As a student sports journalist going on a trip to cover the Rugby union team was a no-brainer when the trip was first advertised. The trip entailed social media content, YouTube videos, and blog posts, the experience was absolutely unmatchable for my future.

I was selected for this trip after producing a two-minute video showcasing my abilities and why I should be chosen for the trip. From my application I was then selected to be a part of the media team for San Diego.

The media team consisted of four team members, three of which were journalism students, and also myself as a sports journalism student. So, despite not knowing a great deal about Rugby Union, I knew after hours of research I’d be confident in the work I was doing and producing for the University.

As the sports journalist I was given the role of assistant producer for the 10 ten days that we were there. This involved preparing the kit for the next day, organising camera positions for the game on Saturday, and helping Antonia Fairburn who was the executive producer with any extra work and editing.

On the first day, we were given the opportunity to gather footage from the team’s training session on the white beaches of San Diego, and from this, as a team, we were able to produce a social media post and also a YouTube video of the day.

Along with filming, Leeds Beckett also gave us the chance to visit San Diego State University campus where we filmed a campus tour and also visit an American lecture. This was extremely interesting from a student’s perspective as it was the last week at the campus so the lecturer spoke to us individually and gave us an insight into the American culture at the university and how their journalism students work.

Then throughout the week, we followed the Rugby team to their training sessions with the San Diego Legions who are the professional Rugby team in the city, as a sports journalist, this was an incredible experience to be around a professional setup and be able to cover the action.

As a second-year student, I feel like my course really gave me the previous experience to be confident going to these shoots and filming good quality content as well as interviewing, as these are all things that I had covered in my lectures and workshops.

This was also the case for the main game on Saturday because I was able to fulfil my role as assistant producer and help with camera positions and angels to get the best footage as a team.

As a sports journalist this trip allowed me to improve my abilities but also learn new skills that will not only benefit me at university but will also benefit me in my future career in the sporting industry.

The whole trip was amazing but for me the highlight of the trip is filming footage on the beach as this was just a surreal moment. Being able to do work on a beach in the sun was incredible and an experience that I will never forget.

If I were to get another opportunity like this I wouldn’t think twice!