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Konschuh
sports
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Behind the Cougars scene with Braden Konschuh
While Sports Information Director may seem a simple role, the coordination necessary is anything but
victoria baht sports writer
For the last couple of weeks, the Carillon has taken you through multiple interviews with players from the hockey team, volleyball team, swimming team, coaches of rugby, the head coach of women’s basketball, and so many more. We really wanted to focus on the people behind the events this year, and to take a more in-depth look at what it’s like to be involved with University of Regina sports. This week we interviewed Braden Konschuh, the Sports Information Director at the university, who has been in this position since 2006.
Were there any previous jobs that you were involved in at the university? If so, what were they?
Konschuh has been involved in this role for his entire time at the university, but his job has changed over the years. He now is working with the Faculty of Kinesiology & Health Studies rather than just with student-athletes.
What all does your job entail?
“I like to group our duties into five distinct categories: media relations, communications, game night, administrative, and archiving. Media relations duties include serving as the primary point of contact and helping generate positive media coverage for our Varsity sports and other units in the Faculty. This can include helping coordinate interviews, providing content (photos/videos) to media outlets, pitching story ideas too. Communications duties include providing content for social media, websites, and at games.
Arthur Images
“Here’s a picture of me probably tweeting something.” – Braden Konschuh
We run, or help run, a total of 27 accounts across three different social media platforms including the flagship @reginacougars and @reginarams accounts. Our team is responsible for providing timely content for the Regina Cougars, Regina Rams, and KHS websites as well as portions of the Canada West and U SPORTS sites. We also produce your standard program with rosters and standings for all home games.”
“Game night duties, always hectic and always fun! We have a eo screen during games is all designed by us. It’s standard for two of our home events to be happening at the same time – and even up to three at some points in the fall – so preparation and planning are vital to pull all of this off week in and week out.” “Administrative duties are the less-exciting, but still critical stuff like payroll and budget and credit card reconciliation. Archiving is mostly an offseason project. We keep comprehensive player and team records for our 2005 to take a graduate assistant role with Pilot Athletics and pursue a master’s degree in management communication. My old boss Dick White hired me right out of Portland in 2006.”
What are you most proud of accomplishing through your time in this role so far?
“I’m probably most proud of the recent advancements we’ve made in video production, both for the in-game webcasts and for features between events. It’s hard not to keep an eye on what other
– Braden Konschuh
wonderful Creative Media Team led by two talented film students, Morgan Fleury and Matt Degenhardt, that handle our home canadawest.tv webcasts. We stream our home games for all of our team sports, and the CMT has been instrumental in raising the bar each year in terms of broadcast quality. Head to any of our home games and you’ll see 4 to 8 people working hard on the production team. Our team also handles game statistics and certain aspects of fan experience at the gym – what goes on the vidVarsity sports.”
Were you personally involved in any sports or coaching that encouraged you to take on this job?
“I’ve always loved sports and played hockey and baseball growing up. I went to Bemidji State in Minnesota and started working stats at Beaver hockey games, and it just kind of went from there as I started helping out at home games for other sports. I graduated from BSU in December of 2004, and then went to the University of Portland in January of Canada West schools are doing in this area and I feel great about the level of quality and professionalism of the broadcasts – again, full credit to Morgan and Matt for what they’ve been able to do with this and also to the KHS Dean, Harold Riemer, for his support in this area.”
What sorts of information are you responsible to manage? Is there anything that would surprise people or that you were surprised about when you took the job?
“I’ll say the biggest surprise to me when I took the job is how many events we would host at exactly the same time. In Portland, they would take great care to ensure that they wouldn’t host, say, a basketball and a soccer game at the same time. Here, though, it’s common to have basketball going on at the exact same time as hockey. It was a bit of a learning curve to figure out how best to manage multiple events happening at the same time at different locations.
“I’d say the biggest thing that would surprise people is the breadth of skills required to effectively perform in this role. Design skills, basic coding, ability to write at a professional level, skills in crisis communications, coolness under pressure, detailed statistical knowledge for all of our Varsity sports, social media fluency, a sharp attention to detail...the list goes on.”
We’d like to thank Konschuh so much for all the great detail – it almost felt like I was working beside him at the desk as we took this interview. A couple of last remarks added by Konshuh were that he is always looking for more help with that grand list of tasks and responsibilities, and if current students are interested, they can find his contact information at reginacougars.com. He also suggested we interview Morgan and Matt from the creative media team to walk through an average production night at a basketball game, and we will be doing just that in the last issue of this year, so keep your eyes peeled next week!
