Revised Story Memo

Key Questions:

What kind of international connections NCAA coaches have and how they get them?
How athletes from other countries are a(n) advantage/disadvantage for sports teams?
Why do athletes from X seem to be more favorable for a particular sport?
How NCAA athletes and coaches would compare American competitive sports to those of another country?
What are some correlations between particular countries and a sport? (e.g. Nigerians and basketball)
Does the move to America give international athletes a better/worst chance at going pro in that particular sport?
How do foreign athletes looking to come to the states reach out to NCAA teams and schools?

Basic Structure:

I want my story to focus more on the trends of international recruiting and which patterns exist in which sport. I don’t want the story to go much into what these athletes go through, but more so on what advantages they have in particular sports and why. Also, how coaches find these athletes and recruit them.

Complementary Elements

I really want to create a graph, chart or sometime of infographic. Depending on my findings, I have the chance to gather a lot of information and data that may get confusing to my audience if I describe it in words.
Another idea would be to create some sort of graphic that would pull data from X amount years ago and see how long these patterns and trends have been going on. For instance, if UCLA’s basketball team has been recruiting athletes from the same country for 20 years, it could be interesting results to report.

Team Graphics: Evan and Glenda

Link

Five Story Ideas

My first story idea for my individual project would be international/foreign athletes during the Holidays. I think it would be a very timely story considering the Holidays are coming up. It is also something that I have had my own personal interest in. Even though I work for the WBB team, I’m only an hour away from home so I can always see my family for the holidays. I always felt a bit of sympathy for athletes who aren’t able to travel back to their countries to celebrate with their families. Since I would be dealing with international students this would be a great opportunity to bring notice to foreign holidays, ones that aren’t popular in the U.S. I even thought of a neat title: “Not Home for the Holidays.” I would want my story to show how these athletes sacrifice a lot, including time with their family during special occasions. This is one of my top 2 favorite story ideas.

To accompany my holiday story, my other top idea was doing a story about their stories. I was thinking of focusing on about 1-2 athletes or taking examples from many. The story would go through how they ended up in the U.S. and will show my readers just how the international recruiting process works. Everything from the time the athlete considered leaving home and coming to the states, when they first began being recruited by an American coach, the difference between competition in their home country and here, how their experiences was when they first got here, etc. This story seems like something that may get pretty lengthy so I was leaning towards focusing it on one person after hearing many stories, just picking out the best one and developing it to a print story.

Now for the others…

I considered doing a story about the different training procedures and tactics. This would be basically comparing the level of difficulty and amount of time dedication in each country. I have my reservations about this idea. One, it seems a little boring unless I get hold off someone who just has an amazing story about how training in the U.S. is extremely tough or extremely easy. Secondly, I feel like every athlete will say training in the U.S. is harder because why else would they have come to the states. I feel that usually international athletes come here to be better and face better competition and with that comes harder training. And finally, I don’t want to use an American athletic trainer as a source unless I am able to use a foreign one as well, one that trains internationally, and that will probably be very difficult.

I also considered doing a story on foreign athletes and how it is difficult for their family and friends to root them on from back home. This is considering that their families back home aren’t able to access American networks that air UGA athletics. I think I could pull a good interesting story from this topic, but I think finding the right athlete may be difficult. I would also look into some ways that families get around not having American networks- online streaming, getting film in the mail, etc. It also may be difficult contacting the families, but I want to focus on how they feel about sending their child to another country and then not even having the ability to watch them compete.

And finally, I came up with a story idea as I was doing research into this topic. As I was reading through some articles I realized that their are a lot of critics and people who oppose recruiting nationally. This includes coaches, fans, staff, and other athletes. Some people believe that recruiting foreign players brings down the competitiveness of a sport and takes opportunities away from American athletes. There are many people who are avid opponents to college teams pulling kids from other countries, I just worry whether I’ll be able to find some who are willing to speak out. I also have my reservations on this idea as well because I can understand how a racist undertone might be placed on this story. Having pride in the country and American athletes isn’t racist of course, but giving people a platform to speak out against college students coming here from other countries just doesn’t make me completely comfortable. Due to the times this country is in, I would have to find an acceptable and appropriate way to report this.

5 Stories on International Athletes

I was interested in doing a story about athletes from foreign countries and how the handle the transition and the culture barriers. I wanted to do a story of a subject that isn’t widely discussed, but one that I would be able to have an ample amount of sources. UGA has plenty of athletes from foreign countries and I’m hoping I can find some high athletes as well. I’m not yet sure whether I want to focus the story on high school students, college students or both.

One story I found on the topic was about the amateur eligibility of foreign athletes and basically just describing the policy and process.

http://www.athleticscholarships.net/amateurforeign.htm

Another I found was more about what I’m focusing on, titled Foreign Athletes Face Unique Challenges. The author explains the transition process and uses international student athletes at USC (Trojans) as sources.

