by Haley Foster

fosterha@mnstate.edu

Dave Tack lives, breathes and bleeds Dragon pride. He’s a key player at every football and basketball game, but he’s not an athlete.

“I had a friend who was a women’s basketball player at the time, and she knew that I was in radio, and she said, ‘You know they’re looking for someone to maybe announce a few of the games?’ and I said ‘Sure,’” said Tack, the on-site announcer for Dragon football and basketball.

Dave Tack has been an announcer at MSUM for more than two decades. He got his start in the sports communication field as a freshman in 1992.

“I loved it right from there, and I’ve been announcing ever since,” he said. “Now I’m on my twenty-fourth year.”

Tack is living proof that students don’t need to be athletes to have a career in sports.

“I think that there are a lot more opportunities now than when I was around,” Tack said. “Here at MSUM, the opportunities are amazing — what’s available for students behind the scenes with cameras, doing video production, on field taking photos of the game, creating the website information … It’s more than just the sports information person who’s writing the story at the end.”

The people often “behind the scenes” are the students on MSUM’s GO! Team.

“Basically, when you go to the game, the GO! Team is a part of everything except playing the sport itself,” said Tomi Thompson, the GO! Team’s coordinator. “We’re the ones that make the stuff that plays on the big screens during the game, the promotions, the video content … It’s awesome because all the stuff we’re doing is what people want to try and get jobs doing after they graduate.”

MSUM’s sports communication conference gives students the opportunity to discover the growing field of sports communication and career opportunities in promotions, public relations and broadcasting — a field Tack has been passionate about for years.

“I just can’t believe I get paid to have one of the best seats in the house,” Tack said. “I get free access to sports all the time and to be a part of shaping that exciting environment as well.”

Tack said he would “absolutely, without a doubt” encourage students in the area to attend the conference.

“If you have a passion for sports and want to continue to be involved and realize that that involvement won’t necessarily be on the court or on the field or on the track, but you still want to be a part of that, definitely go check it out and see,” Tack said. “I think you’ll be very surprised at what opportunities are going to be there and what happens here and the people that are involved here. They’re going to get amazing information and amazing guidance from people who are true professionals in the field and true experts right here.”