Covering sports is the best. It’s that simple.
Writing articles for the Equinox and filming sports at a college that I am attending is a truly unique experience. But without the work that I did covering sports in Central Mass[achusetts], I would be unprepared for the college experience, and more specifically the experience of covering college sports.
During my freshman year at Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, Massachusetts, I fell in love with filming sports. I had known going into high school that I wanted to do something with video. I had great times during seventh and eighth grade creating videos of competitive wiffle ball (yes, it’s a real thing!) as well as videos for the school basketball team while I was injured. So I had some background before my first time filming on the field. But after filming that first football game my freshman year, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to do this as much as I could.
Throughout my freshman and sophomore years in high school, I filmed all the teams at Nashoba Regional. During the summer, I filmed the teams in summer league, as well as some travel/AAU teams for guys I knew from high school. I was slowly promoting myself as a videographer. However with a lack of brand, and no social media, the process was slow.
One of the biggest things I did to prepare myself for college was develop a brand. I started promoting myself under my business with a logo and a name that sticks in peoples’ heads at that start of my high school summer going into my junior year. And I would say that summer and fall was when I started to capture an entire school. Being on Instagram allowed me to promote myself to a bigger audience, as well as be more known in my community.
The biggest step I took, and what mainly prepared me for Keene State, was everything I did that winter. The main change between previous seasons and that winter was the addition of new teams. Nashoba was no longer the ideal place to record games, so I found myself recording teams all across Central Mass. I also started to shoot games for Charter TV3 in Worcester, Massachusetts on live broadcasts.
My coolest moment at Keene so far is when I was interviewing Nick Redden for my article covering the players on the basketball team from Central Mass, and he said that his favorite moment was one that I had captured on video. It was during my first time with the TV3 crew, and I was observing from the truck that day.
Except they had brought in two new people and only had room in the truck for one extra person at a time. So I was forced to watch the game for the first half, and I couldn’t bear to sit down and watch the game without filming. After the first quarter ended, I ran to my car to grab my camera, and shot one the most electric quarters that I’ve ever seen in high school basketball.
Keene has given me the opportunity to be a writer, and not just a videographer, who covers sports.
It’s been tough with less competitions happening at Keene State this semester. I can say with confidence that many are hoping to have more competitions next semester, and hopefully against other schools. I came here to cover sports, and I want to be at more games.
That’s not to take away from any of the work or opportunities that I’ve received this semester. It’s been amazing to have the opportunity to still get to know coaches, athletes, and faculty around campus, mainly by writing stories and being on campus.
I’m excited to see where my years at Keene will take me. Although I was not able to operate the camera as much as I would have liked to, I instead laid the foundation for me to be successful as my college experience is continued.
Ethan Winer can be contacted at:
ewiner@kscequinox.com