One of the most interesting one was posted on Runner’s World, titled NCAA’s Fear of Foreign Athletes. The sub head says, Should college teams be reserved for local runners? This is what initially caught my attention. The article goes into Oklahoma State’s cross country team who won the national title in 2012, but has a roster consisting of many foreign athletes. Many debated that it was unfair and advocates have pulled in the favor of only local runners.

Another story I found was published by the Athens banner Herald titled, International athletes seek NCAA for development, better competition. This article acknowledged many coaches and American athletes’ opinions that international athletes have hindered competition especially in sports like track and field. The article also countered these arguments with the foreign athlete’s views and how they feel like they face their stiffest competition.

And final, I found a PDF packet, about the recruitment process of international student athletes titled U.S. College Athletics: International Student Athletes Recruiting Process. It’s a theses and dissertations written by the University of South Carolina Scholar Commons. I didn’t read the entire 72 pages, but I skimmed through and read some passages and it has a lot of great information that I can use for this individual process. It also contains a lot of helpful statistics and NCAA policy.

The questions I would ask about this topic would include:

When did you start considering coming to the states to continue your athletic career?

Could you explain how the transition was, how were you feeling?

In your opinion, how is the culture different here?

Does your coach train you differently than your coach back home? How so?

Are there any other (ethnicity) students on that you interact with or confide in on campus?

Does the language barrier make competing more difficult for you?

What are some things you miss most about home?

Do you feel like UGA does a good job making international students feel welcomed and at home?

Did you take any visits to other schools in the U.S.? What made you choose UGA?

Do you see yourself staying here after graduation?

High School Archives: Southwest DeKalb

About 99% of the archives I found about my high school Southwest DeKalb were about sports, mainly football. SWD has always been a worthy competitor in Georgia high school sports, so I was not surprised. The most interesting story I found was written by Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel. The article titled “Black kicker a rare find,” was about written about Taylor Wesley, who at the time was Florida A&M’s starting kicker. Wesley is also an alumnus of Southwest DeKalb High School. He talks about growing up in an all black community and how there were black kickers in grade because someone had to take the position. He went on to mention the number of black kickers dwindle significantly once they move on to college, even at HBCUs.

The writer also interviewed SWD’s head football coach at the time, Colin Godfrey. Coach “Buck,” as we called him, was the first black kicker to emerge out of Southwest DeKalb and receive a full athletic scholarship for his position. Coach Buck thinks that many black students don’t go after the kicker position because people are more concerned with those who make touchdowns and throw passes.

Feature Questions

Feature story on Gabby Douglas:

How were your experiences at this summer’s Rio Olympics different from your first Olympics in London?
How were they different?
Was your mindset and goals different in this year’s Olympics?
How do you prepare for your events (physically & mentally)?
Did you train any differently?
How do you respond when the media and fans criticize your looks and how you carry yourself?
How do you deal with the attacks? Do they haunt you?
You and your teammates seem pretty close knit, how do they respond when you’re criticized?
Are you able to turn to them when you feel attacked or overwhelmed?
What are some misconceptions or misunderstandings about yourself that you would like to clear up to critics?
Do you think the media would be easier on you if Simone Biles wasn’t in the picture?
Biles came on the team and seem to take the world by storm just like you did four years ago, do you think the media would be easier on you if Simone Biles wasn’t in the picture?
Does she responsible for the media attacks?
How did you family and friends respond to the media attacks?
Do you think the media took away from your success throughout the years?
After your success at the London Olympics you received amazing publicity and sponsorship including a Barbie doll and a movie, do you think Biles will get the same?
Were you satisfied with your performance in this year’s Rio Olympics? What about your team’s performance?
As you end your Olympic career, are there any regrets or anything you would’ve done differently?
Where will you go from here? What are your future endeavors?

The Gabby Douglas Controversy

One thing I found quite shocking as I’ve been keeping up with the Olympics, was the negative attention that Gabby Douglas has gotten as the competitions panned out.

I figured the whole “nappy hair” would be old and dead this year at the Olympics. Four years ago Douglas got a lot of heat about not her hair not being neat. It took the audience and the media a while to truly realize how absurd and petty it was picking on a 16 year old girl whose literally flipping herself in the air over and over.

This year I felt the media and spectators at home would be easier on her because of the shame we all felt four years ago at the London Olympics. Unfortunately this was not the case, and history repeated itself.

Even the camera man played a hand in this nonsense as they zoomed in on Douglas just about as close as they can get, at every chance they could get. They would put the camera on her if they noticed she wasn’t cheering for her teammates or if she did not go hug a teammate, etc. The media portrayed her as this unsportsmanslike, badly groomed prick, as far as I saw it. There were headlines and national articles that only focused on Douglas and the way she looked and how she was portrayed as bitter of Simone Biles.

Biles played a big whole in this whole thing, even though she didn’t try to. She took Douglas’ spotlight, plain and simple. And people expected Douglas to be bitter about it so at any moment that she was smiling and jumping for joy, she was made out to be a monster.

