Nestled deep in the Carver Center, the sports information office provides Augustana with knowledge involving all 23 sports.
Some of the tasks sports information performs is creating and updating the athletic web page at Augustana’s official website and keeping an archive of their work. The office also serves as a support group for the college, staff, and athletes by managing games and scheduling music and singers for the events.
One of their most important responsibilities is collecting statistics that they post after the game.
Dave Wrath, the Sports Information Director, has been the Sports Information Director for 35 years after he graduated from Augustana College. One of the aspects driving Wrath has been his belief in the relationship of college and athletics.
“I believe in the mission of college and athletic partnership,” Wrath said.
It’s this aspect that keeps Wrath involved in the games, where he usually stays for a whole game. He then goes back to Carver and works until the information is publicized, which can take until 11 p.m. Getting information about a game out to the public is crucial for Wrath.
“We like to think of athletes as the public window to the athletic world, and we make sure that publicity is in the light that Augustana wants it to be,” Wrath said.
Wrath relies on the help of student workers, since they are a major part of the office.
Wrath holds the workers in high regards, as they push themselves to be better.
“Augustana students don’t want to sit in the background filling paperwork,” Wrath said. “They want to be out in the field and challenge themselves.”
These students complete a variety of tasks, such as helping with social media for Augustana’s sports, writing stories, statistics management, and photographing games.
Wrath has a philosophy in mind on how student workers work in his office, in order to prepare them for life after Augustana.
“When you give a student worker a lot of responsibility by raising the bar of expectation, you always get great results,” Wrath said.
Junior Christopher Sauer, who has worked with Wrath for one year at the sports information office, said he has been challenged by the fast-paced work he does in the press office for football games.
“While working up in the press box during football games, things can go pretty fast so I would say working with others is a big skill that has improved,” Sauer said. “We’re always helping each other when it is needed.”