Mercyhurst’s Media Day  has  always  been  a  day  for  athletes  to  look  forward  to.  When  looking  at  the  pictures  taken  of  all  the  athletes  from  the   university,   you   are   able  to  see  the  pride  and  confidence that they hold for  having  the  ability  to  play a sport they love.

In previous years  Mercyhurst   media   day   has   provided     head     shots, posed  action  shots,  and  GIFs for the student athletes.  This year  however  the  athletics  department  decided to step up the involvement.

In addition,  the  athletics    department    also    included  a  brief  personal  interview  with  each  and  every student athlete.

The interview included questions for  the  student  athletes   such   as   where   they  are  from,  why  they  chose  their  major,  information  about  their  sport  and why they chose Mercyhurst.

Although   there   have   been many  changes  on  campus  due  to  COVID,  Mercyhurst  did  not  let  that  interfere  with  giving  student  athletes  a  stellar  media day experience.

Due  to  the  amount  of  student  athletes  on  cam-pus,  Mercyhurst  has  had  to   make   some   adjustments  to  how  media  day  was set up this year.

“Media day  requires  a  lot  of  planning,  communication, and staffing, especially  with  over  750  student    athletes,”    said    Allison  Brace,  director  of  Club Sports.

“First, we decided on a location that would allow us  to  have  multiple  student  athletes  at  the  same  time,  while  socially  distancing.  The  new  locker  rooms  were  the  perfect  set  up  [located  in  the  ice  rink].”

Media   day   will   take   place     across     multiple     weeks  this  year,  allowing  for  proper  social distancing  procedures  to  be  in  effect  during  the  activities.

A strong  emphasis  was  placed   on   communication with the sports teams to allow for all athletes to have the chance to participate.

“We  needed  to  narrow  in   on   dates   and   what   teams  would  be  coming  on  what  days  and  which  time  slot.  Here  is  where  the    communication    is    key.”

Director of Social Media  and  Digital  Media   Marketing,   Haleigh  Giebel,  worked  with  all  26 coaches to individually schedule every student athlete for each team.

This  calendar  consist-ed   of   daily   time   slots,   from 9am-4pm, for three straight weeks.

With everything set up for  the  activities,  it  was  then time to brief the student  athletes  on  how  the  activities would be taking place.

“We  communicated  to  each student athlete what they    needed    to    wear,    bring,  and  be  prepared  for  at  media  day,  since  this  year  we  added  a  few  changes,” said Brace.

“As  for  our  own  staff,  we needed to strategically place them in areas where we could run media days with  precision.  Our  staff  is well versed in the criteria needed for media day, and so this piece was pretty easy.”

With  media  days  taking    place    over    three    weeks, a ton of effort has been  placed  on  making  sure  the  student  athletes  get  the  media  day  experience they have come to know and love.

While much has changed  for  athletics  this  year,  careful  planning  al-lows  the  teams  to  unite  and  remember  that  there  are  more  enjoyable  moments to come.

“It’s  the  long  days  that  make the job challenging at  times,  although  we  al-ways  say,  seeing  the  happiness  media  day  brings  to student athletes makes it all worth it,” said Brace.