On the Job

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On Being A Good Sport

Val Every ’19 turns a temporary school athletics loss into a career win

Jeanne Nagle | February 26, 2020 | On the Job

When her plans to play volleyball for UW-Stevens Point fell through early on in her college career, Val Every ’19 briefly considered transferring in the hope of getting some playing time elsewhere. Thankfully, she now says, such a move never became a viable option for her.

“After my first semester, I realized that I would not be able to leave,” says Every. “I had fallen in love with the people I met, my program and the opportunities UWSP had to offer me.”

Among those opportunities were several jobs and internships that Every feels she wouldn’t have had time for had she been on the volleyball squad. Working, she says, helped allow her to graduate “debt-free.” More important, internships allowed her to hone the skills that landed her a plum position as a sports information director (SID) right out of college.

Every had entered the communication program at UWSP without a specific plan in mind. “I honestly just started a communication degree because my mom said, ‘You talk a lot. Why don’t you try communication?’” she recalls.

Things changed once she got involved with club sports at the university. In addition to playing on the club volleyball team, Every served as the department’s events and promotions coordinator, from the second semester of her first year straight through to her graduation last May. At UWSP, Every also worked two years as a sports information intern. She parlayed all of her experiences into an off-campus internship with the Green Bay Packers, and also interned with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters and Green Bay Bullfrogs summer league baseball teams.

“Working with athletes and applying what I was learning in classes to something I cared about sparked my interest” in sports communication, she says.

On the advice of her mentor, UWSP Assistant Athletic Director of Media Relations Tim Bohn, Every started sending out her resume for job postings she found on the College Sports Information Directors of America, NCAA and other websites during her senior year. As her final semester at UWSP was drawing to a close, she received a reply from the College of Coastal Georgia (CCG), asking her to interview for their director of sports information and marketing position. A few weeks later, she was offered the position, receiving the good news while she was hard at work in UWSP’s club sports office.

Less than a month after graduation, Every had packed her bags and headed to Brunswick, Georgia, to begin her career as CCG’s sports information director. In this capacity she acts as the point of contact for information concerning the eight men’s and women’s teams that play for the college. In addition to tracking and reporting official game stats, she maintains the Mariners’ website and social media platforms, writes press releases and feature stories, coordinates game-day events and staffing, and participates in athletics fundraising efforts.

Being the college’s first full-time SID comes with a gratifying bonus. “I have a unique situation where no standard has been taken,” Every says. “No process has been created in my role in the Athletics Department. Everything I do has my own stamp on it."

“Being a part of something like that was a really great fit for someone like me who has so many ideas and has the ability to try them and see what is more successful, instead of fitting into a mold that someone has already created.”

Every was able to step so quickly and confidently into her position at CCG because of her experiences while at UWSP. She says that within the communication program, she took part in many projects that taught her how to successfully present her best self to an audience, speaking clearly and persuasively.

“I feel this now in my everyday work,” she says. “I get to be creative, present and show my ideas. I feel confident speaking in front of a large room.”
She says the internships she undertook while at Point served to strengthen her already considerable work ethic.

“I think that I got where I am today because I told myself, when I went into an internship, that it did not matter what the task was, that I was going to do it and I was going to make myself stand out by doing it without complaint. The harder you work, the more people will see how committed you are to that task, and more opportunities will open.”

Every is thrilled that she is able to pass the firsthand-experience torch to CCG students by hiring and supervising her own sports information and marketing interns.

“I would like to continue sharing what I do,” she says, “so that others can test the waters and see if they love it, too.”

 

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