March 12, 2020 will be a date written about in history books. The day the NCAA canceled all winter and spring championships, because of CoVID-19. A very hard decision for everyone involved that absolutely was the right call.
Now 116 days later what have we learned? There are a lot of question marks about the lasting impact of CoVID-19. I’m not going to try to unpack all of that, but for this blog, I want to talk about the positive impact I’ve seen in the college athletics community and some lessons I’m planning on taking back to campus.
Collaborative TikTok:
Early on during the quarantine/lockdown time period, we saw a lot of athletics administrators collaborate on different projects, including TikTok. I personally participated in two of these (linked below) but I think this speaks to where a lot of people’s heads were in late March. We all looked to something that could distract us from the events going on. TikTok ended up being a fun way to pass time and opened the door to new friends.
The Last Dance:
Millions of people all over the world tuned into The Last Dance, an ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan, including 6.1 million viewers during the premiere episode. ESPN released this amazing documentary earlier than originally planned to fill the gap in programming that CoVID had caused. I for one made it a standing appointment to watch documentation of Michael Jordan being the <goat emoji>.
Having the chance for the world to watch, tweet, and experience the closest thing to a sporting event that had happened in over a month, is what I think made the documentary extra special. Showing how important sports are to our lives and how it can bring people together.
Massive Creativity:
With the added time on our hands, we saw a lot of incredible social media content. Across the country, from small to large programs we saw top-notch content. From coloring books to emotional videos about missing sports to fantastic NFL draft posts, it was really an amazing time creatively. I know for myself it was hard to be creative (more on this in Blog 2) but seeing the talented people across the country kept me motivated to make content.
Virtual Conventions:
Another part of the regular athletics summer went away because of CoVID.
The athletics conferences (CoSIDa, NACMA, NAATSO, NACDA) all had to turn to online versions instead of the scheduled time in Las Vegas. I take this as a positive because thousands of people that would not have been able to go to Las Vegas this year got to participate and learn. With the webinars, I participated in, along with the overwhelmingly positive reviews on social media. I’d say the staff at the respective organizations did an amazing job taking a bad situation and making the best out of it.
Graphics Challenge:
After the 2020-21 season ended 116 long days ago the idea of coming back stronger has kept me going. It has been a dark time in a lot of ways, but I wanted to make sure I stayed up on my graphics skills and learn new things. March 23rd, I challenged myself to make a new graphic every “WFH day”. By the end, I had about thirty graphics and I had found (more or less) what I wanted UE’s graphics to look like for the fall. I enjoyed making new graphics and it allowed me to make graphics that had nothing to do with a branding structure. I also started getting messages from student-athletes asking for me to do graphics for them, which was a cool way to connect with athletes while not on campus. This challenge helped me grow as a designer, creator, administrator, and got my name and work out to the world.
*If anyone ever wants to talk graphics just hit me up @emily_mcm16
This Podcast/Blog:
The idea of a Power 5 Mentality is something I’ve had since 2017 when I started graduate school at Missouri State. It was my first time working at a non-power five school. Not wanting that to stop me from growing I came up with the P5 Mentality. Fast-forward to April 3, 2020 when I tweeted a graphic that prompted Scott to message me saying “are we about to start a podcast???” A week later we had a logo, a website, and a plan. Something that almost started as a joke has been the thing, I’m most thankful for during this crazy time.
Thank you all for going on this journey to find your Power 5 Mentality. We’re just getting started!
p.s. Wear a mask, sports will return faster if you do!
- Emily McMillan (@emily_mcm16)
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