(May 9, 2018) During the past four years as a student at Indiana University, David Sugarman’s strategy for building his sportscasting career was clear: take every possible opportunity. It’s paid off. An STAA member, Sugarman is joining WGEM-TV in Quincy, IL as a sports anchor/reporter.
He will also broadcast local play-by-play on TV, digital and on WGEM’s sister station, the local ESPN Radio affiliate.
“When I first saw the opening I thought it was a great position,” Sugarman recalls. “It gives me the chance to be a Swiss Army Knife. The chance to anchor, report, do some play-by-play and sideline reporting, and get radio work is something I couldn’t pass up.”
Something else Sugarman couldn’t pass up was opportunities in college. “The worst attitude you can have is feeling like you are above something,” he says. “I’ve done everything from the Big Ten Tournament in Madison Square Garden and bowl games in Yankee Stadium to doing PA for a youth football league and everything in between. If you’re consistently getting on the air and getting the reps no matter what it is, you will see the improvement.”
At IU, Sugarman did it all – everything from TV sports anchoring on the IU’s campus station, to play-by-play and sideline reporting for BTN Student U and baseball broadcasts in the Cape Cod League. He graduates this month.
When Sugarman applied for the WGEM position, he used a smart strategy in his cover letter.
“I talked about how my experiences relate directly to what they cover and how they operate,” he says. “At IU I’ve covered events that may not mean much to people outside of Bloomington, but mean the world to people who are here, like the Little 500. At GEM I’ll be covering local events, but to the people there they are huge.”
Sugarman says he may not have found the WGEM opening without STAA.
“What is great about STAA is that instead of spending a ton of time looking for job openings, they come to me,” he says. “So often it is hard to just find openings and once you do it could be too late. That isn’t the case with STAA. They send quality job openings out consistently.”
Now Sugarman is on his way to WGEM, less than six hours from the Bloomington campus.
“I was thrilled when I found out I was their guy. Coming right out of school it’s an incredible opportunity.”