Week 6 – Personal Contributions
Week six was very significant regarding my work on various projects over the past several weeks. While I still have many projects in the works, I showcased three main projects that I spent several hours putting together. From an administrative standpoint, the organization of our section of the equipment room came full circle. We got extremely lucky and received almost all our new Adidas gear for this upcoming year, minus our new shorts. Earlier this summer, I spent several hours taking inventory of equipment and clothing, both new and old. It was fully my responsibility to not just organize but to also bring up any problems that popped up throughout the summer. Starting on Monday August 16th, Coach Hogan and I moved all necessary equipment and apparel for fall season to the locker room, but the work had just begun. Together, Coach Hogan and I set up the locker room for the players to return to during the first week of school. We folded over 300 articles of clothing the exact same way, along with put all necessary pieces of lacrosse equipment, heads, shafts, practice jerseys, shoes, and even sock, the exact same way in each locker. This took about three full days to successfully complete. I could not have executed this without the help of Coach Hogan but most importantly his trust in me. His trust gave me confidence in my execution of the operation. The other two projects were social media-focused.
Richmond Men’s Lacrosse has always struggled with our social media presence. With one of the most marketable logos in all sports, we did not take advantage of this prior to the summer of 2021. I had a meeting with the entire coaching staff where I presented my ideas and also established a long but concise list of projects I would like to and need to accomplish by specific dates. One of the bigger projects was introducing the incoming freshman via social media. While @Spidermlax on Instagram has the most followers out of any Richmond athletic team, this number could be way higher. I put my head down and went to work. I spent hours in the office utilizing Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere to create fun, dynamic, and interesting graphics and videos for our social media. Another project was announcing our fifth-year Spiders, those of which who were granted another year of eligibility due to COVID-19. I needed to gain approval from the coaching staff for this second project in order to make sure the execution was right. Not too flashy, not self-centered, but showed that we are one as a team and that no one is more important than another. The coaching staff trusted me yet again and I passed with flying colors. All in all, every piece of social media I spearheaded accumulated over 5,000 likes and raised our social media exposure by 211%. I will link my work below.
Other than my knowledge of graphic design, my knowledge of leadership is the most important aspect of making these projects come together. I learned when to speak up and when to listen and respond. For once I did not feel that I was always correct. I took every compliment and criticism in stride as I patiently worked with the entire coaching staff. I value their opinions and because I value them so much, the coaching staff brought out my best work yet. I also learned that working as a graphic designer in college athletics at the division one level is extremely difficult. I was often critical of those in this role before stepping into their shoes. I learned that in order to be great you have to be consistently good. While I am not exactly where I want to be yet, I am farther than I imagined I would be when this journey began. I am excited to share the rest of my work as we kick off the fall of 2021.
