WOMEN LEADING THE WAY ON CAMPUS AND THEIR STORIES
In the constantly evolving world of sports, Badgers are always taking up new opportunities to get involved. Sports is no longer a boys club, women at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are spearheading the sports media rooms. From reporting, to videography, and social media, the leaders in the room are women. Kali Mick, Sloane Rosen and Sofia Miranda are just three of the several women leaders on campus. These three trailblazers have helped pave the way for more young women to come, but the road to success was not linear.
UW-Madison is a huge sports school, with 23 varsity sports to watch and get involved in, causing many students to take interest in a career in it.
“The sports culture at Wisconsin is passionate. Everybody from the fans to the athletes to the interns, you have to love it. Especially in times of less success, there will always be people fighting for it. People are vocal because they care, they want us to be better. There’s a lot of power in being a Badger, let’s rise. The culture of sports at Wisconsin is about flexibility and grittiness.” graduate student Kali Mick said.
Mick is in her third year as a Brand Communications Student Assistant for Wisconsin Athletics. She shares the passion, flexibility, and grit of a Wisconsin sports fan and continues to chase her dreams, even if that means jumping through multiple hoops.
Mick is the social media administrator for the Wisconsin men’s hockey team and women’s rowing team. After being denied from the position her freshman year, she still had determination. “I kind of put all my eggs in one basket coming to the school for this position. After getting declined, my now boss had said that I was a great candidate but the department does not hire freshmen. He invited me to hang around the office for the year. So I did Instagram stories on game days for men’s hockey. The girl in the official position was a senior, she graduated, and I got bumped up into her spot . This is my 3rd year, officially an intern, but 4th year working in brand communications for men’s hockey.” Mick said.
Mick’s persistence has allowed the @BadgerMHockey social media accounts to flourish and gain more traction than she could have ever imagined. The TikTok account has gained over 20.000 followers in her time as a brand communications intern. The social media accounts hit 50 million impressions across platforms in her first two years.
Sofia Miranda works with the men’s hockey team and the Milwaukee Brewers with video production. When asked about her best experience working in sports, she shared “I’d say working within the Brewers. I did an internship with them sophomore year and then they asked me to come back this past summer as my junior year internship and I think working with professional sports is just an unbelievable energy and being able to actually work with players and see peak athleticism and see how hard they work.”
Both Mick and Miranda are inspirations in the field of sports media and great examples of what you can do when you put your mind to it. However, both had mentioned in interviews how they wish they had more women to look up to on campus. Having other women in power is a great way to see yourself there too. Role models are key in this industry.
WNBA player, Caitlin Clark, is seen as a role model to many, as she is credited to the uprise of women’s sports coverage in the past few years. Ticket sales, viewership, and interest in women’s sports skyrocketed and broke records during the end of career playing Division I at the University of Iowa. Miranda also saw how Caitlin Clark has inspired more women to work in sports and do things they may have previously not felt as confident in doing.
“Visibility really, really, helps in seeing women in positions that you admire. I even follow so many content creators that are in a similar position, and I just think seeing an example of what you want to do and what you want to be totally helped within the fields. Working in media in general is such a male dominated field I feel like I need to work 10 times harder to prove myself than my male counterparts,” Miranda said.
Senior sideline reporter and member of the UW dance team says that “She’s (Caitlin Clark) just made such an impact on women’s sports as a whole, especially in college basketball for women has become such a bigger deal because of her, but also the WNBA. I feel like they already are getting so many more viewers and engagement because she’s just drawing that in. Her as well as so many other female athletes, but that just speaks for itself how you can make such a difference whether it’s a specific sport or within the field of sports for women. It’s just a known thing that women are looked at differently in the sports world, and there are so many women paving that way. I hope to also help do that. But being like her is definitely something that I aspire to be. I think she’s so awesome in every aspect of life,” Rosen said.
All three of these inspiring young women shared a common ground that the field of women working in sports is growing. Kali, Sloane, and Sofia were all athletes growing up and see the drive in themselves to this day. From soccer to dance and gymnastics, three sports with a passion behind them that allowed them to feel comfortable in these spaces. They all want to lead the way for others and set an example. “If I can make it 1% better for my predecessor I will try”, Mick said.
MAKING WAVES AND MAKING THEIR MARK 