Each season the success of your game broadcasts often rests on the depth of your preparation for each event. Investing more time in your game prep usually results in a better product on the air.

Most anyone that has ever broadcasted a full schedule of games realizes that prep work is a year-round endeavor. You can’t just show up in April and let it rip. Here are three keys to maximizing your off-season prep so that you will hit the ground running when the season begins in the spring.

1. Get an early start. Whether you are broadcasting a college or minor league season or a six-month major league marathon, getting an early start on next season’s prep work can be vital. You should take the requisite time off to recharge from the schedule you just endured, but after a few weeks of rest, be ready to get back to the business of mining information for the next season. You may find that there really isn’t a whole lot of new information available on players until later in the off-season, but you can at least start to formulate your templates until that info starts to become available. Player articles and features usually don’t start rolling in until later in the winter months, but it’s always a good idea to search anyway.
2. Make it a daily routine. The goal is to get as much of your prep work done in the off-season as possible to ease your schedule when the next season starts. The best way to make sure that you don’t miss any great information that is published about your league or its players is to make sure you check every day. Make it a routine to carve out some time each day to cultivate new information. Setting up key word alerts is a great way to help establish a daily routine.
3. Find a system that works for you. It took me many years to find a system that worked well for me. I did everything from creating index cards for each player to finally settling on creating a Word document for each team that we would play. It’s not a one size fits all. I have seen announcers who still use individual index cards and I have seen others that have everything neatly formatted on their computers. It all comes down to personal preference and what works best for you. I tried many different methods before I realized that I was most comfortable using my computer to set up prep pages for each team and player I would cover. Don’t be afraid to ask other announcers what system they use. You might find that they do something different that may fit your needs.

Gathering as much information in the off-season as possible is a good way to make your life a lot easier when the next season finally rolls around. It may seem like a never ending grind, but you’ll be happy you took the time once the season begins.