I just can’t wrap my mind around the fact that professional journalists and media personnel would pay so much attention to something as minute and irrelevant as a gymnast’s “edges.” Douglas did an interview with the Associated Press where she broke down in tears about the accusations of being a bad teammate, a “sorry American,” and an ungroomed young lady.

People on social media are driving Gabby Douglas to tears with their constant attacks

Gabby Douglas calls social media critics ‘hurtful’ after ending Olympic career

Penn State Sandusky Reaction

When I first heard about the Penn State scandal, I wasn’t too intrigued. The story was sickening and disgusting. It reminded how people can put on a facade to reach a position of power and then abuse their standing by preying on those who are helpless and vulnerable. At that time, I hated hearing stories like this so I didn’t do any research. I would hear people talking about it and that was it. I kept in out of my mind and I in a way I was in my own state of denial.

When I got to college, I discovered ESPN’s 30 for 30’s and I was hooked to sports documentaries from that point on. About 3 years ago I watched “Happy Valley,” a documentary covering the Sandusky scandal. This was when I was able to get all the details and really learn about what happened. I felt justice was served in terms of Sandusky, but I still to this day remain on the fence about the decision to let go of Coach Paterno.

Looking back on it now, I was most surprise about how many people chose to ignore it. There are allegations stemming from as far back as 1998, but the Penn State scandal didn’t arise until 2011. And even then, he was allowed to continue running his 2nd Mile program and stay around little boys.

In the second article, I was surprised that some parents never reported the abuse to the police because they thought they were protecting their sons. But in actuality, they were aiding Sandusky and allowing him to continue his heinous crimes.

And one of the most shocking facts, was that Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt fought to stay with the Sandusky family when through the abuse. Its even more shocking that Matt’s suicide attempt and abused was published for everyone to see. Even though Sandusky is portrayed as the monster, I’m sure Matt was very embarrassed and ashamed.

Vox Cards: The Flint Water Crisis

I chose the Flint Water Crisis because it was something I was initially interested in, but I think the problem was overshadow by the other tragedies that were going on in the nation. Tragedies such as the unlawful shootings of African Americans by police, ISIS and this very pathetic presidential election.

I was not aware about the switch, when the city chose to stop buying water from Detroit and instead draw water from Lake Huron; water that had not been treated or tested. I can’t even wrap my mind around the carelessness and udder disinterest that the government exemplifies for the residents of Flint. To add insult to injury, Michigan’s Department Environmental Quality outright ignored and downplayed the residents’ complaints of smelly discolored water.

This is another example of those given authority and ranks, abusing their power and showing no respect of concern of the people they are suppose to protect.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who was ignorant about everything going on in Flint, Michigan and I wish more people who educate themselves about this and the other atrocities going on in the nation caused by people with power trying to suppress those who do not. I think many people live in a state of denial. They don’t want to believe the corruption and injustice, but it’s happening everyday.

The article mentioned that similar water crisis have taken place in many other cities across the nation, but the reason Flint became such a big story is because it was avoidable. The author of the Vox card referred to it as a “manmade disaster,” and to me, that’s the most upsetting part.

The Flint Water Crisis is another example of how government institutions have failed Black Americans. It exploded in the media at the same time that African Americans were being targeted by systematic racism, which puts this crisis in a larger realm.

Journalist I Admire: Phil Taylor

I recently discovered Phil Taylor and his work with Sports Illustrated after he was mentioned in an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary I was watching over the summer. I began reading his work from the 90’s and some of his more recent pieces and I’ve never witnessed a more brilliant storyteller.

What Goes Up … Must Come Down, Or So It Seems was an article written by Taylor in 1995. He begins the piece by referring to Michael Jordan basically as a powerful and almighty God. The entire piece is speculating Jordan’s return to the NBA. He describes the anxiety of the fans and how Jordan’s return will rock the basketball world all over again.

As I was reading this article, it felt as if it was a tale about a mystical figure rather than a realistic human being. Taylor is able to dramatize his stories just enough to get the audience on its toes and make us feel like we’re a part of something spectacular. He compared Jordan’s return to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. I felt excited as if Jordan was going to descend from the heavens into my living room that very moment.

Taylor has a gift for scene setting, and to me, he’s the best at it. I’ve always struggled with scene setting or anecdotal ledes, making them too cliché and wordy. I admire Taylor’s writing because he takes you there without you even realizing that you’re being sucked in.

He shows this talent best in his Sports Illustrated article Mixed Messages.

This piece was on homosexuality and the challenges athletes face trying to keep their secret hidden and what they are faced with after they come out. This article was written 6 years ago and although times were changing, homosexuality was still taboo in the sports world. Thus, it was also rare for a heterosexual black man to write such an endearing piece about their struggles. It made me feel proud, like the world was becoming a little less awful.

The article was based on Austin Hendrix, a cross country runner at Eastern Michigan who came out to teammates. Although the feature story was based around Hendrix and his journey, Taylor made it relatable and personable to many. Whether homosexual, heterosexual or somewhere in between, he places the reader in someone’s shoes that they probably wouldn’t have related to in everyday life. That’s a gift.