2008 Woodie Awards
Guilford teams heard around world thanks to webcasting
Jamie Metrick
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sports
Jones got the internship through a friend at Elon in Fall '04, and has come a long way since starting as a color commentator for baseball and lacrosse games. He now concentrates on selling advertising and supplementing the webcast, treating the job like he would at any Division I school.
"We're years away from Division I level broadcasting, but we are trying to build up the program," Jones said.
The next obvious step for game coverage as technology advances is streaming video webcasts. Jones has already experimented with video at a few basketball and football home games, where he discovered he can easily record video onto a Mac laptop and use the service to get advertising.
"For so long it was just a simple setup, but then I started playing a couple of PSAs off my computer and it took off," Jones said.
The advertising helps pay for the video streaming, which the school does not charge users for. But regular video coverage will take a little longer to work out. Right now, Jones is more concerned about making sure all Spring and Fall sports get covered.
"If we're going to do men's (sports), then we're going to do women's as well," Jones said.
However, equality cannot always happen. Jones tries to cover both men's and women's basketball and lacrosse home games. But parents are pushing for coverage of away games too, especially women's basketball. A major problem is that not all schools have the technical setup needed for away games.
Also, there is not enough man power or equipment to cover multiple games at once. In the fall, football takes away weekends from volleyball and soccer. Often lacrosse gets more coverage due to its spectator popularity. But Jones assures that all sports get covered.
"Everybody gets a good chunk in the end," Jones said. "Men's basketball loves it. I've gotten to know their parents and families and they love it. It gets them to feel like a Division I team."
Positive feedback from student athletes and their families encourages the program to continue expanding.
Jones and staff always look for ways to improve the quality of the program, especially with help from the Guilford community. As a result, they hired five student volunteers to help out. The current students, two of whom are also athletes, set up equipment and do live game commentary.
"You don't need a lot of skill; all you have to do is talk halfway decent," Jones said.
Jones notes that it is a great experience for any students interested in developing professional sports broadcasting skills. Serious volunteers have an opportunity to hone their skills, while creating a polished broadcast that parents, alumni and any Quaker fan can enjoy anywhere, anytime.
"We're years away from Division I level broadcasting, but we are trying to build up the program," Jones said.
The next obvious step for game coverage as technology advances is streaming video webcasts. Jones has already experimented with video at a few basketball and football home games, where he discovered he can easily record video onto a Mac laptop and use the service to get advertising.
"For so long it was just a simple setup, but then I started playing a couple of PSAs off my computer and it took off," Jones said.
The advertising helps pay for the video streaming, which the school does not charge users for. But regular video coverage will take a little longer to work out. Right now, Jones is more concerned about making sure all Spring and Fall sports get covered.
"If we're going to do men's (sports), then we're going to do women's as well," Jones said.
However, equality cannot always happen. Jones tries to cover both men's and women's basketball and lacrosse home games. But parents are pushing for coverage of away games too, especially women's basketball. A major problem is that not all schools have the technical setup needed for away games.
Also, there is not enough man power or equipment to cover multiple games at once. In the fall, football takes away weekends from volleyball and soccer. Often lacrosse gets more coverage due to its spectator popularity. But Jones assures that all sports get covered.
"Everybody gets a good chunk in the end," Jones said. "Men's basketball loves it. I've gotten to know their parents and families and they love it. It gets them to feel like a Division I team."
Positive feedback from student athletes and their families encourages the program to continue expanding.
Jones and staff always look for ways to improve the quality of the program, especially with help from the Guilford community. As a result, they hired five student volunteers to help out. The current students, two of whom are also athletes, set up equipment and do live game commentary.
"You don't need a lot of skill; all you have to do is talk halfway decent," Jones said.
Jones notes that it is a great experience for any students interested in developing professional sports broadcasting skills. Serious volunteers have an opportunity to hone their skills, while creating a polished broadcast that parents, alumni and any Quaker fan can enjoy anywhere, anytime.
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