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Honoring
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MEDIA MATTERS
This confidential story is only for the serious professional skater
Athletics Alone Doesn't Get You There!
There was a time when
being a great skater was enough to become recognized and help to "market the
sport". Skaters that focused
entirely on their wheeled skills could draw audiences attention. Super skaters often came into the sport and became stars.
Not anymore: Those days went away with the hula hoop and ditty bop music of the 1950s and 60s. Skating is the basic skill a performer needs. It's a given, roller derby players are great skaters.
To learn roller derby skating skills visit our training page: [CLICK HERE]
It takes something more to become a banked track stand out:
As a roller derby player, your performance on and off the track
will draw fans
to you. Likewise what you do on and off the track can repel fans.
A professional skaters job is to attract people to you and the sport. Simply put your job is to sell tickets.
Stand out athletes in all sports package themselves like a commodity that caters to the masses and create sponsorship value.
Roller Derby players today, should craft their look, lifestyle, image and how they talk, appear and act off the track as much as they craft their abilities on the track.
It's through communication and projecting an image that an athlete reaps the payoff in building a fan following.
Along with a fan base, a roller derby player can entice endorsements and other career business opportunities.
Roller Derby fans judge each skater according to how that skater can perform and look on the track. On the track, roller derby fans only see your physicality. That's just a small part of who you are.
Are you doing all you can with how you look?
The "on track" look:
It's important to represent the times. Equipment is one area all skaters can use to look relevant and have a personal style.
Take some time to search for the wheels, skates, laces, wrist, elbow and knee guards that give an added edge of being yourself.
Skaters are allowed to embellish their uniforms. Think of all the accessories that have been used over the years. Gloves, scarf's, jewelry, helmet gadgets, head bands, wrist protectors, makeup, hair coloring and so many other ways to enhance character definition.
Look for socks, leg wear, tights, and trunks that make you look special.
Go to Amazon and search for items you find of interest.
Fans will
judge you as a person
according to how you look when you come and leave the live events. They take
note of your personal life.
Fans will gossip about you... a whole lot!
Roller Derby needs athletes with media savvy.
Make no doubt,
famed skaters like Joan Weston, Ann Calvello, Loretta Behrens, Charlie O'connel and the others who were interviewed
knew what they were doing.
But some other roller derby skaters give shy interviews. It's a fact that many skaters are introverted. When interviewed for lets say a newspaper, a skater might simply tell the truth, thinking that their honest lives are news worthy.
Their story usually sounds like this. "When I was young I saw it on TV and knew I wanted to do that".
Well, that's 98% of the athletes and skaters in the world. It is true. But, it's not fresh, unique or very interesting. It's not memorable.
After so many years of seeing and reading interviews like the above, you would think roller derby skaters would stop and figure out that what they were saying isn't building a larger following. Honesty is usually not very entertaining. Interviews like the above can flatten the sport and not bolster it.
Unfortunately, many athletes real lives are no different than most other humans. As an athlete skaters are NOT like the mass of others.
Studying other sports, show business, writing and performing; we learn that most real lives are boring. So people turn to sports and entertainment to give them inspiration.
Not until the roller girls revolution did skaters have something new and fresh to say. Today's girls know how to tap into the youth. Some roller girls have developed a look and sometimes an attitude that sells.
Stop for a moment. Ask yourself, "what would I say if interviewed by a journalist?" Think hard. How do you want 'them' to perceive you? Not you, but your "character".
Journalist's usually ask the same questions that have been asked before.
How did you get started? How old are you? How long you been skating? Is it real? Is it dangerous? Have you ever been hurt? How much do you get paid?
We've heard the honest answers to the questions many times.
However the STAND OUT can dramatize and put their answer into an entertaining sound byte. A STAR can answer questions in a way that tell a story and makes the answers interesting, not forgettable or bigger than life.
Media star's answer in a way that's memorable
Fans admire their sports role models. This means skaters should develop their unique character through telling unforgettable stories. The fans love that.
Only a few roller derby
stars developed great media
spokemanship abilities. Those skaters are aware of having two distinct
personalities. One of those personalities is
their private self, and the other is their athlete character or their public
self.
Some of our best roller derby stars are gone.
This means new faces can step into these roles.
Thoughtful interviews will give fans insights into the athletic and strategic parts of the game. Well placed words can reach out, and inspire fans to want to make their own lives better. Connecting on a human, and not ego or selfish level is important when interviewed.
