Chalin Cahlik

Women's Soccer had a tough year in terms of record and injuries, but certainly played their heart out each and every time on the field.  Heading to the soccer fields for a broadcast did become slightly monotonous because it seemed the women’s team was set back before they even set foot on the field.  Key injuries early in the season either sidelined players or forced players to approach the game differently than they traditionally would due to these injuries.   

 

General Duties:

Similar to Men’s Soccer, my duties with Women’s Soccer were setting up each broadcast with Russ and I would do play-by-play for each game.  The challenge with Women’s Soccer was I struggled to maintain interest in a sport that I really did not enjoy and the team was also not performing well.  The combination of those two variables was actually quite good for my broadcasting career because it showed me how to make something out of nothing in a sense.  We need to set up the broadcasting software, set up camera, run cabling (often times across the roof) and running the crowd microphone.

While I don’t want to discredit the team, their record was not ideal and losing each game was difficult.  What this prepped me for was a future in the industry in which the team I work for is not having a very good year, but you still have to put a positive spin on the team.  Working specifically for a team (or university in this case) versus working for a flagship station that covers many games is quite different.  While I try to be honest on air, I also remember who my employer is and what they would want me to say.  If someone blatantly does something stupid, such as getting a red card for taunting, I will certainly say that was a bad, classless move, however, if someone just makes a bad play you try to justify it. 

Russ taught me quite a bit about this and told me to remember that most of our audience are the students’ parents.  They want to listen in and view their child playing the sport and that is important to please them.  Another aspect to remember is that these students

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlight: TU vs Findlay

This game was, oddly enough, one of my favorite games I have ever broadcasted because of the overtime “golden goal” situations that soccer presents.  The first goal of an overtime period takes the win and with TU and Findlay being rivals the game was incredibly fun to watch, even for non soccer fans.

The game started off well for the Dragons with TU scoring in the 28th minute.  This was unusual as the team’s offense had struggled up to this point in the season and getting an early goal was a huge lift for the team.  Leanne Tobin fired a deep shot that ricocheted off the Findlay keeper right to Adrianna Curry who rifled it home for the early lead.

Less than 60 seconds later the Dragons hopes were deflated as the Oilers tied things up.  This was where I had to truly bring the crowd back into it because the hype and happiness that had entered the stadium and broadcast left just as quickly.  Both teams battled in the second half with Findlay playing solid defense preventing anything from happening.

It wasn’t until the 2nd overtime that Ali McCabe took an Adrianna Curry pass and scored passed the Oiler keeper to give the Dragons a big time win over rival Findlay.  I went crazy as the Dragons had not only taken a big step forward in a clutch situation, but done so against their true rival, Findlay.

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Time Spent:

Even though I am not a soccer fan, I did not mind soccer games for the most part.  Soccer was regularly on Fridays and Sundays at standard times throughout the year so there were not many surprises.  The only thing that did become difficult was doing play-by-play for two games in a row can really hurt your voice after a while.  That in combination with the unpredictable weather is incredibly harsh for a broadcaster and was something I had to learn.