First-year scholars at Wolves Academy have been getting their first taste of life under the media spotlight in recent weeks.
The youngsters were interviewed by Football Journalism students from the University of Derby, in an exercise undertaken to support a module within their BTEC studies which requires the players to evaluate themselves in a media interview. The two-way activity, which included mock press conferences and a rotating system of interviews, also benefitted the budding journalists who were able to hone their interview skills and produce pieces of written work for their assignments.
Frequent player care sessions take place at Compton Park each week and to help prepare them for future experiences in front of the camera, the scholars also attended a media training session with award-winning journalist James Pearce. Pearce, who spent 20 years as a BBC correspondent, taught the players the most effective techniques to help build confidence in interviews before they were able to put their learning to the test, as the youngsters were quizzed on a topic of their choice by Pearce in front of camera and were then made to watch the interview back and provide feedback. Pearce has explained how having the ability to tell a story and paint a picture along the way was a key focus throughout his session, while he was impressed with the efforts of the group who confidently went about their business.
On academy players undertaking media duties
“The truth is, in terms of media, they’re in a very safe environment because the only people they’re going to be talking to are people for the club’s media.
“If they’re talking to the club’s media team and going out on the Wolves social media channels, that’s the first time any of the Wolves fans have seen anything about them.
“It’s really important that the fans have that connection. It’s teaching those young kids that they need to sell themselves a bit – don’t just sit there and say you’re proud, happy and excited. Tell them when you’re happy, why you’re excited and basically take the fans into your shoes.
“You’re representing not just the club, but the sponsors too. The sponsors are putting their name on your shirt. It’s really important they see themselves, even at this age, as a role model.”
On how to tell a story
“It’s teaching them to tell a story. It’s very easy to give 10-word answers to a question and it’s much harder to give an answer that’s a minute.
“Actually, they’ve all got great stories. One of the guys we were talking to today was on about playing for England and getting the call-up.
“Don’t just tell everyone you’re happy to play for England and it was one of the greatest days of your life, tell me how you got the news, who you told, arriving at the England training camp for the first time – paint that picture and bring it to life.
“They’ve all got great stories. It’s giving them the confidence to think about those stories and tell them more widely.”
On being interviewed and watching it back
“They did well. It’s scary and much harder in a training environment because all their mates are watching and these are 17-year-old kids. Some of them are always going to act a little bit differently in a group than they would do in a one-on-one scenario.
“No one let themselves down and they did well. There are always two or three that stand out as being excellent, and there were today as well.
“No one likes watching themselves back and players don’t watch themselves back normally, which is why it’s really good in a training environment to force themselves to watch them back.
“I always tell them that watching back is harder than actually doing the interview because they’re so uncomfortable doing it, but it’s the only way to learn.
“They could see today which interviews went well, which interviews didn’t go well and they can learn from it.”
On being prepared for the future
“Hopefully some of these players are going to be first-team players and they might even be playing for their country at a senior level in a few years’ time.
“If you’ve never had any training and it’s all new to you, you’re going to be nervous. If you’ve managed to have some training and the club are interviewing them regularly during their academy experience then, by the time they make their first-team debut and you’ve got the Sky cameras on them, they’re going to be relaxed and comfortable with that experience. That’s why getting help at a young age is important for them.”