Once roller derby develops skaters with the ability to touch others, an unlimited future will unfold for the sport.
Read what the professionals say:
"Fans expect athletes to communicate with the same degree of excellence as they perform. Good communication builds interest, which builds fans, which means dollars."
-Kathleen Hessert
Excerpts from USA Today
"Talent takes
stars only so far.
Public acceptance is a must."
"The way you're perceived, man, that's just everything. Athletes take it too lightly, but your image is very important. Especially if you want to get into something after your career."
- Magic Johnson
"Athletes have to learn how to harness the media to promote their value. Look at
Mark Spitz. He won seven gold medals, but talent won't carry you alone. His
endorsements dried up quickly because he couldn't communicate. You have to have
an image, one way or the other. You have to make it an active pursuit."
- Kathleen Hessert, President, Sports Media Challenge
"The media can make you or break you and your sport."
- David Falk, Michael Jordan's lawyer
If it bleeds, it leads.
- The journalist's oath.
"You live in a fish bowl. A lot of athletes' don't realize the impression they make for themselves with the way they handle an interview."
"It can be difficult at
times, but the media is an opportunity for you to do something for yourself and
your team."
- Greg Aiello, NFL Communications Director
"Learning to communicate better has gotten me to open up more and given me more
life."
- Olympic
Speed skater Dan Jansen
"When you're an athlete, you have a coach. It's the same thing in speaking. You
need a coach, someone who can see what you can't."
Use your resources.
Media Matters
Your roller derby team upsets its arch rival, thanks to a flying, game-winning score by the teams smallest and most unlikely jammer.
After the game, young kids surround the jammer who stole their hearts. Reporters deluges him with microphones in his face, lights in his eyes, and rolling cameras.
But unlike his prowess on the track, he fumbles the opportunity to score with the public, making awkward and trivial comments that are later broadcast on the news and printed in the papers. He looks insecure and ordinary.
A great opportunity for our sport is squandered again.
"Media skills are critically necessary," says Kathleen Hessert, "You can't just throw athletes in front of the media without some form of training."
"The future of roller derby exists in our words."
Tim Patten
Roller Sports Future
In our roller skating world of there needs to be people who utilize their media and speaking skills. Skaters who can abstract a character that people will endure themselves to and create an emotional bond with others.
Self-consciousness or awkwardness make audiences feel uncomfortable. Most skaters today, should learn to become a performer, off the track.
Interviews whose object is self aggrandizement is boring.
Interviews where people's characters do not ring true or seem hackneyed and insulting to the 21st century audiences.
Poorly acted characters in an interview don't sell.
Skaters that over act when attempting to show a character, backfire and cheapen the sport.
Grudge interviews from skaters who've not practiced usually come off as contrived.
Skaters need to develop their craft.
It takes time. Don't rush it. PRACTICE! Audiences today will pick up on any hesitation or unpolished emotions in an interview.
Skaters should be well educated spokespeople who appear natural in front of news people, crowds and cameras.
That means practice.
On top of athletic training, roller derby stars should involve themselves in media training.
Athletes who communicate a vision and inspire people will kick start a new skating phenomenon.
Skaters who can piss off audiences will jar the sport to life. Be wild, be punk, be bad ass.
STAY IN THE PRESENT:
When athletes talk of past TV shows, skaters and events, the media and audience is being told that the sport is gone.
When a skaters says, I saw it on TV in the 70s and knew I wanted to do that. They are saying, I'm old and it's old. They, unwittingly help to kill the sport by turning off young audiences. Be relevant.
When an athlete talks to much about themselves, the audience is being told they are not invited into that world. Self absorption only works for a few skaters.
When an athlete is able to inspire about the NOW; the media and audience is being told there is a great future ahead for everyone. They eat this up.
All good stories are about a struggle or conflict. When an athlete overcomes all the odds and conquers their conflict, fans become inspired.
If you're a skater and want to be a star:
Search the web for more information on this subject.
Put a personalized plan of action together.
Get involved with speech lessons and public speaking organizations.
Practice to perfection.
In any interview, as in life, you get one chance to make an impression. Make sure your words connect to others heart with emotion and inspire. If your a visiting team skater, piss them off... REALLY! Make sure you reach out and touch others.
Tim Patten
Bay City Bombers 2004
