as an extension of what university and marketing does for the entire university. That being increasing the exposure and brand awareness of Longwood, give alumni, community members and fans a way to connect with the university, and create a beacon of pride for everyone to rally around,” Cook stated.

Some of his responsibilities are doing live stats during all games and creating the social media whether that be in-game or in the office. The team as a whole focuses their social media efforts on Facebook and Twitter first then Instagram last.

Another significant role Cook has is the SID for men’s basketball, cross country, men’s/women’s golf, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, and men/women’s tennis. An SID or sports information director, is the main contact for a certain sport whether it involves the coaches or the student athletes, they need to go through an SID and get approval first.

The goal of the athletics communications office is to actively put content of Longwood athletics in front of people whether it be news, stories, and watching games. One of the biggest ways that is done nowadays is Longwood broadcasting their own games, since it keeps people engaged from a distance and gain new members.

Hovan

Hovan has been at Longwood for three years, after starting in November of 2018. Before Longwood, Hovan worked as the sports information director/matador athletic association coordinator at Arizona Western College for four years.

Hovan and Cook’s roles go hand-in-hand. When Cook is unavailable to do the live stats and social media for a game, Hovan will step in and take on that hat. Otherwise, during events, Hovan is the voice that can be heard on the live broadcast that can be seen on ESPN+.

“If we are broadcasting, I will be watching a match getting ready to broadcast the team. Watching the team play gives me a really good understanding of what they are going to do. I also try to talk to coaches a couple days before and if not I talk to them on the field and get some insights,” Hovan stated.

During the broadcast Hovan is responsible for keeping up with the players of the game, making sure all advertisements, sponsorships, and ads are read live, and live commentary. Occasionally Hovan is joined on the mic by Kylie Dyer, who is the director of donor engagement in athletics advancement.

Dyer is originally from Farmville, Virginia and graduated from Longwood in 2014. She also played on the women’s soccer team as a midfielder.

Hovan also broadcasts all men’s basketball games on the radio through Farmville station, WVHL 92.9 FM Kickin’ Country, a sponsor of the university and home of Longwood athletics, as well as select softball and baseball games.

Other than the ESPN+ and radio broadcasts, Hovan also acts as the SID and main media contact for the baseball team and the men's soccer team. “If we need to stat a game or cover a game, write a recap. Or whoever else is in the department, we tend to juggle the pieces depending on who is physically able to be there,” Hovan stated.?

On days where there is no broadcast Hovan focuses on getting game day programs prepared, getting stats together, talking to coaches post game, and getting the game recap together.

Hovan also tries to do a podcast occasionally, do prep work for broadcasting, and try to create some kind of creative storytelling pieces, from videos, articles, and podcasts as stories come up that they find.

McNarama

The final contact for communications at Longwood University is recent hire McNarama in November. McNamara is an assistant director of athletics communication. She currently acts as the SID for women’s basketball, field hockey, and softball.

Before coming to Longwood, McNamara acted as a news specialist for NBC12, news reporting for WBOY-TV in West Virginia, and most recently the video coordinator/reporter for the Tri-City Chili Peppers, who are a Summer league baseball team.

Video Operations

The head in charge of making sure everything gets broadcasted to ESPN+, highlight reels are published to YouTube, and the melt, which is the video highlights put together in every single game that shows all camera angles, is created for the teams is Ian Jett. Jett is the director of video operations of athletics at Longwood and has been in the position for two years.

Previously Jett was the digital media coordinator at the University of Tennessee at Martin. There he was responsible for running the video department broadcasting events to ESPN+, much like he does at Longwood now.

On weeks where there are no home games, Jett looks into future weeks to try and prepare the broadcast as best he can. “I’ll be looking at stats, trying to figure out storylines to tell, making sure I have a crew, and making sure I know what each crew member is going to be doing,” Jett stated.

One the day of an event, Jett gets to the field and the media trailer, which is where all the of cameras and microphones connect to and the ESPN broadcast is streamed, many hours before the game to make sure all the cables are together in the trailer, the internet is successfully connected, all the players and team data are uploaded and ready to go for the game.

“I try to make sure everyone is good to do before students get here, I like for students to plug all the cameras in themselves, but there are things on the backend that I need to take care of,” said Jett.

Jett is also responsible for a group of student employees who use the opportunity to work with ESPN+, fulfill their internship requirement, learn new skills, as well as a resume booster right out of college.?

A full crew for a game consists of eight members. The typical call time for the crew is two hours before a broadcast or game start time, to ensure everything is working properly and there is sufficient time to prepare the pre-game show.

