Yes, BCOMS even has connections at one of tennis’ most prestigious tournaments — Queen’s. I had the pleasure, with two others from this year’s BCOMS cohort, of working as a media assistant at the tournament.
As an aspiring journalist, it can’t get much better than sharing a building for the week with the nation’s leading tennis correspondents. I could also see myself working in social media, and this was covered, too, with ATP employees in attendance. Once you are in the building, many of these people are very friendly and willing to spare you a minute to share their experiences and advice. BCOMS opens these doors, and I have tried my best to take advantage of the networking opportunities and being at these events. Many people working in the media have also heard of BCOMS already and respect its mission.
This year, Queen’s featured big names in tennis such as Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray and Frances Tiafoe, with USA’s Tommy Paul claiming the title.
One of my roles for the tournament was to help run the press conferences. Thinking journalistically, it was interesting to see the types of questions posed to the athletes and what the athletes had to say. My colleagues allowed me to attend press conferences as media and write reports when it got quiet, meaning I could further test my writing skills. I was then able to compare my work to the newspapers the following day to see if I had led with the same breaking news as them and how they constructed their stories based on the day’s action.
Another responsibility I had was catering and safeguarding the photography seating, which was courtside! This tournament costs £100+ per day to access centre court, and I was as close to the action as it gets for my first experience of live tennis, too.
Last year, I watched the tournament on TV, and this year, I was able to be in the thick of it. Going from no network behind me before this year and limited resources, I feel that opportunities such as this BCOMS have propelled my chances of working in the sports media and encouraged me for a diverse industry moving forward.
Speaking of TV, even my mum was buzzing as she saw me on BBC, and I got her a tournament umbrella.
I must also shout out the kind people at the LTA and The Emilia Group who provided the opportunity and were great to work with throughout.
