Most colleges have athletics teams. In South Carolina, we have Bulldogs (SC State and The Citadel), Cougars (College of Charleston), Gamecocks (University of South Carolina), Tigers (Clemson University), and Paladins (Furman University), among others.
Behind the scenes of these teams are sports information professionals such as...
...Romanda Noble-Watson who was our Media Professionals Speaker Series guest on March 20. Her LinkedIn site shows 25 years of experience in sports information. She's quite familiar with SC State having served as assistant sports information director from 2007-2014. Her husband is Lt. Col. Anthony Watson (retired) with SC State's ROTC program. He is also a graduate of SC State.
Noble-Watson was Claflin University's sports information director (SID) for seven years after leaving her SC State athletics position. From Claflin, she went to Columbia College to be the SID there.
In November 2022 she took on her current role as director of communications and public relations at the South Carolina High School League. The SCHSL, based in Columbia, is the organization that rules and regulates school athletics in the state. This involves 330,000 students at 220 high schools and 200 junior high schools.
Noble-Watson came across as a straight shooter with her advice to communications students who gathered for her talk in Turner Hall.
"Have you had an internship yet?" she asked. "If not, you need to get one to see if you like the field or not."
Networking has been a key to her success going back to her hometown Washington, D.C. where she says a family friend helped her get a sports information position at Howard University in the nation's capital.
"It's not as much what you know, as who you know," she said about the sports information field at U.S. colleges and universities.
Many students may be interested in promoting and publicizing a school's football and basketball teams, but Noble-Watson says it is easier getting your foot in the door with such as volleyball, softball, tennis and swimming.
"Don't be afraid of something you don't know," she said. "Someone will help you learn" sports that may be unfamiliar to students or interns.
Her job with the South Carolina High School League could be seen as the culmination of her sports information experience at several colleges. The SCHSL staff website lists her many responsibilites to be, among others, media relations, social media, event photography, awards, community service/living clean, and internships.
That last item, internships, is of special interest to our communications majors who are required to complete an off-campus internship.
Noble-Watson is a good contact for students who may be interested in the sports information field.
Many thanks to Romanda Noble-Watson for her excellent presentation and to Andrea Milford-Williams for bringing another top-level guest to campus!
The South Carolina High School League can be followed, under Noble-Watson's leadership, on these social media platforms.
Check out some of her on-camera work on the organization's YouTube channel.
Photographs by Patrick Harwood and Rolondo Davis.
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