When everyone arrives, everyone is in charge of setting up something different. Some are in the trailer preparing the pre game package and others are outside running SDI cables from the different cameras to the trailer, which display the video, and XLR cables which broadcast the audio from the headsets for the camera operators to the media trailer to ensure everyone can communicate together.

The person in charge of the broadcast is the director, which Jett is usually in charge of. They are responsible for communication with ESPN, switching the cameras on the live feed, and running commercials for Longwood and ESPN.

Next, a student is in charge of making sure all replays are played back live, and the highlight reel and melt is put together for the halftime show and post game show. Then another student is in charge of graphics pre game, during the game, and the post game. This student is in charge of making sure the scores are up when coming back from a commercial break, and the correct advertisements are up when Hovan starts doing one of the reads, which is typically an ad from one of the sponsors of either Longwood athletics or the BIG South conference.

Other than those working in the trailer, there are usually four different cameras with student operators. One camera with a wide angle in the center of the court/field. Camera two constantly getting a close up of where the action is. Then cameras three and four, one on each side of the court, making sure to get close ups of action and the hero shots for after a shot or play is made.

Athletic Events

The person in charge of making sure everything is working, the fields are prepared, the referees are in order is Greg Smith. Smith has been the director of athletic events for Longwood athletics for the past two and a half years.

Previously, Smith has worked in game day operations with the New York Jets, Cornell University, Duke University, and Seattle University.

Smith plays a big part when it comes to the behind-the-scenes of all home athletic events. “I oversee all the home games, the logistics, all the contact information for visiting teams and officials to make sure the games happen,” Smith stated.

During the events Smith’s biggest responsibility is to maintain the flow of the game, making sure everything starts on time; other than that he is in charge of monitoring the entire event as a whole. It could be the fans, making sure the technology is working (scoreboards, videoboards, etc.), and making sure all the officials and the visiting team have what they need.

For indoor events, Smith is the one who is typically in charge of getting the concourse, lobbies, and locker rooms ready for the fans and the players. “I usually get out there four to five hours beforehand to make sure things are all set,” Smith said.

When it comes to preparing the fields for the outdoor events, there is an entire grounds team that is dedicated to athletics. They are in charge of making sure the surface of the field is good to go, from mowing, painting, blowing, and everything involved is taken care of by them.

“I really want to make sure the game is the best presentation that we can have,” Smith stated.?

Since there are no games typically over the Summer, this time is typically used as a “catch up” period for the facilities team; the team begins their work around July as they prepare for the seasons that begin in August.

Smith states, “The weeks leading up to the games everything is put together and runs very smoothly; there is a lot of overlap within the fall seasons and some in the spring, so there is really no stoppage throughout the year.”

After looking into each department it seems as if everyone begins their work for the full season around the same time, which is around July. They also all collectively try to take a break and escape on vacation around June since it is the perfect time at the end of the spring seasons, and right before the beginning of preparing for the fall seasons.

Once they return, they hit the ground running to make sure everything for the fall seasons are as prepared as they can be by August 1, and then the winter sports are as prepared as they can be by September 15.

Every aspect of the athletic department works with each other in some type of way. From the marketing office working with the communications office creating social media content and creating videos to the athletic events office working with the marketing student interns to help create a game experience for the coaches, players, and fans like no other.

All of the members of the athletic department truly enjoy the positions they are in and the time they spend with the teams. I asked them their favorite part about working in this field.

“The kids. I love college athletics. But I was never going to be able to play D1 sports. But I had other skills that quickly got me to D1 sports. From there, I realized there was a group of kids on campuses everywhere that wanted to be a part of the action. Every bit as devoted, every bit as hungry as I was when I got into it. Those kids and their progression through college athletics has made this so much fun,” Rushing stated.

“Something that has kept me coming back to the office over the years is the connection you get with the teams you cover, and the shared excitement you get to be part of when those teams succeed. When you get to know the athletes and coaches, the other support staff, and the fans, you feel to a degree that you're a part of their wins,” Cook stated.

Hovan stated, “I enjoy the storytelling and the chance to work on the details and finer points. While I hate listening to my own work when I review a game, I definitely enjoy trying to get better and find small (or big, haha) things to improve on. That's always my goal, regardless of the game or level, is to keep on adding pieces until I become the best I can be at what I do.”

Jett stated, “I really love doing all different sports. If I was working for a baseball team full time, I would only get to do baseball. Here, I get to do all sports which I love. There’s also no one day that's the same which is great, it’s not the same everyday and it is fun.”

“Every day is different and there is always something going on makes it interesting. Working the games are always a fun aspect of it and seeing the student-athletes compete each day is awesome,” Smith stated.

For more in-depth information about each position mentioned in the article, as well as others who do not work directly with the game day experiences or operation, within the Longwood athletics department check out the staff directory for more.