SJSD's sports marketing team gaining real-world broadcast experience

Sep. 22—Being an announcer for ESPN is something most people can only dream of, but for sports marketing students in the St. Joseph School District, they're making those dreams a reality.

Sports marketing students at Benton, Lafayette and Central high schools are the brains and voices behind what you see on TV. Taught by Bradley Justice, sports marketing students from each school take turns broadcasting, announcing, directing and operating cameras for the local high school sports games.

Benton sports marketing teacher Joey Hendrix said it all started about six years ago with a partnership between Nile Media and LTN Global to broadcast the games on ESPN3 and everything just grew from there.

Students can learn a multitude of skills such as how to create digital graphics, video editing, social media and advertisements. From there, they can use those finished projects for different websites, game day commercials, hype videos and more.

"The kids really get a chance to dive into what they want to dive into," said Hendrix. "It helps, like with our organizational skills, also with their creativity."

He said utilizing platforms like Adobe and building their skill set will help them transition to college and their future careers. He said no matter what role each student has, this program allows them to see their work on a bigger stage outside of the high school landscape. Hendrix said it lets them show off a little and show others what they're capable of.

"When they do a sports show here in class or they record one another or they're talking commentary for ESPN, I think it just instills confidence in them," Hendrix said.

Lafayette sophomore and director Avery Housman had a little experience going into this year's sports marketing team. Last year, she worked all the roles and fell in love with technical directing. She said one of her favorite parts is working with mostly female teachers.

"It seems like a male dominated field. So having like, women teach you stuff, it's fun getting to do everything and not just be restricted to one thing," Housman said.

As a technical director, Housman said she switches cameras, communicates with camera operators and sends in replays and graphics.

"It's probably one of the easiest things," she said.

Owen Zeit, Lafayette sophomore, said he had brothers that went through the sports marketing program. They told him it was a great opportunity to be surrounded by sports while hanging out with your friends and sometimes getting out of class early.

Zeit said being an announcer is probably one of the most fun positions, however, it can come with challenges as well.

"You just got to be comfortable with hearing your voice online and talking to people," he said.

First-year sports marketing teacher Miranda Woodrum said she majored in recreation sports management. When she saw a job opening for a sports marketing teacher, she thought it would be a great way to impart her passion for sports marketing onto others.

"I applied for the job and I got it. I was very excited. I have a group of super talented kids," she said.

For Woodrum, the hardest part was figuring out how much prior knowledge each student had.

"Oh, you want to do a podcast? Okay. What actually do you know about except hitting record. Like, let's talk through editing," she said. "I think it's gauging the students' skill level, meeting them where they're at and pushing them to be even better than what they were."

Woodrum relies on honesty when teaching. She tells her students that not all of them will end up in sports marketing, but it's about applying the skills you learn to other things.

"Some of you are going to want to become entrepreneurs. Great, you're going to learn how to make canvas like canvas posts or make, just graphics," Woodrum said.

"One of the biggest hurdles that we have to jump over in sports marketing every year is when they come in, you know, it's not set worksheets or quizzes or pen and paper," said Hendrix.

Instead students have to open up and decide what it is they want to do. He said the hardest part is getting them to make that first selection of what role they want.

"(There may be) a student that wants to get into broadcasting, and likes to talk, but doesn't like to talk in front of a camera," he said.

But once the student steps outside their comfort zone, many of them succeed.

Hendrix said his favorite part is watching the kids grow.

"From their first step all the way to some of these kids are doing just things that are just unbelievable, whether it's on the camera or off the camera. And watching them actually enjoy it," he said.

For Woodrum, she loves seeing the creativity in all the kids. She said they come up with ideas for backdrops, TikTok graphics and more. She even wishes she had this program in high school.

"Showing them that it doesn't matter your age or where you're at," she said. "Like, you can do this. And if you start now, like who knows where that will take you."

"I'd definitely say get in here," said Housman when it comes to recruiting new sports marketing students. She said while it is a time commitment, it's really fun.

"I play volleyball. I do track, and I still fit in," she said.

Zeit even shouted out his teacher, Mrs. Paolillo, for her help in the program. He said he thinks sports marketing helps him meet new people while building his confidence.

"When you do ESPN broadcasts like this, I sometimes have to announce to people I've never met before," he said.

For him, this opportunity still blows his mind to this day and even though they're new to the sports marketing world, he wants everyone to have high expectations.

"We're not too bad, actually. You would think high schoolers aren't good at announcing, but we're actually pretty good. We're a lot better than people think," said Zeit.

You can catch the team broadcasting to ESPN3 on Sept. 27, Oct. 4, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25.