Sunday, April 08, 2012

Work Experience With Rovers!

A few weeks ago I sent a detailed email to Kirsty Pugh, who works in the media department at Rovers, explaining that I was currently taking my A-Levels at The Grange and wondered if there would be any opportunities for me to gain an insight in to the sort of work she and Keith Brookman (match-day programme editor) do on a daily basis. I filled the email with information on my ambitions for the future to become a sports journalist and the fact I'm a huge Rovers fan, meaning any experience I could get from the club would be greatly appreciated. I did realise at the time of writing though that the club must be inundated with similar emails and may not have the time to reply to each one individually. I didn't allow myself to get too excited because of this but concluded that if I didn't ask I'd never know.
To my delight I did receive a reply a few days later from Kirsty that revealed that the club didn't usually run work experience in the media department, but due to how professionally I'd written my email they wanted to invite me in to attend a press day. Today was the day that I was asked in and I was told I needed to be at the South Bristol Sports centre where Rovers train for 9.30am. I arrived very nervously and in awe of the players who were arriving in their training kit. I went inside the complex and met with Kirsty for the first time as she was setting up her laptop. She was very nice and went a long way in easing any anxiety I had beforehand of meeting the players and club staff. Fortunately everybody was just as accommodating and it was instantly clear that the atmosphere between them was positive. She explained that we were going to interview Mark McGhee and then asked if I had any questions I'd like to ask him. I hoped I'd be given the chance to ask a few questions and fortunately Mark was more than happy for me to ask my own after his scheduled interviews with Chris Swift of the Evening Post and Richard Hoskin of Radio Bristol had ended. 
We went in to a makeshift room at the back of the building where the interviews took place and as questions were being asked to the manager, Kirsty filmed him as content for Gas Player on the official website. Most questions centred around the game against Gillingham tomorrow and although I was interested in his response, I thought that I'd deviate and gauge his thoughts on his experience of the club so far. Once he had finished with the local press we shook hands before he told a funny story regarding a work experience student at previous club Brighton. It didn't make me feel any less nervous about interviewing our manager, but it was a good ice breaker! I asked him how he felt his time at Rovers had been so far, if he was pleased with the reception he'd received from Gasheads and what his plans were in terms over player changes over the summer. In order to see how my interview with the Scotsman went, please check out my last blog entry. Upon the end of my interrogation he congratulated me before heading out on to the training pitch with the majority of the team. Matt Gill and Gary Sawyer were two absentees as it was their turn to be put under the media spotlight and get interviewed by Keith Brookman and Kirsty. They did so, commenting on how important it was to finish well, before they then headed off to train. 

There wasn't much time for me to catch my breathe and get my head around what was happening, as from the training ground, we drove to the Mem and in to the offices underneath the Uplands Stand. You don't realise how many people work at the club, particularly on non-matchdays. I was introduced to everybody before being run through the process in uploading the interviews on to Gas Player. Once this was done I was asked if I fancied writing up McGhee's interview. I eagerly replied "yes!" and was given a laptop in order to do so. It took me a while as I wanted to make sure I picked out the most important parts of his interview, but after 30 minutes, it was ready to be published on the website! It was a proud moment. My first published article on the Rovers website!

My Rovers work experience then took a surprising turn as Keith then asked if I would be willing to model some of the clothing items in the club shop. I didn't expect to be asked yet without hesitation I jumped at the chance. I was keen to do as much as possible and make the most of the unique opportunity I was given. I modelled a polo shirt and jumper up in the freezing Uplands Stand. Needless to say which item was more appropriate for the weather!

Uplands Stand - the destination of my first modelling job!
Then it was lunchtime and I was given an hour to go and grab a bite to eat. I headed down Gloucester Road in order to refresh myself for the afternoon. I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting to do as much as I had, but I really enjoyed it and was excited to find what I'd end up doing next. When I got back in to the offices at 2, Kirsty explained about the fundraising event that will be taking place before the game against Crewe on Monday. Ex-Gas keeper Steve Phillips' is spearheading the charity effort to raise money for his terminally ill niece. A member of the Crewe supporters club had emailed Rovers earlier in the week and asked if we could put a piece up on the website highlighting the event and trying to encourage Rovers fans to help out. I was then asked to research the event and write an article for Gasheads on the website. I was proud to be trusted with such an important matter and think I wrote about the subject in a dignified manner. 

Once I'd finished Kirsty explained that almost everything that could be done had been and that I could go home and enjoy the rest of my day. She invited me back to go in during pre-season and work for a more prolonged period of time - a chance that I jumped at! On top of that, I've been invited to go back in on a match-day next season to experience what it's like to be in the press box. Together these will prove to be invaluable experiences for me. If that wasn't enough, as I was leaving I bumped in to Keith again and he enquired as to whether I'd be interested in writing for the official programme next season. I couldn't believe I was being asked and again I expressed a great desire to do so. 

All in all it was a pretty brilliant day. I was incredibly pleased to be invited along in the first place, let alone be asked back and to contribute to an award-winning match-day programme! I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity and would like to thank Kirsty Pugh for making it possible for me. She made sure I knew everything I needed to and made me feel very welcome. All the players, staff and management were great with me too and made me feel part of the team whilst I was there. I'd also like to thank Keith Brookman for providing me with the chance to write in the programme during the 2012/13 season. It truly was a great experience for me.

If you don't ask you'll never know. I'm glad I took the chance now! 

Up the Gas!!

2 comments:

  1. Such a great post - sounds like you gained valuable experience that will stand you well for the future. Rovers have always been a helpful club, I remember receiving help from them, in particular Geoff Twentyman (he was a player at the time!), many years ago when I was researching for my GCSE's. Now following your blog, I do post but my blog tends to be craft related. Take care Zo

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  2. Thank you for the feedback, much appreciated. It was a fantastic experience and one I never expected to have when I originally asked the question. Kirsty and the team were brilliant and it was great to see what goes on behind the scenes. Whilst I was there Nick Higgs was discussing his interview with the Evening Post and said he was quite pleased with how it portrayed him!

    They've said I can go back in for a week so I'm really looking forward to that! I'll take a look at your's when I have a chance. Thanks again for following.

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