Ice skating and skiing in Regina area
Whether you gravitate towards exercise solo or in groups, winter doesn’t mean the end of your opportunities
amina salah staff writer
Hot chocolate with marshmallows, cozy sweaters, warm and minty candles, and blazing winds – winter is known for its coziness for some, and its seasonal depression for others. As the weather gets cooler and the roads get slippery, it becomes harder to stay active and continue the habits we’ve built over the summer.
It’s important to note that our bodies generally tend to slow down during the winter. That is normal and okay. If you find yourself slower or more tired, let this be a reminder that you are not alone. Amidst all of this, it’s important to implement at least some form of exercise. Sometimes going to the gym all of the time is draining and you just want to be outside for once. There are many outdoor activities perfect for this, my favourites being ice skating and skiing.
Ice skating in Regina is something that is easier to do in comparison to other places. For starters, there are many outdoor ice skating rinks in the city, my favourite one being the one in the downtown area. It is a beautiful, cozy location where they also serve hot chocolate and coffee sometimes. The lights are absolutely breathtaking and make the experience much more entertaining. It is a good way to be active because you can go alone without actually being alone. You can also bring some friends over if you’d like – they are beginner friendly, so you can find chairs there sometimes to help you balance if you’re still learning. The people are friendly and they will help you stand up if you fall down. There are many other outdoor skating rinks, such as the Grassick Playground Outdoor Rink, the Leslie Park Rink on Victoria Avenue, and the Lakeview Park Rink, among many more.
Skiing is also another great form of staying active because it is an outdoor sport. If you are someone who is looking to burn some calories and strengthen your muscles, skiing is just the sport for you. I find that skiing is one of those things that allows you to focus on one thing. It is a somewhat healing sport that allows you to focus on your surroundings and enjoy them. It is always something that helps improve my mood.
What makes it even better is that it is accessible in and around Regina. There are many places in Regina and a little bit outside the city that provide places for skiing, and normally have rentable equipment available – there are even resorts, and Sunshine & Ski Ltd is one of them. There is also Kinsmen Park Cross Country Ski Trails. Mission Ridge Winter Park is another place that offers not only skiing but also snowboarding. It is currently closed, unfortunately. However, if you are in need of some winter outdoor sporting equipment, then Fresh Air Experience is the best place to go. They have equipment for skating, skiing, snowboarding and more.
As the weather gets colder, it is important to continue taking care of ourselves. It is important to move your body and get some exercise, and outdoor winter activities are the best way to do so. They are fun activities because you can do them alone, but there is also the option to do them with other people, making the experience even better. That is why I think that winter gives us an opportunity to embrace the changing seasons and appreciate the opportunities it can give us to stay fit.
Loly Galina via Unsplash Scared you’ll fall and make a fool of yourself if you try skating? Just go stand on the ice and take pictures – no one will know the difference when you post it!
What it takes to be a Cougars three-point legend
Faith Reid chats about gameplay, mindsets, and sports attire best suited for the court
victoria baht sports writer
Last week, the Carillon did an interview with head coach of the women’s basketball team, Dave Taylor – and in that same week, the team had games against the Bisons (U of M) and the Huskies (U of S). We wanted to keep the theme of basketball going as the season has just begun, so this week we did an interview with Faith Reid, who already ranks eighth place in school history with 97 career three-point shots. So, let us get to know the basketball career that Reid has!
What is your coolest signature move?
Reid states her go-to move when she is feeling the pressure from the opponents is a shot fake with a dribble between the legs, then a step back and a three-point shot. Which we know she is good at!
Can you personally dunk? Is there anyone on the Cougars Women’s team that can dunk?
There is no one who can dunk that is on the Cougar Women’s team.
What do you personally feel like you are better at, playing offence or defence, and why?
Personally, for Reid, it is not about playing on the offence side of passing the ball to her teammates with fancy dribbles and passes or the defence where she has to close-out really fast. No – for Reid, her importance of the game is to always score points!
What is your team’s go-to bench cheer when the game is close, and your team is playing defence to put the pressure on the other team?
The women’s basketball team go-to is “defence, with some poorly timed clapping in between.”
What are the most challenging parts of basketball for you and why?
“For me the biggest challenge is mental. Being able to get out of
Arthur Images Elbows – the real MVP when it comes to pushing past a screen. a bad mindset mid-game or after a mistake is always hard, and I like to be perfect so accepting it and moving on to be able to play the game better has always been a challenge for me.”
