National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

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Jul 9, 2010 12:12:53 PM

SAN FRANCISCO – Division II and the sports information community have discovered important areas of mutual interest that should bolster Division II communication efforts for years to come.

 The SIDs are looking to transform their role from traditional sports information to strategic communication, while Division II leaders are looking for communications professionals to spread the positive word about the division. The two efforts have been merging over the course of the year, and they became fully integrated this week at the annual convention of the College Sports Information Directors Association of America.

SIDs attending the Convention were provided with a comprehensive collection of Division II promotional material, together on a portable jump drive. They also received a Division II Strategic Communications Toolkit, along with a sneak preview of the student-athlete segment of the DII Network website. Both the toolkit and the jump drive will be mailed to sports information directors who were not able to attend the San Francisco meeting. The promotional material also will be available for download and updated on the Division II homepage.

The toolkit and the collection of promotional material completed the first part of an ambitious two-phase project to strengthen the communication of Division II news and values. The second part, to be complete by April, will describe a model Division II communications program.

Division II Vice President Mike Racy said the support of Division II's communications professionals comes at an opportune time.

"A stronger image enhances public recognition for all of our members," Racy told 87 athletics communicators. "Your alumni, your boosters, your student-athletes – their feelings about their schools are largely determined by what people perceive when they hear the words ‘Division II.' "

For their part, the SIDs appear to be energized by the challenge.

"The biggest thing I take away is a real understanding that we have formed real partnerships now to get our message out," said Rich Herman, sports information director at Clarion and president of D2SIDA. "We're going to work together to advance the Division II branding initiative and everything that it stands for. Those who will benefit from it will be our schools and our student-athletes, which is what it's all about."

Besides Racy, the information directors also heard from Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner Julie Ruppert, Wayne State (Nebraska) Athletics Director Eric Schoh and consultant Jill Willson (former Division II Management Council chair).

Ruppert, herself a former sports information director, emphasized the co-branding potential of Division II's promotional material.

"Co-branding is so important because the success of one is the success of all," she said. "Institutions should never miss a chance to co-brand, either with their conference or with Division II."

Schoh said SIDs should not regard using the material as one more task piled upon their already-busy schedules.

"This will help you take advantage of what you're already doing," Schoh said. "This will help your athletics director in the long run as it creates a unique identity for your institution that will distinguish you from the NAIA or Division I or Division III."

Willson encouraged information directors to send videos, photos and stories through the Division II Network site. Although not every piece of content can be used, much of it can be, providing SIDs with an opportunity to distribute their messages on a national platform.

In addition to the meeting with CoSIDA's Division II attendees, Racy and other NCAA representatives also met with the D2SIDA board, which was especially interested in the new student-athlete section of the Division II Network .

The student-athlete section, which is to be operational no later than August 2, will provide a multimedia platform where communicators and student-athletes can come together to describe the Division II student-athlete experience. Content will include feature stories, blogs, videos, polls, photo galleries, information (and fresh fundraising ideas) on Division II's Make-A-Wish campaign, and links to conference sites and NCAA social networking pages.

The student-athlete section is the third part of the Division II Network site (the other two are for community engagement and promoting positive game environments). Willson said the section has been exposed to two student-athlete focus groups, both of which responded positively.

With everything added together, the overall atmosphere for Division II communications professionals seemed more positive than at any time in recent memory.

Herman owed the change to CoSIDA's new sense of purpose that has been articulated by Executive Director John Humenik.

"Everything we're doing, every time we talk to somebody, we talk about how we're strategic communicators for our universities," Herman said. "John has asked those of us in leadership capacities, every time we get in front of a group, to mention those two words: strategic communicators. As you keep using it and knocking down pegs, people come to realize that you are strategic communicators."

Division II now stands positioned to reap the benefits of the change.