Southeastern Media Network put together a team of students to cover and report on the varsity boys wrestling team in all forms of multimedia. This campaign lasted the whole season from start to finish. They had no knowledge of wrestling rules, regulations or formatting.
“My biggest struggles were at the beginning,” sophomore Carson Hall said. “I didn’t know much about the sport obviously and also it was my first time on staff, so it made it kind of hard for me because I wasn’t as experienced with editing apps and stuff like that.”
As a general creative on the team, Hall was led by juniors Marcus Laux and Lili Perez. Before taking sports media and PR, students must take a prerequisite in the media field. So, although Hall was experienced, he had never done anything like this before. Knowledge of the sport is vital for writing stories, understanding stats and taking photos of the game.
“The difficult part about covering wrestling is neither I nor my team understood the point system or how you win a match,” junior Lili Perez said. “I believe overtime that through talking with Evan Lawhead and the bonding with the team we were able to understand and grasp how to cover the game correctly, and it was overall an amazing experience being able to cover sport that I never even thought would be able to be so cool and so inspiring when it came to creative work.”
The process of learning how to cover the sport was not all negative. The lack of knowledge prospered creativity and curiosity among the team.
“What I like about wrestling is that it was new and exciting to film and take photos, I have never really watched before,” Laux said. “I also liked how inclusive the wrestlers were towards me and how excited they were seeing me there to record or take pictures of them.”
With a new sport, come new opportunities. These students expanded their portfolios and created excellent work ranging from meet graphics, recap reels, live videos and photos.
“I like the atmosphere while I was there shooting the sport and enjoyed how everybody there is engaged with the matches,” sophomore Addy Kristler said. “I also loved the challenges that it gave me with different angles and a different environment that I’m used to. I think the sport stood out from a photography angle because the challenges that come with the sport.”
Whether it was the atmosphere or the engagement between players, the team had fun at the meets. The team would regularly engage with them and make them feel welcomed and appreciated. The wrestlers had both passion and gratitude towards their sports and the experiences they were granted.
“What I liked most about wrestling was how focused and concentrated the wrestlers were, always showing their heart in the sport,” sophomore Tristan Christopherson said.
Everyone always raves about their experience with football, but wrestling was both memorable and exhilarating. Watching the team grow with excitement and love was the PR team’s favorite part.
“Something I love the most about covering wrestling was before covering it. I didn’t know much about the sport, but then I learned about it, and it ended up being fun to watch after watching the Bishop Sheard match. I didn’t realize how explosive and fun wrestling was. I also love the connections that I was able to make throughout the players and the team.”
