By GREG BROWNELL
Third Vice President

Many of us have run into these situations:

A major golf tournament shows up in your back yard. You want to cover it.

Monty Calvert / Glen Falls (N.Y.) Post Star

The hometown baseball prospect breaks into the big leagues. You need to get somebody to one of his games.

An NCAA basketball regional will be played in a nearby city. You can't afford to be left out.

Or maybe you've just decided to step up your coverage of a regional team or a particular sport.

As a sports editor, it means you're hunting for credentials. And that can be an intimidating experience, especially if you don't normally cover that sport or event. There are deadlines to meet, forms to fill out, hoops to jump through.

Let's see if we can help.

APSE canvassed a broad range of media relations officials in pro and college sports about their credentialing policies. Most were more than willing to give out advice and information that might help smooth the process for sports editors.

It all starts with making contact. In most cases, you'll be dealing with a media coordinator with a team, school or host site. Once you get into major events, credentials are usually handled by leagues or umbrella organizations.

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Lots of factors are taken into account by sports and leagues when they consider applications for credentials. The size of a newspaper's circulation and a paper's history of coverage will often carry weight, but most officials said exceptions can be made for special circumstances.

Below are some general recommendations for sports editors seeking credentials, based on the advice of media relations experts. It is geared toward small and mid-sized dailies, but may also be helpful to bigger papers.

Of course, there is no guarantee of getting a credential to any event. When press box space is limited, it's always going to be harder for those of us at smaller papers. But this should at least help point you in the right direction.

Deadlines: Big events often have very early deadlines. Requests for the Olympics have to be made about a year and a half before they take place. Many national events will ask for applications months ahead of time. If you don't know what the deadline is, call and ask. It's especially tough for small papers to get in if you're too late.

Even for regular-season events, it helps to make contact as soon as possible. If you want to cover the hometown Division I basketball player when her team visits an area college, don't wait until the week before to call the sports information director.

Make your case: If you have a special reason for requesting a credential — a local connection with a player, for instance — make sure the folks in charge know that. And not just by scribbling something on the bottom of a form.

In most cases, it's best to write a letter on company letterhead explaining the circumstances. The letter should always come from the sports editor. Explain why this is important to your readers. You may also wish to make a follow-up call (but don't call over and over — that can be counterproductive).

Don't be a jerk: Don't call up with all kinds of demands, insisting you've "got to have" a credential. It works a lot better to ask them to help you out.

The local angle: Media relations officials with pro teams, or sports information directors with colleges, may be able to help you down the line if you're seeking a credential to a larger event, like the playoffs. Make sure they know you're writing about their team or players. One media relations exec recommended sending in tear sheets if you're doing stories the team or school might not know about.

Consider alternatives: Forget about getting a press box seat for the Yankees-Red Sox series. If you're interested in interviewing a particular player, pick a weekend before or after. Or ask for a credential to a practice. Or settle for a press room-only credential.

Let them know you're legit: Make sure your writers and photographers are doing what they're supposed to be doing. If your writer is asking for autographs or your photographer is selling pictures for personal gain, you're going to have a hard time getting in the next time.

If you can't use a credential: For goodness sakes, call up and let someone know right away. Being a no-show leaves an empty seat that somebody else could have used. Many leagues keep track of credentials that go unused, and it can hurt your chances of getting into future events.

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