From Gymnast to Reporter: Dana Jackson
Ever since Dana Jackson was in middle school, she wanted to become a reporter. “My parents always exposed me to sports having season tickets to UConn Basketball and the Red Sox growing up.” She did gymnastics her entire life and always loved the adrenaline rush the sport gave her. She believes being a reporters has the same type of adrenaline rush and always changing environment like gymnastics.
Her favorite part about being a reporter is learning the new things about players that the general audience may not know. “I try to use my platform to showcase their backgrounds. It gives fans an insiders look into the lives that outside of playing their particular sport, they do not get to see.” To Dana, the hardest part about her job is dealing with an interview/person when the game or situation is not going their way and they are clearly frustrated. “The last thing they want to do is speak to someone about the struggles they are enduring at that given moment. I can’t blame them, as it is the heat of the moment and frustration often times overwhelms the situation.”
The advice Dana would give someone who wants to get into sports would be to converse and interview anyone and everyone. “No matter how formal or informal, no matter the level of the sport, conversing with people is only going to make your interviews more effective. Ultimately at the end of the day, broadcasting and interviewing is just a conversation amongst people trying to get specified information out of them.”
When asked about the importance of women in sports she says that, “In 2020, I can confidently say that we as women are lucky enough that the stereotype of women in sport has taken a back seat. I say this because now when you look around sport, you have female hosts, sideline reporters, broadcasters, etc. I believe that women have taken over the sports world in a way that is not more or less profound than the male counterpart.” Dana believes that the two are able to work as equals no matter the sport and she thinks that this is something that is great for all athletics.
Dana had a long and successful career as a gymnast, it was her life while growing up. “It kept me disciplined and out of trouble, it also taught me how to be very independent at a young age. I started competing far away from home in places like Cancun, Florida, South Carolina and more since the competition in Connecticut wasn’t as good as some of the bigger states.” She was constantly away from her family but also living out a life long dream while traveling the world. She would train six days a week, every day after school and then on Saturdays. “I went on to do gymnastics at Ursinus College and then retired my Junior year to work full time at Villanova in their athletic department. While I was sad to say goodbye to the sport I loved, the opportunity at Villanova helped shape my career to where I am today.” To any current gymnasts, Dana would encourage them to cherish those days in the sport, because they will help mold the rest of your life. “Don’t give up even on the hardest of days when you have a mental road block or can’t make a skill, these struggles will help you more than you think in real life situations when you get older.”
When looking down the road in five years, Dana hopes to have started a family with her husband. But on the professional side of things, she hopes to be working on ESPN either as a sideline reporter or an NCAA gymnastics analyst. “I hope to still be involved in sports in someway and maybe even coach gymnastics in my free time.”