After another whirlwind year of hockey I get a few weeks off from broadcasting before I get to start all over again with baseball. I am very proud to announce that I have been added to the Victoria Harbourcats team as their new Play-By-Play Broadcaster. This is an incredible opportunity for myself as I will be elevating my game to the professional level. I couldn't be happier about spending hundreds of hours throughout the season on a bus driving to different towns all over BC, Washington, and Oregon. Broadcasting somewhere around 3,146 games in 3 months (slight exaggeration, but the number is close), and watching more Ball than most people have done in their whole life. Toss in a few (dozen) park hot dogs and I can't think of a better way to spend a summer, can you? This is exactly the chance I have been hoping to get for years.
Over a decade ago when I started in amateur internet radio I never would have imagined that I would be broadcasting baseball at this level. Radio in the beginning was something fun and different to play with, it never was going to be a career possibility. I spent a vast majority of my teenage years looking at law enforcement as my career path. Then things started to open up for me in sports. The Victoria Cougars, UVIC Vikes, Midget A Provincials, and more that I can't even remember, were asking me to broadcast or announce their events and games. Then I got the chance to meet with Jim Swanson of the Harbourcats. That's when my career goals shifted.
Everything I will be doing for the Harbourcats I can bring back to the Cougars. This was a year for change, and growth. I was able to be part of upgrading the broadcast for the Victoria Cougars from a simple audio webcast to a full pay per view video broadcast. There have been growing pains of course, when isn't there when you make a huge change? It took quite a bit of work from many people at the Cougars to get the booth up and running. We went out and purchased new banners for the booth to give it a much better look. We also needed to build custom cabinets for all the broadcast equipment. Unfortunately we were only able to get a single camera up for this season, which we hope to expand on next year. My vision for the broadcast next season sees 3 cameras and a switcher that will allow us to seamlessly bounce back and forth from all 3 cameras. Have a fixed camera at each end that will show the entirety of the offensive zone, and a free flowing camera with cameraman following the play much like this year, but from centre ice. Whether we get this or not is to be seen, but it's definitely on our radar.
I will do everything I can to make the Harbourcats broadcast one of, if not the best broadcast in the Westcoast League this year. I have an amazing group of people at the Harbourcats to lean on for support and experience. I will learn plenty with this amazing baseball team this year, and have lots of fun doing it. The Cougars are excited about this as well, because their broadcast will get better because of it.
I want to personally thank everyone at the Cougars for another awesome season. I'd also like to thank my peers in the VIJHL for giving me some fun interviews. This has been a great year, but I think next year will be even better. Hockey season might almost be over, but baseball is just getting started.
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