What is the most rewarding part of basketball for you? Why?
The most rewarding part of the game is winning, along with creating many strong memories with the team.
What do you like especially about watching and playing basketball?
“The strategy of the game, and the flow of how a team or player is so specific and unique to each person.”
What is your go-to sport brand of clothing that you wear the most for training?
“Well, [for] the team it’s Under Armour, but I wear Puma shoes and for shorts I use Hercourt which is a female owned business out of BC.”
What is your go-to move when you are pressured by an opponent?
For Reid, as we know, she is good at three-pointers, so from her perspective why not shoot another when the pressure is on – it’s gotten her this far!
Now you know how all the three pointers are made on the team – the answer (for now, at least) seems to be Reid! You also got to know her sense of style, which by the looks of the Hercourt website involves supporting women and making sure they have the equipment and attire needed to perform at their best.
op-ed
Scrapbook of everyday life
The moments in our life don’t have to be good or bad – they can simply be
Our memories are scrapbooks consisting of an endless number of moments that we can never return to but will continue to carry with us.
Doesn’t that sound beautiful? It can be, and oftentimes it is. We carry the memories and stories of those that we love, those who may no longer be with us, and of those who we still care for but may no longer be in touch with. These countless moments have continued to shape us into the people that we are.
These moments may not always seem like they are significant. They may be something as simple as remembering an old friend for a brief second when you order a ridiculous coffee that reminds you of them on a cold afternoon. They may also seem to be everything, like remembering your grandmother every time you scan your bookcase and see one of the children’s books you used to read together and the investment she had, in you and your well-being.
But what do we do with those snapshot moments of our lives that aren’t so great? How do we continue to move forward when we are reminded of them and the pain that they caused for us and those we care about constantly? When we want nothing more than to throw them away and never look at them again?
I so desperately wish that I had an answer to that question. I wish there was a way to diminish the amount of space these moments hold, if not to be rid of them altogether. There are many photos in my own life scrapbook that I would not mind burning as I’m sure everyone has, and yet we are forced to continue carrying them as though they are not harmful to us.
I think this can be strangely beautiful too. If we only focused on the good and ignored everything negative that we have been handed, we would not be able to appreciate the ways that we have grown in as meaningful of a way. Flipping back to those darker times can help us avoid potentially going back to them by allowing us the knowledge and strength to push forward. Things might be hard, but they’re supposed to be. Anything worth having is not something that is simply placed in your lap. The successes and joys that we have are the same. They would not hold the same significance in our lives if there were not bad things in our lives to compare them to.
We have all heard those cheesy, overused sayings about needing rain to experience a rainbow, among others. But do we need to look at such a specific perspective of the situations? Must everything only be good or bad, happy or sad, black or white?
Personally, I am content coming out of a bad situation and just simply being in a neutral spot. Just because things are not bad does not mean that they are going to be good, and that is perfectly okay. Sometimes, we need to just simply be.
Experiencing such a jarring emotional rollercoaster of such aggressive highs and lows would be very taxing on the system. Sometimes, being in a neutral place is better than pushing ourselves to be experiencing something else.
I think we oftentimes forget that this is an option for us to exist in. Just like with a physical scrapbook that we are creating, we capture the moments that we see and consider to be the most worthwhile and noteworthy. These are not ones that are mundane and every day. You never see photos of people taking a nap or getting ready for
– Sarah Nakonechny
Estee Janssens via Unsplash Are you going to find a way to scrapbook your scrapbooking memories?
work in the morning. These are not considered to be exciting or noteworthy activities, so we do not bother with documenting them.
We do this internally with the moments of rest we take. These are not moments that are worthy of being acknowledged and as a result they are not worth taking the time to think about for longer than a fleeting moment.
To be better equipped to handle the negative moments that will inevitably find their way to us once more, we must give time, space, and acknowledgement to the moments we take to slow down and to breath. To be neutral is to not be indecisive or unproductive. To be neutral is to take care of oneself by not investing our energy or time into the things that do not serve us.
As much as we would all enjoy having the opportunity to fill our life scrapbook with joyous, beautiful moments that bring nothing but positivity with them, that is not something that can realistically be accomplished. We must cherish the good moments, allow time for the neutral moments, and acknowledge the bad moments for what they are.
By fighting against the way in which life naturally progresses, we do a disservice to our own life and to the experiences of those around us. Accepting the highs, the lows, and the pauses in between allow us to not only be cared for and looked after, but to also allow a greater opportunity to enjoy the smaller highs a lot more.
