At the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament held March 22 in Springfield, Mo., sophomore communication major Sarah Meyer, won the podcasting division with her submission of a women in sports podcast pitch, beating out students at Texas Christian University (TCU), Boise State University and other universities to claim her honor.
Meyer had never developed a podcast before submitting her pitch.
“The process was all an idea from Dr. Lora Cohn, who recommended I do this pitch for the tournament,” Meyer said.
As the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament approached, Cohn, who knew Meyer was passionate about sports and loved watching and talking about them, learned there was a podcast division. That’s when she came up with the idea that Meyer would be a good candidate to submit a podcast pitch, centered around women in sports.
Cohn said she believed this opportunity would help Meyer. “It’ll get her name out there, get her experience, and some contacts,” she said.
Meyer said she hadn’t considered podcasting until the idea was presented. While she admitted to enjoying talking to people having a soft spot for a career in journalism, she said she “never really thought that doing a podcast would be a way to achieve that goal.” Furthermore, she said she has “found something new that felt different, but also natural.”
To practice, Meyer met with Alana Mathis to learn the technical skills, and she interviewed Melody Alexander, Park University lecturer and adviser for The Stylus, who is also the cofounder of an area sports tech company, StatsDraft.
Alexander said, “She asked me some really great questions and was such a natural with her communication skills. Even though this was a project for an event, it will build her portfolio. She should continue doing this.”
As for the future, Meyer said she is “more focused on the podcast itself right now than on winning awards for it, even though it is a great accomplishment.” She plans on becoming a sports broadcaster like Erin Andrews on the sidelines and plans to apply as a Broadcasting intern the Heart of America Conference. She believes podcasting is a step towards that dream.
Meyer also hopes to continue releasing more episodes of the podcast and to bring in women who are involved in sports, like Alexander.
“I could not have done this without the help of Dr. Lora Cohn, Melody Alexander, and Alana Mathis,” Meyer said, explaining that Cohn’s encouragement, Alexander’s insights and Mathis’s technical help were valuable to her work. “Without their help, the podcast would not exist, and I really could not have done this without them,” she said.
