LHS has a multitude of opportunities for students to strive for something that they want to succeed in after graduating. One area of study, however, that is lacking in opportunities at LHS is sports broadcasting.

In the 2015-2016 school year, the only sports broadcasting opportunities that students have are announcing varsity boys basketball games and IceCats hockey games. LHS student Matt Doherty, DOI staff members TJ Murbach, Mary Kate Mieszala and myself all contributed to the broadcasting and announcing of the IceCats hockey games.

Mr. Jim Sakas, the broadcasting team manager for the IceCats, commented on how little LHS does to prepare those students who want to get a jump start in the broadcasting and communications field and what would happen if they contributed a little more: “I believe the adults have done this at LHS for years and really do not realize that they are actually taking away a very valuable experience for LHS students,” he shared. “I am sure once they are made aware of this, they will see the value for LHS students and gladly step aside and supervise LHS students running all aspects of a LHS broadcast team.”

Sakas also said that LHS should look at a few of the IceCats broadcasts so that they can see how talented students are and dismiss any fears they have of students leading an organized broadcasting team.

In the Chicagoland area, a few schools that have outstanding broadcasting programs are Niles North, Glenbrook North and Maine South. Those are only a few of more than a thousand across the United States, according to Sakas.

Prior to the beginning of the Wildcats’ football season, there were signs in the hallways put up by Wildcat Productions asking if anyone was interested in calling the varsity home games during the season. The eventual people that got the privilege to announce the football games were teachers Mr. Bill Mix and Mr. Kevin O’Neill. They’re both experienced in the realm of high school sports. According to Mr. O’Neill, the position was offered to both staff and students but no students expressed interest.

Mr. O’Neill believes that in the future, having students run play-by-play and color commentary for football games could become a possibility, but for the next few years, it would not be worthwhile: “I’m not against students announcing the football games, but I think there is a certain level where they can’t break.”  

Expanding on his statement, Mr. O’Neill mentioned that he has been coaching football for 17 years and believes there is a level of experience he has that students would not have in the booth.

“A broadcasting class I think could happen. There are schools that do have a broadcasting class. I went to Maine South and we had a radio and broadcasting class,” Mr. O’Neill commented. “But with the infrastructure, you’re adding a class, and you need a certified teacher for it.”

Mr. O’Neill went on to talk about the prospect of having a class dedicated to broadcasting, stating that Mr. Daniel Treptow, the supervisor of Wildcat Productions, would be a great teacher for such a course, but to fit a class into his already busy schedule would be difficult. Wildcat Productions creates many different broadcasts for all events, and some of them do include sports games. It is not solely a sports broadcasting group.

This is not a quick fix by any means because it takes years in advance for more opportunities to come up and a whole school effort to make everything happen, but our school needs to give the students more of a voice so that in the future, that voice will be key to their success.