I had the honor Monday to present at the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters annual High School Conference.
Over 750 high school broadcasters from around the state attended the day of sessions at the University of Indianapolis.
Teaching earlier than my normal schedule, I welcomed two sessions of students to hear about Sports and Digital Media. I spent each session telling over 60 high schoolers about the sports media profession — from live events to feature stories to social media.
I was invigorated by the eagerness for many high schoolers to begin their college careers as broadcasters at Ball State. Several already have years of work under their belts.
One student from Carmel, JD Arland, already exudes professionalism, by asking what he can do in high school to prepare for a future in this industry. Simply getting involved with anything tangential to sports media, from blogging to broadcasting, as soon as possible will give you an advantage over those who sit back and hope opportunities come their way. JD shouldn’t have to worry, as he already broadcasts on TV and radio for Carmel, and he is only a sophomore.
I hope these high schoolers understand they must create their own opportunities to forge ahead and find success in this industry. Luck favors the prepared, and those who demonstrate their ingenuity and work ethic early are noticed.
For those who are interested in becoming a part of Digital Sports Production at Ball State, get involved with your high school broadcasting, newspaper, or other opportunities. Most high school athletic teams need help shooting video for team use. Morning announcements at schools help develop your editing and video skills. If those aren’t available, there is always an outlet online for creating your own blog or podcast to discuss sports.
It was incredible seeing the diversity of programs visiting the conference. Schools across the state, from Jasper to Crown Point attended my sessions, showing Indianapolis is not necessarily the hub for high school broadcasting.
Students represented Crown Point, Carmel, Ben Davis, Jasper, Franklin, Porter County, Western Boone and Warsaw. These kids, while representing different levels of experience, had a passion to cover sports.
While I can’t recruit all these students to be in Sports Link, the future is bright with young talent and enthusiasm.
Students always love a t-shirt giveaway, and one way to engage high schoolers is encourage them to tweet and interact on social media. Here’s a couple of the tweets from the day which earned free t-shirts.
@bsusportslink so excited for the sports and digital media workshop! #IASB2015 — Jack Hustel (@jackhust) March 9, 2015
@bsusportslink @IASB_Indiana too pumped to learn some Sports and Digital Media, can’t wait to be at BSU next year #IASB15
— James Molin (@J_moley) March 9, 2015
