It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks for me getting my feet wet in the sports news industry. It’s my first foray into this type of journalism and while I’ve learned a lot, I’ve still got miles to go. I’m just taking it one day at a time (which can actually set you back if you’re not out there getting after it!)

My passion is play-by-play. I’ve been fortunate enough to live that out for the last 3 years at WVU     with the soccer, volleyball, and hockey teams. I’m beyond grateful for the experience. With my dad being the sports guru of Morgantown (he serves as the voice of the Football and Basketball teams) I still think there’s a significant shadow I have to move out from. I can also use it to my advantage.

Connections are key in any industry and working my first package was strangely enough a breeze. I got interviews with the Women’s basketball team the same day I pitched my story about them and editing was smooth sailing. The comfort I had with the situation was certainly influenced by my familiarity with West Virginia athletics.

                                                                                                 

The read through of the script the night before show was standard and I felt good about my lines. It took multiple practices and a bit of frustration until we were finally able to leave with a good session wrapped up and satisfactory confidence heading into the morning. I got decent sleep that night as I prepared for my first taped show.

As I sat the anchor desk my heart began to race. This was it! I’m used to going off of my own script in my head for calling games but this was different. I wasn’t behind the scenes, I was in front of it; I’m sure the tension was palpable. I felt stiff, squinted at the camera, twisted in my chair a little bit, and was mostly uncomfortable with the entire taping process. But hey, if it were easy everybody would do it. After taking the majority of the allotted time to tape, we exited with a good enough product to post.

There’s a lot to learn and many growing pains to fight off. Much like when you play sports as a kid, it’s hard at the beginning but you’ll get better every time you practice. I’m extremely confident in this group and believe we can further the legacy of an already great WVU news.