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- When everyone else is getting excited, or down in the mouth, the PRO is thinking about a photograph, an update on Club Radio, a Tweet or a call to the local radio station.
- They think about today – and they think about the future. They value archiving and appreciate that by capturing events properly today, they are writing the history of the club, match by match, homecoming by homecoming, accolade by accolade.
- When someone dies who made a great contribution, they think about getting something appropriate written up and publicised.
- They identify talented people within the club – or beyond it – who can help out: photographers, commentators, social media gurus and more.
- They ensure that people get recognised for what they do.
- They check the spellings of names.
- They faithfully report the success of one of their members, even if it’s not in their colours – it could be for their college, their school or a representative team. ‘One of our own’ is, always, ‘one of our own’.
- They have Google Alerts and Twitter searches set up for relevant terms to avoid missing out on the successes mentioned in the previous point.
- They think about having a cup of tea for the reporters at the game.
- Checks the score with the referee at half-time and again at full-time.
- Spread the net far and wide – there are people there keen to do it, find them and ask them
- Use young, old, male, female – make it inclusive
- Get experienced people in to train your commentators – don’t leave them floating
- Create an expectation of feedback – what you did well, what you could do better – better again if you can get an experienced person to give feedback, while bearing in mind that most people are happy to do Club Radio (i.e., not everyone wants to be the next Mike Finnerty)
- If you unearth a good commentator who could go ‘up the line’, promote them to the local radio or sports TV. It’ll be like one of your players getting an international cap.
- Promote your games well beforehand – social media, club WhatsApp group, local paper, parish newsletter.
- When creating your post to go live, give ample detail – it’ll make it easier for those listening now, and also for archiving/retrieval down the line. Remember, you are capturing the history of the club game by game, event by event.
- Promote a sense of fairness and impartiality in your broadcasts. Yes, you are up for your own club; of course you are. But not every referee is out to get you. Remember that you’re front-of-house for your club when you go behind that microphone. You’re the
- Invite people from other clubs to join your broadcasts. It’ll add more depth and help to promote that sense of fairness and impartiality.
- Take time to get the team names and numbers beforehand – and double check.
- Check pronunciations of unfamiliar names – often the best way is to sidle up to the player and ask them how they pronounce it i.e., the coach may not know the correct pronunication.
- Get your commentators to keep an eye on Chat during the game. Might be an opportunity to say ‘hello’ to a former player or relative of a current player – or the star player may be in Morocco on holidays and is listening in.
- No bad language.
- Take photos of your commentators and promote them on social media, particularly in unusual or improbable venues.
- If the team wins a trophy, look at telling people you’re stopping the radio and will be back in a few minutes with a Facebook Live video – and get onto the pitch and capture the special moments. Interview players, coaches etc. They’ll love it: and they’ll all listen back to it. Recognition matters to sportspeople: they put themselves out there in the arena and like to celebrate their achievements. However, steer clear of people who may be a touch too worked up – an eff-bomb is unfortunate, though people tend to forgive it in the magic of the moment.
- Don’t goad the opposition. Remember, your glasses are rose-tinted. And our opponents today were our friends yesterday and will be our friends tomorrow. #InThisTogether.