From October 2021 onwards I undertook some placement work with Pontypridd RFC. I have always said throughout that when I graduate I would like to work as a written journalist rather than work for a clubs media team but I thought this would be a beneficial opportunity to get some further placement hours and experience something different to make myself more employable. The opportunity came about through Pontypridd RFC’s link with the University of South Wales. Head of media at the club Geraint Thomas was keen for one or two students to come on board and help the club. Myself and Zacharie Johnson-Pillion obliged and a meeting was arranged.
Myself, Zach and course leader Delme met with Geraint and head coach Justin Burnell to discuss the plans and what we could bring to the table. We talked about how we could improve the media team and Geraint was happy to get us involved. We were tasked with attending games to write match reports for the club and this was something I was happy to do as it tied in nicely with the work I was already doing with the Welsh Premiership Podcast.
At the end of November I attended my first game and wrote my first match report for the club. Throughout the duration of the season I continued to attend as many games as possible for the club writing match reports and covering the team. I made my own way to most away fixtures and I even travelled on the team coach to Llandovery for an away fixture. This was a good way to get to know the players, coaching staff and the committee and chairman. I was really made to feel like part of the club and this gave me a good insight as to what working for a club media team full time would feel like.
As well as producing match reports for the club I was also asked to host the club’s radio show on local valleys radio station – GTFM. Initially I was reluctant to host the radio show as it was definitely something out of my comfort zone and I wasn’t sure whether I’d have what it takes. However the club were keen for me to do it and after having a chat with Terry Mann who is the GTFM station manager I decided it would be a good experience and could stand me in good stead for the future.
Since the beginning of February to the end of April when the season finished I have produced a radio show every week for it to go out on Wednesday evening. I have had a range of different players on and finished with an interview with the team manager to round up the season. I interview the players via Zoom before saving the audio and then sending it over to Terry.
Throughout doing my radio show I have experienced some difficulties as a journalistic and subsequently had to overcome them. The radio show has no set time frame but it must be shorter than 25 minutes. Prior to my first show I prepared ten questions for Pontypridd captain Kristian Parker, and despite asking all ten questions the interview only lasted around six to seven minutes. This was a bit of naivety of my part as the Pontypridd players aren’t media trained and don’t answer questions like professional players would so I was receiving short answers to my questions. To combat this, I began asking more open ended questions and asking 13 to 15 questions per interview to get better answers and make the show longer. Since doing this the interviews have been lasting around 12-15minutes so this shows I have learnt a lot and improved as a journalist since hosting my own radio show.
In total I have covered eight Pontypridd RFC games this season and I believe that my match reports got better with each game I covered. I felt as if this placement was a great opportunity to hone my match report writing skills, a crucial skill for all sports journalists and I feel as if I have improved throughout. This placement also offered me a fantastic opportunity to build contacts and I have managed to get numbers for a lot of the players and coaching staff which may come in handy for story gathering in the future. Having the opportunity at Pontypridd has shown me how crucial contacts are in the industry and has given me a glimpse at what working for a club media team could be like.
I really enjoyed my experience working for a club’s media team however I still want to work for an organisation as a written journalist/reporter in the future. In that sense, this placement has been very beneficial as it has given me further clarity on what I would like to do in the future. I believe that by doing this placement I have further increased my chances of being employed as I have shown that I also have the tools to work in a media team. Throughout all three of my placements with Wales Online, DaiSport and Pontypridd RFC I have learnt a lot about the sports journalism industry that has helped me to improve as a journalist. All three placements have taught me different things.
My placement with WalesOnline was a great way to understand how a sports desk works in a news room. I learnt how journalists communicate and look to find stories and how the editor will allocate/recommend stories to other journalists in the news room. I also learnt how sports journalists work from home and how the pandemic has affected how sports journalists work.
My placement with DaiSport was a lot more hands on and I did a lot of practical work. For the two weeks I was with Dai Sport I basically shadowed Graham Thomas whilst contributing to the site. This placement showed me how much work a professional sports journalist gets through and the rigours of the job. This placement was great as it allowed me to get out and about, attending games and press conferences. I really felt like a professional sports journalist during this placement and I got to see how things operated on a match day and through the mid week press conferences.
Finally, my placement with Pontypridd RFC offered me the opportunity to experience a completely different aspect of sports journalism and to understand how a semi professional club’s media team operate. As well as getting the chance to master the art of match reporting, the opportunity to host my own radio show was very beneficial. Not only did hosting my radio show improve my interview skills, but it made me a more confident journalist and helped me to build contacts. Being a good interviewer is one of the most important skills in sports journalism and I genuinely believe there is a marked difference between my first radio show and my last radio show. This show really helped me to get my name out there as my interviews were broadcast on a radio show weekly. This was a fantastic experience and the things I have learnt from hosting this show will go a long way in the future. To summarise, all three placements have been really beneficial and I have learnt different things from all three helping me to become a better, more rounded sports journalist.
AWC SPORT 