Have you ever watched our navy blue and gold jerseys dribble down the court, ace a game point, or dive into the end zone and wonder what goes on behind the scenes? After the last buzzer sounds, what happens at a press conference? Who painstakingly writes down all the game stats? What’s Austin Torres’ favorite Disney princess?
These are the questions that Claire Kramer, Ryan Hall sophomore, and one of several Student Assistants for ND sports media discovers the answers to on a daily basis. As I sat down to chat with this busy girl about life, work, and how ball is in fact life, I couldn’t help but feel as if the roles were reversed. For once, the Journalism minor was the one being asked all the questions!
And for reference… it’s Cinderella.
Name: Claire Kramer
Hometown: Kansas “Killa” City, KS
Dorm: Ryan Hall
Year: 2018
Major: American Studies
Minor: Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy
What’s your on-campus job?
If you want to get official, I’m the “Student Assistant in Media Relations Office of the Athletic Department.” (But you might know her as one of those girls always fast walking back and forth between the bench and media row at basketball games, looking extremely put together.)
How would you describe your job?
There’s not necessarily a set thing we do all the time, but it’s mainly helping the sports information directors with anything they need to get done. Half of the time, it’s working in the actual office and doing odd jobs there, and the other half is working in-game, running stats, working the score board, or writing stories for UND.com. You’re put on a team when you get there, first for specific sports, and then I’m also on the web team and writing team.
What sports do you cover?
They let you request which sports you want and then you kind of just go from there, so I requested golf and basketball. I also work on the track & field and tennis teams.
What kinds of things have you done so far?
So far I’ve written three things for the website! We get to do cool things sometimes, like writing get-to-know-you articles on the men’s basketball players. We went to media day and each had four players to interview on random, out of the blue questions, not even all basketball-related (favorite video game, spirit animal, etc). I got to talk to Demetrius Jackson for 5 minutes and ask him who his celebrity crush was, so that was cool.
What’s it like being courtside?
It’s really cool to be in that environment and see the games from a different point of view! It’s tricky sometimes because we have to navigate around people on the court and, if it’s a shorter timeout, make sure they’re not going to break the huddle when we’re still chilling there. We sit behind the basket across from the student section though, so my favorite part is watching the reactions of our bench when they score.
Best bench reaction?
Rex whenever someone hits a three – he does his little “arrow” thing. *Claire then pretends to shoot an arrow in arguably the cutest way possible*
What are some of your favorite moments or highlights on the job?
For Georgia Tech (football), another girl and I both had microphones and were supposed to bring them around to the media members so they could ask the players questions. We then had to record the players’ quotes and transcribe them so people could later use them for press releases. So we used our phones, but most media members had official microphones, tape recorders, even legit cameras. I can only imagine my bright pink phone case in the foreground of all these camera shots with Will Fuller. SO official.
So, you’re pretty much on the team now, right?
Pretty much! I worked one football game, and we passed out stats at the end of every quarter and then afterwards went down to the press conference room with five minutes left in the game. Then we actually ended up on the field for the last five minutes, and we got to stand and do the alma mater WITH the team. If you looked on TV, literally directly behind Deshone Kizer is someone I was working with. You can’t see me, but I swear I was there.
What are some challenges in working media relations?
We’re basically insiders, which is super cool! But with that also comes a degree of professionalism. You’re sometimes privy to information that isn’t necessarily public yet, so they trust you with staying professional and using discretion, just being smart about what you tell people.
Is it tough to balance work, school, and still have some remnant of a social life?
Not really! They’re super understanding of projects, homework, etc. They want you to be active and doing things, but they get that you’re a student too. Especially with golf, there are only two of us that work with it, so they give a lot of freedom with that you want to do and creative things you want to accomplish. A lot of the work I can also do straight from my laptop in my dorm room, so that makes it easier.
Where did your avid sports enthusiasm come from?
I think it comes first from my family – we always went to KC Chiefs games at least once a year with my grandparents, tailgating and all of that. When we didn’t go, we’d always watch them on TV. Sports were always a big thing. My mom especially did a lot of stuff with sports, corporate marketing and working with them for a while.
A lot of people would watch cartoons when they came downstairs on Saturday mornings, but my dad and I would always watch ESPN together.
How did you score this job?
I had a bunch of friends who did it last year. I also worked last year for the digital media office, helping with livestreams and all that, so I had a little bit of experience. The best part was, you know the fan tweets that they show on the jumbo screen at the basketball game? I was the one who got to sift through and pick those; they cut to my computer screen.
I really enjoyed working there, but the media relations I do now is definitely more suited to what I want to do in the future.
So what DO you want to do in the future?
It’s been awesome working in sports here because it’s something I’ve considered doing for a long time. Either media relations or… I don’t know, really… I’m going to also explore the journalistic side of things (a little different from PR writing) because I need a journalism internship for the minor. I’ve considered whether or not I’d want to work for a team I’m actually a fan of. It would be interesting, but you can’t necessarily cheer and be an active fan when you’re working.
Speaking of teams, how ‘bout them Royals? (I might be a little biased here.)
#Yals. All of my friends kind of just know and accept that I’ll be a huge Royals fan until the end of October, and then I’ll be normal again eventually. People tell me “Go Yals” all the time now when they see me. Which I secretly love.
Thanks for the interview, Claire, and go ‘yals!
Follow HCND on Twitter, like us on Facebook, Pin with us and show our Instagram some love!
(All images provided by interviewee)