Volleyball Junkies: 3 Tips to Promote Athletic Success using the Power of Perspective

If you are not investing the time and energy to develop the mental side of your game, you're guilty of self-sabotage. As a Northwestern University student specializing in Economics, I have found two articles on how to frame challenges to foster better athletic performance, which will interest you. 

2016 Olympic medalist and current pro player Kelsey Robinson picked Carli Lloyd's brain for her blog Nom and Play. Carli Lloyd is a highly acclaimed and well-respected player in the volleyball world, as she is a Bronze Olympic medalist and was recently inducted into University of California Berkeley's Hall of Fame. Robinson's blog post gives you a glimpse into how Lloyd processes the world around her, learning to frame change as an opportunity. She attributes her ability to persevere in the face of challenges to first "accepting what is" and then focusing on what she can control.

Image by Matt Brown via USAV

Karch Kiraly, the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Head Coach, periodically shares snippets of wisdom to his blog on the USA Volleyball website. His 2012 blog post titled "Stuff Happens Learn to Love It" outlines how embracing adversity better positions you for success. Kiraly's message is similar to one of my favorite quotes: "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond". When things do not play out as planned, you are still in control of dictating the outcome. Kiraly encourages his readers to start expecting life's curve balls, so you can spend less time fixating on the ensuing negatives and more time figuring out how to deal with them.

Based on my review of these two articles and my studies at Northwestern, I have created 3 tips to use when focusing on strengthening the mental side of your game.

• Be Present: Do not dwell on mistakes because you cannot change the past.

• Expect the Unexpected: Accept that you will be faced with adversity in both sports and life, and learn to rise to the occasion.

• See Big Picture: Find joy in the process because preparation does not guarantee the desired result.

It is time to start investing as much in your mental strength as your physical strength to get the most out of your athletic career. When athleticism is similar, mindset is the differentiating factor. 

Taylor Tashima is a four-year starter and 3x captain of the Northwestern University Varsity Volleyball Team. She is passionate about training and mentoring ambitious high school athletes who desire to pursue volleyball at the collegiate level and beyond. An aspiring professional volleyball player, she has experience representing USA in countries including Thailand, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and Mexico. In 2013, she captained the USA Youth Team that took the Silver medal versus China at the World Championships. This achievement was significant, as it marked the first US medal in a World Championship for either gender at the youth or junior level. She will be graduating from Northwestern in June 2018 with a degree in Economics, minor in Business, and certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications. 

Collegiate Marketing Directors: 3 Action Items to Consider Regarding Social Media Marketing in Athletics

        As an Director of  Collegiate Marketing and clearly a college sports enthusiast, you are well aware of the impact of social media when generating buzz and how effective social media marketing can benefit a department. As a graduate in the Northwestern Medill IMC program and a former student athlete, I have found two articles that address both sides of the spectrum of the effects of marketing on different social platforms.
     
      Julie Blakey's article, “The Intersection of Collegiate Athletics and Social Media” explains the upward trend of social media engagement in collegiate athletics. She details how the ability to connect with passionate fans on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook can help develop a community where these collegiate brands can effectively engage fans with hopes of this increasing fan loyalty, with beliefs that this interactivity will produce future returns on investments. She goes on to give great examples of institutions that effectively use social media to help further their fanbase. For example, the Michigan Football Facebook page utilized the ability “like” button to get fans exclusive access to season and individual ticket packages before anyone else, which this sort of buzz pays huge dividends for the university. The University of Oregon has a room called the “Quack Cave.” that is dedicated to monitoring everything Oregon from the coaches, to the players,  and various sports. The approaches from both colleges signify a turn in collegiate marketing that  Julie believes is a win-win if universities continue to effectively utilize social media.

(https://www.pinterest.com/sportsmarketing/collegiate-marketing/)

         In Arash Markasi’s article “Social media is a double edged sword in the sports world,”  he talks about the mindset of young athletes of today and their interactions on different social media platforms. In a study from the Pew Research Center showed that 92% of teenagers are online daily, and 90% of teenagers operate on at least one social media platform. Athletes of today tend to operate with a carefree mentality on these platforms, in which this mindset has had numerous examples of individuals ending up on the wrong end on the court of public opinion. For example, Yuri Wright lost scholarship offers from schools like Michigan and Notre Dame because of his explicit persona on Twitter and multiple BCS football coaches have admitted to social media activity playing a factor in college recruiting as well.  It is sort of tough to be so highly critical of these young athletes because they are young high schoolers and they should make mistakes, but essentially they are future ambassadors of the University as a whole, so that sort of responsibility weighs heavy on the minds of whether or not to offering college scholarships. Overall, it’s a great piece that effectively communicates the importance of being critical of what to post online.

