Grimsley Volleyball Media Liaison

Goals: Grimsley High School always does a volleyball fundraiser for one of our volleyball games against Page, our biggest rivals. Our fundraiser for this year was for Cancer and all the proceeds from the game were donated to the American Cancer Foundation to help their research. This year, Grimsley is hosting it and I have taken the position of being the media liaison. This is my first time doing any kind of advertising work, so I hope that this will help me learn how to plan this section on my own so that it can help get the word out about the fundraiser. I also hope I can learn a lot of new skills regarding the communication and advertising business-something that I have very little experience doing.


I was very hesitant when the fundraiser coordinator was looking for a media liaison. I did not think that I would be able to do it considering I am only a high schooler- I was afraid I would not be taken seriously when talking to adults. However, I thought that this would be a great opportunity to improve my communication skills and learn a little bit about advertising. Needless to say, I hesitantly volunteered to do it, not knowing what I would get myself into. First, I decided that they best way to star was sending an email to all the news stations in my community. I started out with WFMY News 2 and FOX 8 news when I realized that I needed to get the word out as much as I could. After composing some emails and becoming more confident in my communication skills, and throughout the month,

News article that I coordinated about the fundraiser

I started reaching out to local radio stations such as 107.5 KZL and newspapers like The Greensboro News and Record. I was so nervous about getting responses because I did not want to fail my team, so I awaited anxiously for responses. Some stations said that they did not have enough room to cover it, however, one of the talk show hosts emailed me back saying that she would love to mention it on "Murphy in the Morning", one of the most popular radio shows in Greensboro! I had been listening to that radio show since I was a little kid, so being able to listen to my announcement on the show was a great experience. After, I also got a reply from a writer with the News and Record, wanting to come out during the game to do an article about it. After further communication, the newspaper came out to the game, took pictures, wrote and article, and conducted interviews to include as well. This experience was great and I am so happy that I volunteered for this position. I would definitely volunteer for it again next year if I could, unfortunately next year is Page's turn to host, so they will have their own liaison, but if there is ever a spot needed, I would love to fill it. At this point, I would also like to volunteer for other positions so that I can expand my horizons and learn new things. I went into the position of being a liaison without knowing anything and coming out with much more knowledge than before and I would be willing to do so in any other new position as well.




Learning outcome: Planned and initiated activities-
    This was definitely a step out of my comfort zone, especially because I was not working with anyone else on the team. I had to plan everything with the adults working in the media, which was hard at times because I wanted to make sure I could get as much coverage as possible. Planning all the media on my own definitely taught be a lot about the advertisement world and the communication skills necessary to advertise well. One thing that I thought was one of the most important parts of advertising is just being confident and putting yourself and your cause in front of as many people possible, someone will be interested, it just might not be the first person you see, which is why you have to try again no matter what.

Learning Outcome: Developed New Skills
    As I mentioned before, I learned a lot about communications and advertising, learning how to reach out to adults in a professional manner. Confidence was also a huge lesson learned-if you are not confident in yourself, how do you expect others to want to do business with you? By showing confidence and preparedness while talking to the media, your changes are bettered immediately because you can capture their attention and "sell" your product.

Learning Outcome: Considered the Ethical Implications of their Actions:
    Cancer is a very serious illness and choosing it as our focus was very hard due to the numerous diseases that affect millions of people every day. By raising awareness through something as big as the Grimsley-Page rivalry, we are putting our rivalry to good use and giving back to the community that raised us. As I sought out various forms of media, I reflected on all the great people out in the world who have to stop their passions due to an illness. The process taught me not to take any minute of playing the sport I love for granted, as many people are not able to have to same opportunity. Thinking about how this fundraiser can help a fellow volleyball player, mom, soccer player, artist return to doing what they love most drove me more to reach out and advertise this even as much as possible.