How to develop relationships with female athletes

Alright people, so a lot of my fellow newbies out there ask for advice when they start that "first gig" and one of the responses is always about how to form relationships with the athletes they cover (shooting hoops etc). Alright here's my question, at my shop all of our high school reporters have beats and each season I cover a girls sport,so I'm wondering, how do I form the type of relationship as described above with a high school female. I mean, I refuse to sit there and have a conversation about Lindsay Lohan (why do I know who that is?). What could I possible have in common with these girls? What can I do to get them to trust me? Thanks in advance.

 

Just because they're girls doesn't mean they're any less into basketball than the guys who play.  If you shoot hoops with the guys, shoot hoops with the girls.  Be there, get recognized and treat them the same as any other athletes... I'd imagine most of them don't care about Lindsay Lohan any more than the guys.

Be yourself, don't patronize them or try to hit on them and you should be fine.

 

Honestly, one thing that works for me is to flirt back at them. They like that and will open up, often more than you'd ever want them to.

 

From my experience, many PEteachers get in trouble for this very thing.

 

Buy 'em a fish sandwich

 

Holy shit, there's a lot of bad advice rolling around here lately. Do you get drunk first, too?

 

Paging Cadet ... bring your Title IX rant over this-a-ways ...
(This thread is ripe for a thread-jacking anyway; might as well be that one)

Hey Bulls Fan ... here's a rule of thumb:

Treat the athletes you cover like anyone else you would cover. Regardless of gender.
Treat them professionally. Regardless of gender.
Treat them the same. Regardless of gender.

Disarm them with wit/humor/nonchalance, speak to them on a personal level (not a patronizing level), develop a rapport with them, keep your mind open -- people can surprise you. Regardless of gender.

And by all means, lose the ignorance. All high school girls don't want to talk about Lindsey Lohan just like all high school guys don't want to talk about ... well, I take that back. All high school guys do want to talk about high school girls. ;D ... A high school girl who plays sports can often talk just as much sports as a high school guy who plays sports. ... At any rate, you're there to do your job, not to be on their top 8 on MySpace. So do your job. You don't have to have anything in common to do your job well.

 

Geez. Flash, I'm with you on that one.

If you're interviewing a female athlete, they know you're there to talk sports and not Lindsay Lohan. Wouldn't a guy rather talk about Lohan anyway? I don't get that.

Small talk is the same with men and women. How's it going works fine most of the time. Just be yourself and be comfortable. Don't be heavy unless they blew a 50-point lead and stunk up the joint.

 

Oh Lord. From the moment this thread was conceived it was headed off a cliff to a fiery doom.

 

Thanks for the help. I guess using Lindsay was a HORRIBLE example. Thanks again

 

We had a guy at my old college paper who covered the women's rowing team. I'm not lying when I say he was a bit more than slightly retarded. Talked real low, slurred, sometimes stuttered. Not a real looker, either. He went to practice everyday, but only watched. He told several girls they had pretty eyes. He asked several girls for their phone numbers and instant messenger names. They told him no. He didn't give up. They complained. We still laugh about it.

Basically, I suggest you do what he did.


Only one more to go!

 

At my college paper one year we had a nerdy guy, also a sophomore at the time, cover women's v-ball. One of the more attractive girls grabbed his ass in a calculated move while he interviewed her friend (also hot). This story has no point, just always makes me laugh when I think about it.