         After reading these two articles and from my graduate studies in the Northwestern Medill IMC program, I have three action items you should consider in your next steps moving forward with utilizing social media, which are:

•  Get Started: Utilizing every platform may not be necessary at first, so start with one(maybe Twitter first) and figure out an online persona that effectively conveys the desired  image/ message of the athletic department.
•  Get Educated: Understand that everyone involved in the athletic department is a representation of the University as a whole. Education of social media etitique is a must from faculty to student-athletes to avoid any situations that would disrupt the public image.
•  Get Noticed: In respect to the image of the University, try to differentiate your university from the rest. Be able to answer these questions. What makes people pledge a sincere allegiance to your university for years to come? How do you want to be perceived by someone who knows nothing about your university?

Hello my name is Deonte Gibson, and I graduated from Northwestern with a BA in Communications and a certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications in June 2015. I am currently enrolled in the IMC graduate program with an open-mind and eagerness to learn about the ever evolving field of marketing communications. The blog was inspired by my career goal to work on the marketing side of collegiate athletics, and how incorporating my knowledge of social media platforms to further marketing success. For more content or just to chat about the ever evolving field of marketing or just about sports, my twitter handle is @deontegib_13!

Sports Marketers: Tips on Creating a Successful Social Media Campaign

From the NCAA to the NFL to the PGA, its no secret that sports teams and athletes generate fan bases the size of small countries. As sports marketers, it is our job to harness this following to generate excitement for our teams. But how can we make sure we are truly maximizing the full potential of our fan base? As a graduate student in Northwestern University Medill's Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Masters program, I have found 2 articles on how to create successful social media campaigns to engage your fans.

Lauren Drell, author of Five Tips for Marketing to Sports Fans on Facebook, focused on understanding the sports fan persona.  Sports fans are passionate, loyal and more importantly "they crave interaction with the team and will gladly engage right back." Think about any passionate sports fan you know and you'll see the signs - the baseball fan who goes to the game with his glove, in hopes of catching a foul ball; the football fan who plays fantasy football as the "owner" of their own team; the NCAA basketball fans who will paint every inch of their skin and dye their hair simply to match the colors of their beloved team. They all want to feel connected to their team - and as sports marketers, you have the power to make that connection. This is crucial for sports marketers to understand when formulating their social media campaign.  

                                               Source: http://www.zimbio.com/Cameron+Crazies

Ty Scheiner,  author of Four Winning Sports Social Media Marketing Campaigns You Can Learn From highlights the work of teams that have successful social media marketing strategies.  Baylor University has a rewards program that encourages content sharing.  The New Jersey Devils "Mission Control" campaign rewards loyal fans with the opportunity to be part of the team.  Each campaign that Scheiner highlights shows the teams engaging and interacting with their fans through creative social media campaigns.

After reviewing these articles, there are three action items you should immediately consider when developing your own social media campaign:   

• ENGAGE ALL FANS - Social media gives you opportunity to engage with fans anywhere at anytime. It is important to find ways to keep fans feeling connected with your team - Find a way to reach those who can not make it to the games and ways to keep the fire burning even during the off-season.

• INTERACT - The fans want to be a part of the team and they want to interact - so be sure that your social media campaign is a two-way street. Create contests, offer give-aways, involve players - anything that provides an interactive forum for the fans to get involved with the team.

• GET CREATIVE - Create unique content that is cannot be found anywhere else and is only specific to your team. Don't be afraid to think outside of the box! Crazy fans get excited by crazy ideas, so run with it! 

Every sports market is unique and it goes without saying, that it is important to know your market before establishing any type of program. But if you follow these three simple tips, you will be on the path to creating a successful social media campaign for your sports team.

Danielle Pierce, a sports fanatic and marketing wiz, is currently completing a Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University.  She previously completed her Masters of Science at Johns Hopkins University and her Bachelors of Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Follow her on Twitter @dmapierce912