They Tell the Story

The evergreens that form a horseshoe around the well-manicured, state-of-the-art facility are blowing to-and-fro in the steady wind, the unpredictable gusts of which are topping out at 20-plus miles per hours.

 

No one at field level seems to mind, though.

 

After all, both the Wildcats (5-0, unscored upon, and ranked No. 2 in the latest Richmond Times-Dispatch poll entering the game) and the No. 3 Cougars (9-0-1) have jobs to do, and they can’t be bothered by the weather conditions, even if they’d generate small craft warnings were the venue located along the coast.

 

It was those up top, livestream commentators Jai Spicer, Cameron Jones, and Omar Lanneau; team manager Ny’Keila Short; and a certain TD freelancer covering the game, who were literally blowing in the wind and praying that the open-air booth was securely anchored into the concrete below.

 

Spicer, Jones, and Lanneau are members of Collegiate’s Sports Broadcasting Club under the direction of Bill Ruhl, the School’s sports information director.

 

“There’re passionate about soccer,” Ruhl said. “The insight that they bring to broadcasting Collegiate soccer is second to none. The quality of their information is second to none. They definitely have an allegiance to Collegiate, but they’re mature beyond their years as far as their ability to be objective broadcasters. They’re naturals. It’s hard to find that.”

 

Seniors all, Spicer, Jones, and Lanneau have played the sport most of their lives, know the game well, and enjoy sharing their expertise and humor with their viewers.

 

“They embraced commentating from Day One,” said Rob Ukrop, Collegiate’s head boys and girls soccer coach. “They work together to bring the girls game to life. They’ve been very influential in telling the story. They’ve taken it to another level.”

 

During halftime of the Cougars’ 1-0 victory, they offered their thoughts about their shared role this spring as the voice of Collegiate girls soccer.

 

Omar: I do this because I really enjoy soccer, and I enjoy helping out Collegiate, whether it’s playing for the guys team or because I love being part of this Collegiate community. Whether I’m on the field or in the booth, I love being around the game and being next to my classmates and watching my classmates on the field do what they love.  I love to support them and be part of this community. It’s a blessing.

Jai: I could talk for hours on end about how much I love the game of soccer and everything that it’s taught me, but another reason I’m out here is that I want to support my friends. I have so many great friends on this Cougar side. When we play against other in-town teams, I know people on the other side too. I just love being a voice of the people and support my friends in the process.

Cameron: I do this because I love to give back to Collegiate. I’m a big proponent for the coverage of women’s sports. Typically, everyone tunes in to the men’s games, and everyone will travel to City Stadium to watch the guys, but I hope these livestreams make girls games more accessible. It’s a great opportunity to help my friends on the team get more publicity, as well as the coaches, whom I’ve had a deep connection with. 

 

Cameron:  Jai and I went through a lot of trials with a lot of equipment. We proposed some equipment to Coach Ukrop and Coach Ruhl, who has really helped us along this journey of broadcasting. Ultimately, it came down to having a broadcasting device, a camera, and a roster. The rest is more innate. We have a lot of public speaking skills through speech and debate. Jai and I are both captains of speech and debate. It’s really helped us talk on the fly.

Jai: About 30 minutes beforehand, when we get the roster, we review it to make sure we get the names and numbers down. We want to make sure we’re calling people by their right name and not getting anything mixed up.

Omar: We manage our own livestream, our own setup, and our own audio and technical equipment. We have to make sure our technology is sharp before every game. We’re here early because we want to make sure we have everything down so we can cover these games the way they deserve to be covered.

 

Jai: We try our best to convey humor as much as we can up here in the booth. That’s one of the biggest things. If a ball is rolling out too far and someone can’t catch it, we’ll say that there’s too much dip on that chip. If we think something’s going to happen, we’ll bet a nickel on it, just for a little bit of fun. We use a lot of figurative language just to get our points across and throw a little humor in there along the way. Like we’ll say, The Great Wall of (goalkeeper) Josie (Smalley).

Omar: Talking about the nicknames, we’re only able to call these names the way we do because all three of us in the booth have a connection to each player on the field. We know them. We talk to them before and after the games. We’re cool with them. We know the scoop. We know what’s going on. We feel like part of this team too.

 

Cameron: It gives me a platform to voice my opinion on something I care about. I care about my friends. I care about soccer. Ultimately, I care about the game and having a platform where I can share my opinions, whether they’re right or wrong, to the broader Collegiate community. That really gives me joy.

Jai: I’ll trampoline off Cameron and say I just love covering women’s sports because people watch women’s sports.

Omar: I get so much joy out of watching these girls play. It’s been a real journey. As a player and as a spectator, I just have a really good time watching my classmates and giving them the opportunity that they deserve. It’s really amazing to watch them play.

 ~Weldon Bradshaw