But before I do, I will admit that it feels like this is said a lot on this blog. "Man, it's been a while since I've written anything." Truth be told, there's been lots on the go and the blog took a seat on the bench. Between life at the radio station and in hosting, plus life with my wonderful girlfriend, family and friends, I haven't had a ton of time at home to entertain the masses.
That being said, it hasn't meant I've been sitting on my tush elsewhere. I've hinted that I have a couple of mini-projects in the works and I'm here now to explain one of them.
It actually all started with a couple of passing comments while I was volunteering as PA announcer with Calgary Bantam Football. Every so often, I'll get a word of "thanks" or someone asking if I could work high school games. I had to politely decline, but it got me thinking. And we all know where that goes...
It got me into some conversations. Eventually, it led to one with Joy Bowen-Eyre from the CBE, who pointed me in the direction of a couple more people, which took me to the Calgary Senior High School Athletics Association board meeting a week ago Monday. That's where I made a short presentation and pitch on my idea.
The Pitch
A pilot project where we would get four or five kids from four or five high schools into a classroom, where I would teach them how to be an announcer for their own schools. I'd give them some tips and tools on speaking, the formatics and preparation involved in announcing games, maybe bring them to a CBFA game or to the radio station so they can soak in some of the knowledge from others in the business.
My big goal here is to get kids who aren't normally part of their sports teams to actually be involved in another way. Maybe they have physical limitations or are simply not good enough to play, but maybe they are in drama and have a killer voice or an encyclopedia for a sports mind and a great attitude. Why not allow those kids to be a part of their team in a different way? Frankly, it's how I've made my career.
Now all of a sudden, we could have kids in different social circles interacting with one another. Now we're building school spirit and pride with a different kind of atmosphere on the court or on the field.
And for the kid, these kinds of skills are transferable. They can take these experiences wherever they go, whether it's continuing the announcing in post-secondary and beyond, or whether it's simply to have the confidence to speak in public, which is a major fear for a lot of people.
For the schools, I feel like this is a win-win as well. Now you have a kid who is comfortable in front of a microphone and in front of a crowd, and they can now be the MC for pep rallies and assemblies, or maybe the school needs an "official voice" for online videos being created. The options, in my mind, are endless.
So the idea is now in the hands of the schools, who have the information and can use it to find a student who they think could do this. Hopefully I'll hear back in the next few weeks from those interested, and we can start building a bit of a curriculum or game-plan on getting these kids involved. By all means, if you know someone who might be interested in something like this, have them give me a holler.
I'll keep you all posted on how this thing turns out, but I'm super-stoked at the possibilities.
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