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My fellow Americans, I need that 48-ounce coffee bucket from Dunkin to keep me awake.
Anyway, this past year has been very exciting, but also a little exhausting for myself. Right after I graduated from Seton Hall last May, I got right into the thick of things. I want to talk about what it’s been like working in sports media over the last 12 months.
Writing:
First off, I’m really proud of the articles that were published over the course of the past year. As you have seen, I have written many articles about soccer, college football, lacrosse and other sports as well.
A majority of the articles I had published were about Red Bull New York, who I was fortunate enough to cover these past few months. It was incredible to cover my favorite MLS team and my favorite soccer league as well.
Outside of Red Bull, I continue to cover Seton Hall. Focusing on basketball, I saw awesome performances and nail biting finishes. I'm still shocked that I covered the St. John’s game where the atmosphere was electric at Prudential Center.
Additionally, I covered a few Rutgers men’s basketball games for the first time in January. Head coach Steve Pikiell was very appreciative of the media and Tariq Francis was impressive. I knew Francis was special when I watched him my senior year when he was at NJIT.
However, the Harvard-Princeton football game last October was one of my favorite games I got to cover this past year. It was a picture-perfect college football Saturday and I nearly cried because of how beautiful it was. I also saw my former teammate at Seton Hall Prep, Jaden Craig, play against the Tigers.
As a writer, I improved dramatically and I was truly blessed to do all these incredible events this past year. I wrote on my days off, I prepared tirelessly, and I made sure that everything was up to my standard. Overall, I was very content with my writing.
Announcing:
After my last call with WSOU, it took me a bit to get back on the mic. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to make my return with the company I interned with during my junior year of college, Big State Sports.
I was thrilled to accomplish my goal of calling games professionally as a play-by-play announcer. Truly, BSS’ Zack Smolen and George Muha are awesome people and I thank them always for allowing me to do what I love. A special shoutout to Christian Copen, who has been amazing as a broadcast buddy.
Because of the nature of my schedule, I haven’t called a game since February. When I get back on the mic, I’m going to be the happiest person alive.
Photography:
Through the lens, I was very pleased with some of the things I did.
Going back to the Princeton game, I was also taking pictures for that game. Somehow, no one wanted to take pictures for one of college football’s biggest rivalry games so I said why not. Probably a top-10 moment for me when it comes to covering sports.
Other teams I covered included one of Division III best men’s basketball teams in Montclair State, Villanova women’s basketball, the Somerset Patriots and more. Honestly, I enjoyed what I did from a photography perspective.
However, there was one issue that I am still trying to resolve. My camera started to act up in late January and hence why since late February, I haven't been photographing as much.
I love my Canon Rebel T7, but it is three years old and it’s not really a professional camera by any means. Still, the camera has done wonders for me so hopefully this issue is temporary.
Goals for the Next Year:
After a quick refresher on how my year has gone, what are my goals from now until this time next year?
Let me start with announcing first since that is a huge priority for me. I alluded to my schedule a little bit which really made it difficult for me to announce games. That’s what working full-time in retail does to one.
Besides calling games with Big State, I recently joined Breakout Sports Broadcasting, where I will be covering the Jersey Pro League this summer and club hockey in the near future. Shoutout to the great John Makuch for helping me join the company (check out his broadcasting clips, they are fire).
So, on top of doing work for both companies, I will also make time to call some mock broadcasts on YouTube. Mainly this summer, I will be streaming and announcing games from the USL Championship and USL League One. Pretty much, I want to practice and be ready for when my time comes to call actual games again.
Tentatively, I plan to stream the Louisville City FC - Brooklyn FC match on June 13.
Pretty much, my goal with announcing these next 12 months is to call more events. I love announcing and it would be amazing to one day do it full-time.
Now to the other two things I love in sports media.
Right now, you are reading this article on my blog. I created it last May and I’ve felt like I could have done more with it.
My time with ONNJ Sports was great, but I knew my blog would allow me to express myself even more. Over the next couple of months, I plan to produce more content for my silly little blog.
This includes stories focused on college football, MLS as a whole, lacrosse and more. I also want to utilize my photography Instagram, @kyleferreiraphotography, with the blog.
In terms of coverage, how will I cover events to do recaps or take photos? The one thing I have ruled out in terms of covering games in-person is that I will not do the NBA, NHL, or NFL. There’s already enough people covering those leagues.
My goal is to highlight teams who deserve more attention. From a pro standpoint, Red Bull needs more coverage because their visibility realistically isn’t great with MLS’ Apple TV deal. Gotham FC and the New York Sirens also deserve some respect since women’s sports is growing.
Frankly, I would love to continue covering college athletics, featuring schools like Seton Hall, Princeton, Monmouth and more. I would also love to give attention to lesser covered programs at these universities. For example, Seton Hall men’s soccer has done well the past few seasons and people should know about them.
Seton Hall women’s basketball head coach Tony Bozzella enjoys it when the media comes to cover his team. They work hard and they deserve to be talked about.
Covering these types of teams would be beneficial for the growth of their sports and you have to believe the athletes would be elated too. I’m sure their athletic departments would also be happy with more eyeballs on their teams.
Biggest Hurdle:
For me, working full-time in retail has been a struggle. A reason why I left ONNJ was because the demands of my full-time job sucked the joy out of my coverage.
Despite a less than optimistic job-market currently, I know a full-time role in media is possible. It would be way more fun and I definitely would not experience burnout.
Burnout is something that happens to everyone and it’s not fun. One thing I would like to accomplish is to balance my career and my personal life better. I believe balancing both would be huge to my success and it would make my life a little less stressful.
Biggest Lesson:
I know it sounds generic but one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the past year is to be patient. It definitely can be difficult watching other people my age succeeding and getting paid to do what they love.
Sports media is a very competitive industry as everyone knows. But, I have to stay the course, remain positive and know that better days are ahead.
I have started to embody Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti’s mentality of being process-driven. Watch this clip and you will understand.
I’m happy about the progress I’ve made the past year. But, I know the journey is just getting started.