Beginning to play volleyball with a balloon at the age of three or four, Jodi Fick has always been involved in sports.

Her love of sports was inherited from both of her parents, who were coaches.

Her mother even played lacrosse at Bowling Green State College before Title IX, an amendment banning sexual discrimination from federally funded programs, like college sports.

“My mom is my biggest role model, definitely. Being an athlete like she was with a family and kids,” Fick, director of athletic communications at Point Park University, said. “She was a really good writer. She was in public relations, too. I try to model her, but try to improve, too.”

As director of athletic communications, Fick hopes to increase media coverage of sporting events and student athletes.

“I want student athletes to feel like they are working for something, even if it’s just a blurb in the Post-Gazette, to encourage something to work for,” Fick said.

Fick, 27, grew up in a small town and went to college in a small town, but she always wanted to work in a city.

She grew up in Fremont, Ohio, and graduated from Fremont Ross High School in 1999.

After graduation, she attended Marshall University to major in broadcast journalism. She earned a full ride for volleyball, which she considers her greatest accomplishment thus far.

“Hopefully, I have many more,” Fick said.

She aspired to be an ESPN sideline reporter, but her job now mixes sports and the media, “and I don’t have to edit tapes at 3 a.m., which steered me away from the camera,” Fick said.

Her best volleyball game, incidentally, was the last she played at Marshall University.

“It was the Mid-American Conference tournament and I had 39 digs, which was a tournament record,” Fick said.

She then got her master’s degree in athletic administration and was then a graduate assistant in sports information. She then wanted to work in Pittsburgh because of its location and because her sister was at Robert Morris University at the time.