I set out yesterday to cover a sports team as a "beat" for the first time yesterday. I wasn't really sure what to expect, or what to do. It's interesting, I spend a lot of time reading sports columnists and team beat reporters, but when it was me out there, I was completely lost.
I had spoken to a few people on the rugby team already, so they knew I was coming out, but they didn't really know me or what I was doing. and they weren't the first players to get to the pitch. So it was me, trying to seem unobtrusive, but at the same time trying to act as though I belonged. quite an odd feeling.
Eventually, word spread around of who I was, and nobody had a complaint about me being there. Luckily, no players tried to monitor what they said or how they acted around me. A few goofed around or tried to pose for images, which I took and then just didn't use. No sense in ostracizing them. Only one player, Phil Hojnowski, seemed comfortable enough to really talk to me, and even then it took all practice for him to open up
On the plus side, I had the freedom to wonder all over the pitch and talk to anyone I wanted, or take pictures from any angle. That worked out pretty well, though I wasn't yet comfortable enough to ask to do things like get on the sled.
My plan is to just try and make myself a normal part of practice, so that the team forgets I'm there and starts talking to me. I'm not sure how long that will take, but I think it's probably a necessary step, especially since this team is not used to any kind of press coverage, like basketball and football players are. However, I did learn a lot in my first day of sports reporting, and I think I did a decent job of taking pictures as well.
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