“My dad always told me never to be a quitter, so anytime I
thought about stopping something I started I would just be like, ‘nope I have
to continue with it,'" Fish says.
When she tore her ACL playing soccer as a freshman at South Glens Falls High School, she
didn’t quit.
When she tore it again playing Division I soccer at LIU
Brooklyn, she didn’t quit.
And when she had to have another ACL surgery in the same year, she
still didn’t quit.
“It was two right in a row, so I was out for almost a year
and a half,” Fish explained. “I think when you have that type of injury and you
come back, you don’t take things for granted as much.”
She realized she wouldn’t be able to play sports her entire
life, and came to the graduate program at the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse to pursue a career in sports communications. She doesn’t know exactly which direction she wants to go,
but said that part doesn’t matter to her, as long as she’s working in sports.
________________________________________________________________________________
(Listen to the audio of the interview here)
Frank DeLuca:
We’ll start out; just tell me about your sports background.
Erin Fish: Alright.
I mean I’ve played sports my entire life. I’ve played soccer, basketball, and
softball all the way up through high school. I played soccer in college for
four years at a Division 1 school in Brooklyn. Let’s see, so, do you want to
know sports related stuff or more sports-
FD: Just tell me
why you got – what started your career as an athlete and what kept you going.
EF: Honestly I’ve
just – my entire life my dad always told me never to be a quitter, so anytime I
thought about stopping something I started I would just be like, “nope I have
to continue with it.” So, rec sports - when I was 5 years old I started playing
soccer, basketball, and t-ball and it kind of just – I kept with it all the way
through. Soccer was definitely my best sport, so that was why it was my
favorite to play. It’s definitely not my favorite to watch. I’m more football,
basketball, baseball type to watch, but yeah, so soccer was my best sport so
that’s why I continued it in college, because I could get a scholarship from it
and that’s kind of my story.
FD: And what kept
you going after multiple ACL surgeries?
EF: I always tell
people I wouldn’t be the person I am today without tearing my ACL the first
time. I tore it as a freshman in high school, and I was 14 years old. It was
almost unheard of to do it that young when I actually did it. It stunted my
growth, so my left leg is actually an inch longer than my right which is kind
of a fun fact. It only took me five months to get back from that one. I was
super motivated and in high school you don’t have a redshirt year if you miss
out, so for me I wanted to get back for basketball season. I missed my soccer
season my sophomore year but my goal was to get back for basketball. I did, I made
it about a month into basketball season and then I finished out my career. And
then I tore it twice in college, and that was – it was two right in a row, so I
was out for almost a year and a half and I think when you have that type of
injury and you come back, you don’t take things for granted as much. You play
like it’s your last time you could ever be playing. And I think that’s kind of
why I got into wanting to come to this school for sports communications is
because I realized I’m not going to be able to play it for the rest of my life,
so I might as well still keep sports in my life somehow because that’s all I know
and that’s all I’ve ever known, so that’s kind of how I got into this.
FD: And why
Syracuse specifically?
EF: I grew up two
and a half hours from here, so I grew up a huge SU fan ever since I was little,
so that’s part of it. This has always been like, my dream school but it was
also fitting that it’s the best school for what I want to do, so that kind of
helped with my decision making. It was actually the only grad school I even
applied to. I just went for it.
FD: What are you
hoping to get out of the Master’s program here?
EF: I think the
best part about this program is the people you’re going to meet and the
connections you’re going to make through professors, through other students and
I just want to better myself and be able to make a career out of something I
love. All my friends are always getting into careers and they’re like, “this is
horrible, I don’t want to go to work on Monday.” I feel like if I’m working in
sports, I’m never going to feel like that ever. I’m just going to be able to go
to work every day and love what I do, so that’s kind of what I’m hoping for. I
don’t know exactly what I want to do with it. I’ve done some on-camera stuff
but I don’t know if I want to go that route or more production-end, management
level stuff. I’m not really sure.
FD: What’s your
dream job? You can pick something like, “President of the World,” it doesn’t
matter. Just something in your mind. Someone says, “Dream job,” what do you
think of?
EF: I don’t know.
I’d like to be Erin Andrews I think.
FD: You’re
halfway there.
EF: I know, I
already have the first name.
FD: Why do you
look up to Erin Andrews?
EF: I just think she’s
a powerful woman in sports. I think a lot of times people look at other females
like they don’t know anything and she knows her shit – oops I don’t think I was
supposed to swear.
FD: I don’t care.
Alright, we’ll close it out with your fondest memory.
EF: Fondest
memory sports wise?
FD: Anything.
EF: My freshman
year of college we won the Northeast Conference championship, which was unreal.
We’re a small Division 1 school so it was pretty exciting and we got the 16th
seed in the NCAA tournament and got to go to Penn State and play which was
pretty cool. Sprained my ankle the day before we left for Penn State though so,
couldn’t play in the game, but it was still a pretty cool experience.
FD: Is there
anything else you want to add?
EF: I don’t think
so.
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