Busy season, but Beijing on the horizon

I've been to three Olympics and they've all had their things that went well and things that didn't go as well. That is to be expected.

But, one thing they all had in common was that they kept me busy. There was always something going on, always some place to go to cover an event or interview an athlete. However, in most cases, the work that I had to do over in Sochi, PyeongChang and Tokyo was not really much more than I am used to doing back here in the United States.

Tokyo was a bit of a different story than my first two Olympic experiences. The simple fact of the matter is that summer is a slower time for me. I have fewer events to cover and fewer places to go than during the school year. So, in many ways, those few weeks this summer were my busiest summer weeks in a few years.

But now that I am gearing up for a trip to Beijing, I am in the middle of one of the two busiest seasons of my year. The fall and spring sports seasons have been absolutely impossible the last year. I have 15 schools and more than 60 teams in each of those seasons. While I still have 15 schools in the winter time, there are fewer teams in the winter, but it is still more than busy. However, I have been struggling to keep up with all the fall teams and as I enter this week, there are still about 10 teams that I have not seen yet, which is incredibly disappointing to me. I have plans to see five of them this week, but this still leaves me with too many teams still unseen.

However, that's a subject for another day. As I get into the winter season, there is basketball, hockey, skiing, indoor track and swimming on the docket and most of those sports will still be going on when I pack up to head to China in early February next year. In both Sochi and PyeongChang, I ran into the same problem, where I missed out on a number of games, though I was able to get people to cover things for me on a few occasions. While away, I also missed the state ski championship week, which is usually one of my favorite weeks of the year.

Unlike this past summer in Tokyo, during the Winter Olympics of 2014 and 2018, I still wrote stories from information that coaches sent to me and edited pictures and stories that freelancers and volunteers sent my way. So, in addition to covering the numerous events across the Olympics, I was also keeping up to date on what was going on with the teams back in New Hampshire. My plan for the Beijing Olympics is to do much the same. I will reach out to coaches and athletic directors ahead of time and make a schedule for freelancers to cover some games before I leave and am hopeful that the coaches will continue to send information along so the coverage can continue.

Of course, this all depends on just what happens come February. My credentials are approved, the first half of my accommodation payment has been made and flights have been booked. I'm sure the COVID protocols will be a pain, much like in Tokyo, but that's something to work through as they come along.

This is a rendering of the sliding center in the mountains outside Beijing. The facility is one of the new Winter Olympic venues being built for the 2022 Games.