Play for the love of the game

I have been covering high school sports for about three months now.

I’ve been to quite a few high schools, covered a wide variety of sports and interviewed many different players and coaches.

I have spent many hours observing the high school sports atmosphere and, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Now you may be wondering, ‘Why? How can you honestly enjoy covering high school sports?’

An argument against it might go something like this.

How could any aspiring sports journalist like covering high school sports? They are just high school students. They aren’t professionals. They aren’t top athletes competing at the top level and most of them will never play professional sport past their teenage years.

Any one of those points backs up my reason for enjoying high school sports.

It’s sports at its grassroots level. These kids play for the love of the game. They all genuinely love the sport they are playing and are all out their to have fun.

As a sports fan it’s quite refreshing.

You don’t have money involved. Winning isn’t a live or death matter. The atmosphere is positive and kids are learning how to play the game they love. For the most part, these kids are playing the game the way it was meant to be played.

Professional sports doesn’t have too much of that anymore. The game has turned into a business where it’s all about the money. Players are playing the game to make a living. Wins and losses have a lot more consequences. There is a lot more negativity.

So next time, when you’re playing or watching your favourite sport, stop for a second and remember why you play the game.  Relax, enjoy it and have some fun. Sure most sports are competitive and nobody likes to lose. Just remember why we play the game and what made you love sports in the first place.

A look at what’s to come

Over the next few weeks I will be working on my digital story assignment.

The assignment will be trying to answer one question.

Does the college/ university recruitment process provide a viable option for high school students to obtain a post secondary degree?

I will be writing a wide variety of feature stories and profiles around this topic as well as provide video and audio content.

I will go in-depth on the Loyalist College recruitment process by providing information from both the college’s side and the athlete’s side.

I will profile athletes who were recruited from local high schools, such as current Loyalist Lancer basketball player Jenni Thompson.

The college and university processes will be compared against each other to see how similar they are.

I will also try and look at the Canadian (CIS) recruitment process compared to the American (NCAA) recruitment process.

Some features will look at people who benefitted from the process and were able to gain a degree that helped them in their life after sports.

Mike Botterill grew up in Belleville. He played his high school football in Belleville and was eventually recruited to play CIS University football for McMaster in Hamilton. From there Mike was able to obtain a post-secondary degree in business as well as get drafted into the CFL. After seven seasons in the CFL with four different teams Mike came back to Belleville and is now an owner of the BelleVegas Boardroom.

I hope to profile Mike and his journey through sporting world and the transition into the business world.

These are just some of the stories that will be included in this assignment. The stories will eventually be combined into a website and posted in the middle of February.

If anyone has any possible story ideas or information on the recruitment process please feel free to comment below.

My moustache maybe lame, but at least I’m trying

We are 16 days into Movember and not much has changed. I'm trying though.

In my first Movember blog I mentioned about the countless number of jokes I have been receiving about my so-called “moustache”.

I thought I would use this one to tell you a story about one of these incidents.

Last Thursday I found myself sitting in the food court at the Invista Center in Kingston.

I was sitting with several members and volunteers of the Trenton Golden Hawks Junior A hockey team waiting for the start of their game against the Kingston Voyageurs.

For those of you who don’t know, my roommates and I currently work in the Golden Hawks organization. We broadcast their home games on the Internet through OJHL Live and record video of their road games.

Anyways, back to the story…

We were sitting there chatting when one of the volunteers turned to me and said, “I think this guy is participating in Movember.”

I replied with, “Why yes I am. There is not much there though.”

After a couple laughs, the chirps started to fly.

“It’s Movember, I think starting in August is cheating,” said one volunteer.

“Don’t worry, you will be able to participate (in Movember) when you finally hit puberty,” said another.

Before long everybody within earshot was voicing their opinion of my disgraceful darkened upper lip that I was trying to pass off as a moustache.

“My son has a better moustache than you, and he’s sixteen,” said a father of one of the players.

“Your not really participating in Movember if you never have to shave,” said another.

Because of my sense of humor I was able to handle these jokes and even laugh at a few.

The thing is, I know my moustache is lame.

I knew going into this month that I wasn’t going to be able to grow much facial hair.

It’s not a surprise.

I don’t care what my moustache looks like. It’s not the reason I chose to join the Loyalist Mo-Crew and participate in Movember. The whole point of this initiative is to raise awareness for men’s health and make sure men are aware that prostate cancer is a big deal and can happen to anyone.

My classmates and I are helping people take notice to a bigger issue. We might not have the best moustaches but at least we are trying.

As a group the Loyalist Mo-Crew currently has raise $830 dollars. We are trying to make a difference.

If you are interesting in helping me or my team, click the link and donate. It doesn’t have to be much, any amount will do.

And if you want, feel free to post a joke about my moustache. I’m down for a laugh.

If you do, you might as well donate while your at it.