By Howard Woodard
Surrounded by journalistic ties in his family, perhaps it was always in the cards for Howard University alum Toussaint Fancher to become a sports reporter.
His father and uncle were both journalists, with the latter teaching classes at Fancher’s alma mater. His mother also taught English classes at universities such as Villanova and Michigan. Writing seemed to run in his family.
Prior to his junior year of high school, Fancher made a decision on what he wanted to study in college. Watching First Take on television put things into perspective for Fancher that it was possible to make a career out of speaking on sports, and it culminated in the goal of becoming a sports journalist.
“I was like, ‘Okay, if it’s in my blood to do writing and I’m doing sports, I’ll just combine the two and then do what I love’,” Fancher said.
At first, Fancher says he didn’t immerse himself as he should have in college. He encourages aspiring journalists to be willing to do things they may not want to initially, in order to put as many tools in their toolbox and sell themselves as a more desirable candidate for jobs. Journalism is a tedious profession, and it requires commitment and dedication.
“When I was in college, I genuinely held myself back in some instances,” Fancher said. “There’s genuine opportunities that I kind of passed up or didn’t think about…whereas, I should have just been hustling to do everything as much as I could and fill all my time up, rather than trying to pick and choose what I wanted.”
Getting hands-on experience was imperative, as Fancher watched his peers get opportunities such as interning at local news stations. He dove into several different avenues during his time as an undergrad, as well as when he was working towards his master’s degree at Northwestern.
From working at 101 Magazine at Howard to The Chicago Crusader, Fancher’s eyes were opened to what was needed to succeed in the industry, and where he needed to hone his skills.
“I thought that you could walk into the industry, have great analysis, and people would be like, ‘Oh, we want to hire you because your analysis is great… you know what you’re talking about’,” Fancher explained. “But a lot of people know what they’re talking about, and a lot of people can be experts, but it’s about how you communicate that to the audience.”
Wanting to provide as much as possible, Fancher set out to play a sport in some capacity collegiately to add credibility to his work. With a love for the game of baseball, Fancher joined the club team at Howard, which was essentially Division III, where he became one of the captains after a year.
Currently, Fancher is freelancing for several different outlets, including covering the Detroit Tigers for FanSided. But he has bigger aspirations of discussing a variety of sports on a bigger platform.
“One of my goals is to have my own TV show and talk about all the sports. It includes baseball, because baseball is not included on the network shows,” Fancher said. “This year, I plan to start streaming and talk about a little bit more, because I think that’s part of the market that people don’t tap into as much.”