CAS CONNECT 2014

32 Adam Hildebrandt, a 2012 sports media graduate, was one of those first eight campers at the first OSU sports media camp. He attended the camp twice before coming to OSU as a freshman in the sports media program. Hildebrandt now works for a group of media stations in Moberly, Mo., doing play-by-play and analysis for local sports teams as well as contributing to the daily news programming. “Everything that I’m doing now was born from this camp,” says Hildebrandt. “All the things I learned at the camps I use in some form of my work. The amount of well-rounded preparation you get from the camp I don’t think you’ll find anywhere else.” The sports media camp gives camp- ers the opportunity to experience multi- ple aspects of the sports media industry. John McGuire, OSU sports media profes- sor and camp faculty member, says one of the camp’s goals is to turn sports fans into sports journalists. Since 2007, the OSU sports media camp has allowed high school students to get hands-on experience in sports broad- casting and journalism. Many of these campers later return to OSU as students in its sports media program. Dave Hunziker, or as many know him, “The Voice of the Cowboys,” has been the camp’s director since it began. He acknowledges the impact the camp has had on the sports media program. “A high percentage of the best students in our program have been to this camp,” Hunziker says. “This has been a tremen- dous recruiting tool.” OSU began offering its sports media degree in 2006, and members of the sports media faculty decided they needed to hit the ground running on recruitment. The following year, they held the first sports media camp. The camp hosted eight campers its first year and was a great learning opportu- nity for both campers and faculty. The camper limit usually hovers around 18-20, but this year, the camp expanded its roster to 24. “You’ve got to make the progression from being just a sports fan to being somebody that understands what’s involved in reporting, and writing, and telling a story,” McGuire says. “And these concepts are introduced to students at this camp.” McGuire and Hunziker, with their combined professional and academic experience in broadcast and play-by-play calling, teach the campers how to be “on the air.” They work on vocal projection and conversational skills, vocabulary and research in sports broadcasting. The campers take the skills they develop to record podcasts, do on-camera stand ups and conduct play-by-play coverage. One of the camp’s highlights involves a trip to a minor-league ballgame, where the campers sit in a press box and record live play-by-play coverage. This year, the campers called an Oklahoma Redhawks game in which the Redhawks made an explosive sixth-inning rally, helping them defeat the Omaha Stormchasers 8-5. PHOTO / JAMIE HADWIN BOTH PHOTOS / JAMIE HADWIN