Forty plus students from a range of schools and colleges got an insight into what a sports journalist does, when they attended a ‘taster session’ organised by the University of South Wales and hosted at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea.
The event was open to students in Year 12 and 13 (or college equivalent) with an interest in sports journalism and communications.
It was run by Julie Kissick, course leader for BA (Hons) Sports Journalism a new, creative and highly practical addition to the Journalism offering at USW.
Students were treated to an interactive stadium tour, including access to the home and away dressing rooms, along with the media rooms, television interview facilities and the dugouts. They gained a real insight into the fast-paced industry of media communications.
Jonathan Wilsher, Global Head of Media and Marketing at Swansea City FC gave the keynote speech. He told attendees how important it was for those interested in any aspect of sports journalism to have a range of skills at their disposal.
“The Premier League is the most watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people,” he said.
“The industry is changing fast and it needs people who have the skills and adaptability to reflect that and move with it. What I look for in an employee today is very different to that of even five years ago.
“Today, sports journalists need marketing and PR skills and the ability to shoot video and edit it and understand all the various social media platforms and their different audiences – as well as the ability to tell a story.
“In the Premier League there are rules and regulations which have to be adhered to and anyone working for a football club needs to understand their importance, so professionalism is always a priority.”
Julie Kissick explained that she had worked closely with industry representatives on the development of the course, from journalists and broadcasters to media and communications managers, like Mr Wilsher.
“It’s vital for us to have had this input and to continue to grow these important relationships in order to offer our students the best industry-focused experience possible.”
BA Sports Journalism course representative, Callum Ellis, also attended the event and explained what he had made of the first nine weeks.
“We’ve hit the ground running and last week, I and some of my colleagues got to be part of the press team covering the Wales Women’s international match at Cardiff City Stadium.
“I did the match report which was published on the Football Association of Wales’ website and others did interviews and covered the press conference with manager, Jayne Ludlow.
“We’ve also attended the Wales friendly against Panama, again in the press box, and in the first week of term we were at Cardiff City Stadium covering the Under 23s match.
“One of the most enjoyable aspects of the course is covering USW sport at the Sport Park in Treforest. We do that on a Wednesday afternoon and our work is published, if it’s good enough, on ExpoSport.”
Attendees were from Wiltshire College, Trowbridge; Weston College; Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe; Fitzalan High School and Bridgend College.
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