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Students take over social for the Solomon Islands' national men's football team.

20th August 2019
English and journalism

Students and an alumnus of Solent’s BA (Hons) Sports Journalism course recently had a unique opportunity to hone their online skills working for the Solomon Islands’ national men’s football team.

Over three weeks in May and June, the Solent-trained journalists worked tirelessly to produce social media content and match day highlights from the Solomon Islands’ tour of Netherlands Oceania Support Foundation.

Student Henry Flynn said: “The responsibilities were sometimes challenging with the pressure to produce content every day, but it was all worthwhile as we knew we were contributing towards an important service.”

Filming Solomon Islands players

With exclusive access to the footballers and games, the group produced daily videos, photographs and social media posts for Facebook and YouTube.

James Worthington found it to be a great opportunity: “Without the help of Solent University and the sports journalism lecturers it would have been impossible for me to do any of the work for this project because I’ve been able to develop skills and techniques at an industry standard which is very important when you are creating work for thousands to see.”

And their hard work paid off, with posts gaining international reach and the team’s Facebook page rising from 450 followers to 2,500 – and continuing to increase after the tour.

The group also enjoyed experiencing new cultures and meeting new people. Henry added: “It is superb that Solent offers these experiences, as it provides the chance to apply what’s taught at the university to real life situations far away from Southampton.”

Want to find out more? Visit our BA (Hons) Sports Journalism course page