24
Fall 2016 2016
SUMMER
coachandplayer.com
“Being a fan, you have to be able to put that all aside,”
said Golder, who often talks to students at middle
school, high school and college. “The Eli Manning
I cheer for can’t be the same Eli Manning I need to
get a good quote from. In sports, it’s about working
hard toward putting passion toward my goals and my
career.”
As Golder has gained more visibility, she finds herself
now turning down opportunities and prioritizing.
“I work a full 40 hours and have the show every
Thursday,” she said. “I have something almost every
weekend, if not two things. I try my best to attend
everything and make it all possible.”
While it’s a grind, it’s sports. And sports are in Macy
Golder’s DNA.
“They say that if you can find a career you love, it’s
not work,” said Golder, whose sister, Gia (named
for the Giants), a junior at Pennsbury, shares similar
aspirations (“best friend” and brother, Trey, though
named after former Nittany Lion Trey Bauer, is more
of a casual sports fan). “It can be stressful, but I look
forward to every day.
“I have so much fun doing what I’ve been doing. I’m
making memories, and learning through the process.”
Memories like on August 18, 2008.
she said. “I have taken something from every
person who has helped me up until today, and
I will for the rest of my life. They have made an
impact on my life and I want to make an impact
on every person I meet.
“I speak to college, high school and even middle
school students. My goal is to make an impact
on those kids. I tell them, ‘follow your heart.
Believe you can do anything you want. Anything
is possible.”
Golder grew up in a family headed by a grandfather,
Donald (who, along with her grandmother, Helen,
Golder terms her “everything”) and a father
and uncles who were always watching sports –
particularly college football on Saturday and the
NFL on Sunday.
It is only natural for her to make a sports analogy
about where she is right now, equating herself to
a sophomore who hopes to impress enough by
her senior season to get drafted.
“It’s something I have to work for, where you
have to earn your spot,” she said. “I realize that
it’s not going to be handed to me.
“It’s a challenge, I realize that, but I like a good
challenge. In the end, I want to be able to say I
worked hard for it.”
Little did she know that her on-the-job training
began at the dinner table, when sports talk was
always on the agenda.
And she found that talking -- from a base of
knowledge -- beats simply talking trash.
Because Golder’s family is from the New York
area, and loyal to teams that are generally bitter
rivals of those in the Philadelphia area, she
found herself having to prepare almost like a
broadcaster, for a school day.
“My family is from Long Island,” she said. “If
you’re not a New York fan, you don’t get to eat
dinner. My dad followed all the teams, so I didn’t
know anything different. It was challenging for
sure. Most people knew me as the girl who was
a Giants fan.
“But, if anything, it helped me. I not only had to
know the Giants inside-out, but also the Eagles,
inside-out.”
She has learned along the way that being a sports
journalist means locking away the fan within,
even if the inner fanatic is what drove you to the
profession in the first place.
This would be the place holder for the caption.
photograph by @justinPrice