This season, PNW athletes aren’t the only students putting their talents on display during competitions. So are students doing play-by-play of the games.
The Athletic department has launched a new student-led play-by-play broadcast program, giving students the chance to gain real-world sports media experience while supporting Pride athletes.
“We’ve been wanting to do it for a few years now,” said Joey Scott, assistant athletic director for Communications. “We used to work with [Hammond radio station] WJOB for broadcasts, but as we started doing more of it ourselves, we saw how many students were interested in getting behind the mic.”
Most students are Communication majors, others are all drawn by the excitement of sports and the chance to share those moments with fans.
“We started finding out that a lot of our student workers wanted to be sports broadcasters or had done something similar in high school,” Scott said. “So we decided to make it official and bring all our streaming in-house this year.”
That decision created new opportunities for students to take on roles as play-by-play announcers, producers and behind-the-scenes crew members. One of the first to step up was senior Communication student Alex Williams, who began as a student worker last year and now serves as an intern calling soccer, baseball and other games.
“Alex has been amazing,” Scott said. “He started with baseball last spring and now he’s doing play-by-play for soccer. He’s been a great example of what this program can become.”
Even non-Communication students are getting involved. Some who were curious about production have found themselves managing live streams, running graphics and learning to direct camera angles all from the control booth.
But the new program hasn’t been without challenges. Scott said the hardest part has been working around everyone’s busy calendars.
“Scheduling is always tricky,” he said. “Students have classes and personal commitments, so we try to make sure they can balance everything. But the students have handled it really well.”
Despite those obstacles, Scott said the effort has already paid off. The experience helps students build professional skills while having fun and supporting their teams.
“Our main goal is for students to have fun and feel appreciated,” he said. “When a student finishes a game and says, ‘I want to do that again,’ that’s the best part.”
Scott hopes the program continues to grow and become a major part of PNW Athletics, giving more students a voice literally in Pride sports coverage.
“Even for students who aren’t in Communication, this kind of responsibility helps them with time management and teamwork,” he said. “And for those going into media, it’s a great experience to put on a résumé. They can say they’ve done real sports broadcasting at the college level.”
