For my video project I plan on focusing on a few of Brandeis’ women’s club sports teams, theoretically soccer, lacrosse and rugby. Lacrosse and rugby have encountered a lot of trouble with recruitment, and with maintaining enough players to not forfeit games, let alone to win them. Soccer however has a surplus of players, so I think it could be interesting to explore any contrasting recruitment methods, or why those girls chose not to play the other two sports. I could potentially interview the captains of these teams, or senior members. This could prove interesting, as they could speak to numbers in past years. I also could speak to a friend of mine who is on all three teams, and the differences she notices between the teams. These teams are all full of girls who are passionate about their respective sports (or several as some girls play on multiple teams), but who are facing a challenge in what is for many of them their final season, as they are unable to gain enough players to stand a fighting chance. Whether this is due to the markedly technical aspects of the sport such as in lacrosse, or the intimidatingly aggressive nature of the game such as in rugby, it will be interesting to see if these sports could benefit from any recruitment methods that soccer used. Another fascinating storyline could be exploring what drew specific interview subjects to play the respective sports over each other.
Hi Elizabeth, this is an excellent topic and I like how you’ve already identified a potential story theme around methods of recruitment and the challenges of maintaining a strong team. You’ve postulated an intriguing reason for these challenges–that the sports you mention are all contact sports. This is a great visual idea to pursue as you shoot your B-roll and try to evoke the physical nature of these sports, the build and athleticism of the team members, etc. You’ve identified a number of good interview subjects–where will you begin?