Many Texas Tech University fans may not know what goes into running a smooth and successful football game. Preparation for a home game is not a last minute ordeal. Without Tech’s 20 game-day interns who help prepare, organize, and alleviate chaos throughout the week and during games, success would be difficult to achieve.
Preparation for Tech football games begins Monday with the weekly press conference where head coach Kliff Kingsbury chats with the media about his plans and expectations for Tech’s upcoming game. Monday duties for game-day interns include setting up the Big 12 curtain for the press conference, setting up the microphones and podium, and getting back-up recordings of what is being said during the conference in case the sound board fails. At the end of each press conference, interns take down the equipment and assist athletic directors with any tasks they need taken care of in the athletic office.
“Before the game, I take the visiting team’s sports information director to the internal and external public announcers,” said Julien Demers, a senior public relations major and communications industry content manager for The Hub. “After the game, I make sure the home post-game press conference is set up, and I run the sound board.”
Mary McCormack
Responsibilities for game-day interns will vary throughout the week and from game to game. All interns must attend every Tech home game and assist with all sporting events throughout the fall and spring semesters.
The Friday before a home game, interns help set up the press box by stuffing programs, preparing name tags for the media and ensuring all media vests are ordered and ready for Saturday’s game.
For a typical game day, pre-game responsibilities include a variety of tasks. Game-day interns are assigned to drive the media shuttles that transport media from the recreation center to the stadium, hand out the media vests and arrive at the press box four hours before kickoff.
Mary McCormack, sports media graduate student and game-day intern, discussed several responsibilities she has been required to execute during home games. Depending on what each intern is assigned, a typical duty could involve assisting photographers by running photo memory cards back and forth between the field and press box.
“During the game, I ran memory cards back and forth from the field and the press box to assist the photographers,” McCormack said.
Courtesy of Mary McCormack
Other responsibilities include reporting game statistics to the media at the end of each quarter or even going on pizza runs to ensure everyone in the media and in the press box is taken care of.
“Without the interns, game days would be more hectic than they already are,” McCormack said. “You are respected more as an intern and in the office if you just do the job you are assigned and don’t complain about it.”
Once the game has ended, a handful of interns stay in the press box and wait for all the media to finish writing their stories. Interns collect all vests from the media, assist athletic directors with any final tasks that need to be taken care of and ensure everything is ready to begin the cycle again on Monday.
“Our main job is just to take care of the media and the people in the press box,” McCormack said. “I worked 12 hours this past game day, and I didn’t care. You don’t really know how much goes into planning one football game until you are on the other side of it.”
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