Media day: an athlete’s journey displayed in photos

Under the bright LED lights, she stands in her jersey, ball in hand, trying to keep a stoic expression as her teammate shouts pose ideas from the line. For a moment, the track changes into a studio, draped in professional cameras, backdrops and flashes. Months later, when the season is over, the images taken are one of the only visual highlights of a journey of her time in the sport.

Media day, held at the start of each season, gives athletes the chance to step into that spotlight. In today’s modern sports setting, media day has become more than a photo opportunity as these images become part of the athlete’s image, many using these photos for professional profiles, banners or merely memories to look back to.

“These media days are just a fun way of expressing yourself. The photographers let us pick out a bunch of poses that represent us as a team, how resilient we are. It’s something professional, but in a more friendly and fun manner,” track and field and cross country runner senior Mahmoud Dalati said. “I really like going back and looking at the four years. Seeing all the photos of me from freshman year and seeing how far I’ve come in terms of growing up to be somebody different, somebody I feel like, is me.”

Coaches, often with the help of parents, arrange photographers they’ve worked with before. In some programs, parents who happen to be photographers step in and donate their time, cutting costs while keeping the tradition alive. One of the most difficult tasks is finding a location and a few hour block to set up the whole event.

“Media day means something to me because it makes the kids happy. I’m not a big social media guy, but I understand that the new generation enjoys that, so I’ll help out,” head baseball coach Paul Acosta said. “It’s very time consuming compared to the way we used to do pictures in the past, but with the help of boosters and a photographer, it all works out.”

For athletes, they appreciate the moments in between when they wait in line together, trade pose ideas, hyping each other up and sometimes squeeze in a duo or group photo with the photographer’s permission.

“I’ve done media day before for my other teams but I feel like it was a different experience because this is for my high school team,” varsity softball freshman Brennah Neeley said. “When I look back at them, I’ll be like, ‘Woah, I look so different’ or see how much I’ve grown or changed throughout the years.”

Media day also draws a line between athletes and non-athletes. For students who don’t play a sport, the images can serve as inspiration to join the team or at least to imagine what it might feel like to be part of the team. For athletes, the photos are evidence that the early alarms, nerves before big games and experience during tournaments all led to something worth remembering.

“Personally, I feel like if I wasn’t an athlete, I’d be kind of intrigued. I’d wanna go into a sport so I could get all these professional photos. As an athlete, you see the background, you see the preparation and you see the final photo turnout. These are memories, professionally taken. It’s a cool label to put on it,” Dalati said. Ω