By Brielle Hill | @brielle_hill
Freshman at BSU
Member of Ball State Sports Link
With over 400 student organizations on Ball State’s campus, why should you choose to do sports? One word: Family.
There are many aspects I’m referring to when I say “do sports.”
You could join one of our D1 sports teams or our intramural teams. There’s taking your mind off of school for a few hours and supporting our athletes by attending a game.
And then there’s my favorite: helping to produce our sports via Ball State’s Sports Link, Cardinal Sports Live, Chirpvision, and many more organizations.
“They are your immediate support system both on and off the court” ~Kayla Banwarth
D1 Sports/Intramural: You can look at any of Ball State Sports Link’s packages and the athlete we are highlighting will say that their team is their family in one way or another- they eat together, work together, study together, win together, lose together.
In 2015, Sports Link’s first episode of Driven showcased Madison Oyer in “Glory Unseen.” Maddie describes the journey she took to get to Ball State. After falling homesick in Kentucky, Maddie decided to transfer to BSU with every intention of giving up soccer forever.
If it weren’t for Coach Roberts and the love and support from her teammates, Oyer wouldn’t be named All MAC twice and she wouldn’t have her soccer family by her side every step of the way.- Driven
It is a tried and tested fact that athletes in college tend to do better academically.
Christie Durham of Higher Education News expands on this point in her article “5 Benefits to Playing a College Sport” saying “For some students, being required to stay on top of their studies so that they can stay on the team makes the difference between success and failure, not only in college but later in life, as well…”- Read the Article Here
Be a Fan: “Stress” and “college” seem to go together like two peas in a pod and sometimes, they do. One great way to relieve stress is to become a part of something greater than yourself.
There’s something liberating about not having any responsibilities for a few hours other than cheering your Cardinals onto a victory and watching the video board to see if you and your pals pop up on the “High-five cam.”
Sports connect people from all over the world. At Ball State University, we pride ourselves on our diverse population. One game you could be sitting next to a person from down the hall, the next game you could befriend an individual from Japan.
Joined together by the bond of basketball, football, or volleyball, sports allow opportunities to grow your family here at BSU.
Produce a Game: I’ve been at Ball State for one semester and I can honestly say my favorite part thus far has been the family I have made at Sports Link and the opportunity I’ve been given to help produce over 10 ESPN3 productions.
Growing up a fan of any and all sports, there’s always been a burning passion to attend as many games as possible and play them with my friends. I thought nothing could top that obsession…that was until I discovered my passion for producing sports.
There’s something refreshing about watching the sport from a different perspective (or should I say from a different lens) especially when your new family is on the other end of the headset to commentate on the game with you.
The sigh of relief you take at the end of a production is one of success and pride in the broadcast you helped create. You learn from the mistakes made in the show and you grow together to build the brand you are creating.
I also work for the Video Board crew and through them I have been able to learn, not only how to master live camera work, but get even more behind the scenes into the control room and those skills have been transferred over to my Sports Link work as well. There’s nothing like watching the game from 5 different angles.
But even deeper than all of this is the art of telling the story. With every game there is a story to tell. There’s KeVonn Mabon’s celebration with his football family after winning against Eastern Michigan. There’s the audience’s energy with three seconds left on the shot clock and Ball State down by one.
And there’s the game. And somehow, we bring all of those stories together into one big, beautiful production and I wouldn’t want to spend my evenings at Ball State University any other way.
So do sports at Ball State University. Grow your family and create memories that live a lifetime.
