The impact of social media in the sports world has been unprecedented. Sports journalists use social media sites to gather quotes from players, coaches and owners. Athletes may use social media to better interact with their fans. Even coaches can now be found on sites like Twitter or Facebook to engage both their athletes and others. Take varsity football assistant and sophomore baseball head coach Robert Pomazak who has been very active on Twitter and Facebook, for example.
“The idea to use social media, whether it is Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn is not something new,” Pomazak said. “But I felt it was a great avenue to explore in regards to reaching and helping as many people as I can reach their fitness goals.”
Pomazak, who writes strength and conditioning articles for Stack Media, a high school and college targeted sports performance website, shares his articles through a variety of media outlets.
“The ability to share these articles through a variety of media outlets gives me the opportunity to help as many people as I can,” Pomazak said. “The power of social media in today’s world is remarkable, if used appropriately it allows people from all walks of life to share information, network and help each other reach their potential.”
Though he does not require his athletes to follow him on Twitter, it has allowed him to reach a broad audience that consists of football coaches across the country. However, more importantly, according to Pomazak, it is a tool for Elk Grove students and athletes to utilize.
“It provides a resource that our students, any student athlete can go and maybe pick up something about nutrition or training,” Pomazak said. “It is important for me to have my actions follow my words and if I am going to be a physical education teacher than I want my actions to support that on a daily basis.”
In addition to using Twitter, Pomazak also manages the Elk Grove Strength & Conditioning Facebook Fan page, a school sponsored page that is designed to promote the great things that some student athletes are doing on a daily basis.
“It is important to make our students feel that what they do is special and when you have 60 students coming to morning workouts three days a week I feel that is pretty special and needs to be celebrated,” Pomazak said. “Social media allows people all over the country to see what we are doing.”
Pomazak and the program have drawn attention from coaches all over the nation.
“On a daily basis I have coaches from all over the country contacting me on what we do and I believe that our student athletes feel a sense of pride in the fact that they have made Elk Grove Strength & Conditioning a program copied by many throughout the country,” Pomazak said. “They [students] are the ones who have made this whole thing possible without them we would fail.”
In the end, the benefits of interacting with student and athletes on social media sites are twofold, according to Pomazak.
“First, we have created a climate in our program that is positive, competitive and successful. We have never been stronger as a program. The physical benefits are seen every day when a student athlete starts to see their body and performance making the changes they were hoping for,” Pomazak said. “The second benefit is that through social media we have been able to create a program that takes the best of whatever level of athletics is doing from professional to collegiate. I have been fortunate to talk with strength coaches from the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Northwestern and the University of Alabama on a weekly basis and the information and expertise they provide has been paramount to the success of our program.”
By: Julianne Micoleta