Creating A Broadcasting Legacy

By Sara Nguyen

THE FOUNDING MEMBERS OFCHAMINADE’S LIVESTREAMPROGRAM HOPE TO LEAVE ALASTING LEGACY IN THEIR WAKE

n the weeks leading up to the Chaminade football team’s first home game this past season, some of the student members of Chaminade’s new livestream program (aka “the Stream Team”), Cooper Eastwood '19, Connor Morse '19, Hunter Pack '19, Ryan Santourian '19, and Skylar Takac '21, were enthusiastically planning to do a dry run of what they hoped would later become their own live sports broadcasts of future games. Livestreaming an event involves filming and broadcasting it live over the internet. They wanted to use multiple cameras, practice sports commentating, and get the production as close as they could to what they saw on ESPN and other sports networks. They had to change their initial plans, however, when they were told that Fox Sports had first dibs on the game and wanted to broadcast it. Hoping to still gain a learning experience for the students, the faculty advisor for the Stream Team, Mr. Tommy Smeltzer, obtained permission from the Fox Sports team to let the students observe.

On game night, the Stream Team showed up to find the Fox Sports team in a bind. A key piece of equipment, their TriCaster, had gone down in their truck. They were concerned that they might have to reduce their broadcast to just a single camera. Eager to help, the Stream Team offered the use of their equipment, which the Fox Sports team evaluated and realized might work. Suddenly the students, who initially thought they would just be observing, were actively participating in setting up the live broadcast. Says Mr. Smeltzer, “…the Fox Sports team called on the students to help navigate through settings on the unfamiliar equipment. It was a real dive in the deep end for our kids, but they came through for the pros and helped get a full broadcast up and running within minutes of kickoff.” The initial, unforeseen necessity of working together likely changed the dynamic between the two production teams faster than it otherwise would have occurred, and during the live broadcast the Fox Sports team even let Cooper step in and run one of the cameras. The effect of this experience on the Stream Team was huge. Says Cooper, “[I was] being coached for each play by another operator who stood behind me. I followed the ball throughout each catch and was live for a majority of the game, which was very nerve-racking.” He recalls his father texting encouragement as he watched the game from home, telling him that the announcers had given the team an on-air “shout out” for their help. He says, “It wasn’t until after the game was over that I really felt the impact of being individually thanked for what the team had done that night. I knew I wanted to keep this going.”

Experiences like this highlight the importance of charitable donations to Chaminade, which can be used to fund extracurricular programs like the livestream program. Extracurricular programs give students the chance to utilize skills and gain experiences that cannot be duplicated in a regular classroom environment. The equipment for the livestream program was made available thanks to a generous donation from a longtime supporter of the Chaminade football team. The legacy this donor hoped to create with his donation was brought to fruition by the Stream Team, in their determination to get the program off the ground this past year, and to leave a template for future students to follow. Their efforts transformed a donation of livestream broadcasting equipment into a team of student broadcasters with dreams of becoming professional camera operators, sports commentators and producers.

An important aspect of the livestream program is that it is student-led, a key attribute that gives the students opportunities to take initiative, make mistakes, learn from them, and figure out how to improve. The Stream Team took it upon themselves to hold production meetings following each livestreamed event, where they played back each broadcast, took notes and discussed areas that needed improvement. Ryan, one of the student commentators, learned the importance of self-evaluation, saying, “I learned that it is so much more than just doing your research prior to a game. You need to be willing to listen to the previous broadcast and hear your mistakes in order to get better, no matter how agonizing it is for you to hear your own voice. That is the only way you can learn to improve.”

The program also gave the students real world experiences in assembling and managing a team. Says Cooper, “I had many experiences on the Stream Team that have shaped the way I look at a job. I found that I could not do this alone. I was determined to achieve this on my own, but soon enough I saw that I needed a tight and trusted team.” Cooper described their initial struggles, mentioning early games where, “We started setting up at 3:00 p.m. and didn’t finish until the game was over,” and when they had assembled a larger team with cameramen and announcers, they realized they needed more equipment in order to communicate with each other effectively. Here, the students took the initiative to put together a request for additional funding for another camera and headsets for communication purposes.

Mr. Smeltzer noted that in the course of running the program, the students were embodying the Marianist characteristics of adaptation and change, saying, “This wasn’t a case of ‘here’s a worksheet, fill in the blanks.’ They drove the growth of the program. That is no exaggeration.” Their efforts were also appreciated by the

aforementioned Fox Sports team, and Tony Moskal, a Fox Sports analyst who was part of the team that night, even sent an email to Chaminade president Robert Webb, saying, “The students ran back and forth to their room getting us the equipment that we needed. Without their help I’m not sure we would have been able to livestream the game. We thanked them several times throughout our broadcast, but I wanted to let you know how important they were to helping us get on the air. They’re a great group of kids who were willing to do anything and everything to help us.” These types of experiences are invaluable to Chaminade students who are interested in pursuing paths in the media industry in the future. Says Ryan, “There is so much more to this team than just being on air. If you want to become a director one day or do something in the film or sports media industry, this would be a great way to get practice and see if this is something you want to pursue. If it is, then you can learn and begin to excel in these areas, so when you graduate and move on to the adult world you will have experience in your field.”

Beginning with founding members Cooper, Connor, and Hunter, the Stream Team eventually grew to about 15 members. Throughout the course of this past year, they livestreamed additional football games, robotics tournaments and hope to once again livestream commencement. The livestream program was not promoted heavily in its initial year while the students were in a learning phase and establishing the framework to accomplish their goals. However, now that the program is off the ground and the four founding members will all be graduating, they’re hoping to pass the baton on to underclassmen who will continue to improve on their initial efforts. Says Mr. Smeltzer, “The kids who live this program want to leave a legacy. They want to see younger people in the key positions, so the program doesn’t take a setback.” He adds, “This has been a classic instance of Chaminade student leadership. I didn’t develop the program and hand it off to them, they developed it with me. I was barely able to keep up with their ambition. Going forward it’s going to be a great opportunity for them to look back and say, ‘We made that happen.’ ”