What I like about covering local high school sports in Platte Valley

My interest in covering local high school sports all started when I was a sports journalism student at Northern Arizona University.

I would work as a voluntary local sports journalist for the Arizona Daily Sun to cover local high school sports in Flagstaff, Arizona. Local high school sports are a lot different in the Flagstaff community compared to the Platte Valley community because Flagstaff has four high schools and the Platte Valley has two.

The fun part about covering high school sports is the excitement of watching youth compete at a high level. For instance, covering high school sports in Northern Arizona is big because of the media attention it gets. KAFF Radio in Flagstaff and Prescott AZ, along with KJACK Radio, a student-run radio station at NAU partners with KAFF Radio to bring live coverage of local high school sports.

NAU also has a student-run cable news channel called NAZ Today which covers local high school sports where student journalists have an opportunity to interview students and coaches in Flagstaff and all of Northern Arizona.

After I graduated from NAU, I covered high school football in Southern California in the San Fernando Valley every Friday. I even had the opportunity to cover the LA City /CIF Championship and the CIF State Championship.

It’s a little different covering high school sports in small towns such as Saratoga and Encampment. What I like about covering high school sports in the Platte Valley is that high school sports in the Platte Valley have that same exciting community atmosphere just like in Flagstaff. Their only difference is that Flagstaff has all the luxury when it comes to media coverage in high school from radio, TV, and newspaper.

Ever since I covered my first high school game in the Platte Valley I have enjoyed watching the great competition that local high students bring to the table every time they compete. It makes my job a lot of fun but most importantly, I love the fact I can do a service for the Platte Valley community by reporting a great sports story.

The fun part is to see the passion that the Saratoga and Encampment communities have for high school sports. To be quite honest, high school athletes make sports a lot more entertaining compared to the professional level. Students take pride in representing their school and community. That’s what made it interesting during my time with the Arizona Daily Sun and carried my craft to the Saratoga Sun.

The best part is interviewing the student-athletes because they seem to like the fact they are being recognized for that one big play or that game-winner. As for those who did not have a chance to make it to the game in person, I am glad I can bring the story to them so they know what the game was like. And as they read my story hopefully they picture themselves being there. That is the most rewarding part of the job, especially when parents thank me for covering their son or daughter.

I am looking forward to getting to know the people who love to read my stories and to know they like what I have reported.