BY CORIE LYNN
For students interested in live broadcasting, FHSU presents plenty of opportunities to try their hands behind the camera and in the control room.
Student employees of the university’s Tiger Media Network can cover home sporting events through broadcasting, writing and photography. This coming week, however, several members of this team of student broadcasters have the opportunity to test their skills in a real-world setting. This week, they travel to the MIAA tournament in Kansas City.
“Fort Hays, when we’re there, we’re predominantly in charge of the pregame show, half-time show and postgame show. So we do a studio show where the talent goes and they kind of break down the upcoming game, talk about what to expect,” said Russell Heitmann, TMN’s News and Sports Director.
Heitmann explained that the live coverage of this postseason basketball tournament is conducted by MIAA member universities. This includes Pittsburgh State, whose students are in charge of the main game broadcast, Central Missouri, whose students create the video packages played within the arena, and Northwest Missouri State, whose students host a live social media postgame show.
This isn’t the first time FHSU has sent students to broadcast the tournament. According to Heitmann, the students who attend have the opportunity, and the challenge, of operating outside of their comfort zones.
“They’re forced to do everything remotely in a new location in downtown Kansas City. They have to work with students from other schools, be put on much tighter deadlines because, instead of having a week and a half or two weeks to prepare for a game, you have less than a day and you have to prepare for four games per day,” he said.
In addition to this, Heitmann explained, students are able to meet fellow broadcasters and students with whom they’ll enter the workforce.
For student Nathan Johns, this part of the reason that he chose to work the tournament last year and again this year.
“[I]t gives you some real-world experience, lets you see what it’s really like to do it as a full-time job, and get the experience of getting to a tournament and setting up all the gear, running cables, communicating with another team. We work with Pitt State University and Northwest Missouri State University, a couple others to kind of bring it all together, so it gives you some experience in team building, the whole rundown of broadcasting,” Johns said.
Last year, Johns worked in areas such as camera operations and tech directing. This year, he hopes to take on larger roles including directing. Regardless of position, he describes working the tournament as a full-time job.
“So, basically, from Wednesday to Sunday, we’ll be working pretty much every single game except for, we get one game off so we get a little bit of a break,” said Lexi Gross, a student who is working the MIAA tournament for the first time this year.
Gross, while only in her first year of sports production, is looking forward to the tournament for the opportunities it provides. She’ll spend her week in camera operation and content creation for TMN.
She decided to attend the tournament after coworkers told her how much fun they had in previous years and that it was a valuable experience for those considering sports production and live broadcasting as a career. Gross is especially looking forward to working with broadcasting students of other schools such as Pittsburgh State University.
“We’re normally competing against them, but now, [for] us behind the scenes, we’re working with them. So I guess I’m mostly excited to meet new people that are in the same major and doing the same things that I love to do, and just kind of helping each other and working with each other all week,” she said.
One of the most important parts of broadcasting the tournament, however, lies in the preparation it brings students for the future.
As Heitmann explained, students have the opportunity to network with potential coworkers and employers. They may also gain a better understanding of how the field of sports production works. According to him, the value for students also lies in learning about the different roles in the field, such as play-by-play commentating or sideline reporting.
“Or if you’re just interested in being around sports beyond seeing it firsthand, if you want to be behind a camera or working in the control room, seeing it from that perspective, but it gives you a bunch of opportunities to explore live sports production in every aspect, from on-camera to preproduction to the live production and everything in between,” Heitmann said.
Both Johns and Gross agree that this on-the-job experience is why the MIAA tournament is important for fellow broadcasting students.
“I think going there and doing it for a full week as a full-time job, basically, lets you really know whether you’d really like to go into broadcasting or not because if you can handle it and you really have fun there, then broadcasting’s definitely for you,” Johns said.
Gross pointed out that, because of this and because so many people watch the games live, broadcasting this tournament is the closest students get to work for a sports production company.
“This is kind of one of those steps below and, honestly, it’s incredible how big of a set up in production. […] We do a really good job for being a Division II school. It’s really professional work. I guess that’s what everybody’s been telling me, that this is one of the closest, best experiences you will get toward that professional world after you graduate,” she said.
For students who don’t plan on making a career in sports production, or even broadcasting, coverage of the MIAA tournament still serves as an example of how they can prepare for a job post-graduation. As Gross pointed out, employers want to know about previous experiences in addition to GPAs. Taking real-world opportunities while in college is as important as getting good grades.
“[The tournament] is something people can add to their resume, portfolio and, again, just meet people in that professional world. There’s going to be people, professionals there. Like, this is their career. So I think it’s really important because everybody asks you after college, ‘What’s your experience?’ rather than ‘What grade did you get in this class?’” Gross said.