Field of Streans: St. Josephs HS students broadcast sports on Internet
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — St. Joseph High School seniors John Nolan and Chris Jacques share a passion for sports and journalism, so when they were given an opportunity to broadcast Falcons’ basketball games on the Internet, they ran with it.
Using just a laptop computer and a microphone, Nolan provides the play-by-play and Jacques the color commentary. The games are available on the YouCastr interactive sports broadcasting network.
Students and fans from opposing schools as well as St. Joseph alumni from as far as Tennessee have listened to broadcasts online, according to Deacon Rich McCarron, director of campus ministry.
Broadcasting games was a campus ministry project intended to boost school spirit. The school initially explored using FM radio, but it was too expensive for a band with a strong signal, and a free band’s reception was limited to a mile, Deacon McCarron said.
Nolan, who is the sports editor of the school’s newspaper, The Falcon, got the project rolling again when he saw an advertisement for YouCastr and told Deacon McCarron about it.
Nolan and Jacques, a sports and feature writer with The Falcon, made their broadcast debut Dec. 20 when St. Joseph hosted Hudson Catholic High, Jersey City.
“I have been going to basketball games since I was a freshman,” Jacques said. “When John asked me to do the color I said, ‘Definitely.’
“You get to watch the game from a great spot and comment and people think you are either smart or stupid,” he added with a laugh. “John does a great job on play-by-play. I try to comment on strategy; what the coaches are doing.”
One of the challenges of broadcasting is trying not to sound too much like a fan, said Nolan, who also competes on both the track and cross country squads.
To improve the quality of their broadcasts, Nolan, a member of St. Helena Parish, Edison, and Jacques, a member of St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, listen to replays of each game.
Deacon McCarron said he is pleased with the quality of the broadcasts, noting Nolan and Jacques sound like they have worked together for 10 years.
One of Jacques’ most creative calls, he added, was: “It may be eight o’clock, but the bank is still open.”
Said Nolan: “Most of the games that we have had this year have been blowouts because our team is really strong. Those games are kind of boring to broadcast, but we got lucky with a game against Immaculata at Rutgers [University]. It was really exciting and at the end I kind of went into fan mode, but I thought I still did a good job of doing the play-by-play.”
Jacques said no matter what people think of the quality of their broadcasts, the most important thing is school spirit has improved.
“I can see that more kids want to go to basketball games now, and if they can’t, they just listen to it,” he said.
Deacon McCarron said tentative plans are to broadcast sports year-round at the all-boys, private college preparatory school operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. He hopes StJoesSports will continue as long as students are willing to volunteer.
“John and Chris are working on backups now,” he said.
To listen to a broadcast, go to www.youcastr.com and search the live broadcast section to find St. Joseph High School.