“Yes, Coach,” I say, knowing that he needs me to get down to business. “I’ve already spoken to my parents and they’re on board; Coach Jenkins here will be supportive too.”
They bring up the training schedule for the next month onto the screen and talk me through it. I’m going to be eating, sleeping, and breathing Tynerston Warriors football. Everything is meticulously planned around training, conditioning, rest, and game prep. I need to arrange for a place to live, organize transport, and work with the nutrition team to plan all my food. It’s going to be full out.
Once we’ve talked through the schedule and I’ve made a list of things I need to organize, the media liaison officer joins the call and Ted and Coach leave us to it.
“Stephen, hi, I’m Mindy Patel.”
“Hey,” I say, smiling through the camera.
“Well you’re already winning with that smile,” she chuckles. “If in doubt, flash that at any reporter and you’re golden.”
It makes me laugh and puts me at ease. “That’s good, I’ll be honest, I’m nervous about talking to the press.”
“And that’s why I’m here. I’ll send you through a document with everything we talk about today, so don’t worry too much about making notes. Let’s use this time together to practice and you can ask me questions as they come up. Sound good?”
I nod.
“So firstly, I’m a big believer in K.I.S.S. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but it works. Keep It Simple, Stupid. This isn’t rocket science, it’s football. The press are always looking for angles and ways to misquote you, so if you keep your answers simple, and on point, you’re good.”
“Keep it simple, got it.”
“Okay,” she says, “how do you feel about diving into a mock interview now, and I can coach you as we go?”
“Sure… this is off the record though, right?” I chuckle and she laughs.
“Good, you’ve got the hang of this already, although, when it comes to the press, nothing is ever off the record. Everything you say can, and will, be used against you.”
“Understood,” I nod, “let’s do this.”
She clears her throat and looks at the notes in front of her.
“So, Stephen, how does it feel to be the first Asian player to be signed to the Warriors?” she asks.
“Um… really? You think they’ll ask something like that? Bring my race into it?”
“Whenit comes to reporters, nothing is off limits to them, like I said, they’re looking for the angle. They’re going to ask about your race, your father, romantic relationships—”
“Romantic relationships?” I ask, my heart starts to pound.
“Yes, you’re young, attractive… female fans are going to want to know about your relationship status.”
“What if I don’t feel comfortable sharing that stuff? I can talk about football all they want, but I don’t want to go into all that personal stuff.”
“Okay, you can say no comment, but some reporters will interpret that how they want. In my experience, it’s better if you control the narrative from the start, rather than have the press make up the story and you then being asked to confirm or deny.”
“I just want to play football…”
She sighs and lowers her notes, clasping her hands under her face.
“I know you do, but you’re in the public eye now. And like it or not, people will latch onto things that make you stand out, like the fact that you’re the first Asian player to be signed to the Warriors, or the fact that you’re single, or engaged, or whatever.”
“So I need to control the narrative,” I say.
“Yes, and I can help you with that. If you like, we can come up with some answers together, answers you feel comfortable with, but that also portray the Warriors in the best light.”
“The best light?”
“We can’t be dealing with scandals. Last week, a player from the Bulls was arrested, and already that’s dominating all of the press around their team. In the run up to pre-seasongames, we want the talk to be about how strong our team is, we need to draw fans in.”
