On Friday nights during football season, you will find hundreds of students at Regis Jesuit High School watching the game.

 

But 5 students you won’t find in the stands. They are from the RJ Media Sports Network huddled in a small mobile building on the side of the field. These students are surrounded with audio/video equipment and a tangle of cords covering every inch of space.

 

When they are not in the mobile they are in the studio creating content for a RJTV show. Two seniors are in charge of the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who are leaning over their shoulders intensely watching their every move. This is their chance to to learn the ropes ­ in hopes of one day being the ones sitting at the controls.

 

The RJTV, Sports Network run by Tyler Ballinger is a branch of the RJ Media Club and is student run. While Nathan Shutts is the producer of the RJTV Studio Show. The two club leaders are both seniors who are both in Advanced Journalism classes. Tyler joined the Sports Network club in the beginning of their freshman year, while Nathan join the RJTV freshman year as well. They are now in the position of leading the network. Their responsibilities have grown immensely in three years time.

 

“When I first started we had it very simple, with 3 bags and one computer to carry to the games,” Tyler said. “Now we have 8 boxes and millions of cords!”

 

The most challenging part of being the lead team members. Both agreed that it was the recruiting. Not only is filming more than a two man task, someone needs to be in place to eventually take over.

 

“A lot of people from the outside world would assume it is an upper classman thing,” said Tyler. “Our biggest challenge is people who know we have a broadcast but want to be in the stands in the student section.”

 

Nathan said being a part of the RJ Media team means being willing to give up a lot of free time. In addition to making sure they are fully staffed, the biggest part of their role is the work involved in getting everything set up in preparation of the actual broadcast. This involves setting up the cameras and the computers and ensuring that everything is working as it should prior to a game.

 

As involved as everything appears to be, Tyler feels that it isn’t something that requires a lot of background in media.

 

“We will teach you and you can come and shadow and we can show you what to do.” The hands on way of learning has proven to be a good one which keeps the new guys interested.

 

“You can jump in any time you want to press a button or make a comment,” Tyler added. This is not something that is difficult to learn, and the learning curve is a quick one if you are willing to commit to it.

 

Working with the Sports Network means opportunities to do things other than set up and filming. There are also opportunities to do commentary during the broadcasts. Tyler feels that a background in sports is a definite asset when doing commentary. “I have a heavy background in sports, and knowing the lingo, tips, and tricks helps for the color play.”

 

Nathan shared that being an on air anchor also takes another skill, “you have to be able to read without fumbling over your words. You can’t be looking off or laughing. It’s really hard not to laugh sometimes when the guys are making faces at you!”

 

RJTV and RJTV Sports Network have influence the lives of all the members and has grown through the years as one of Regis Jesuit’s most growing clubs, from the equipment to the games. I thank Tyler and Nathanael for their time and told them that I look forward to working with them!

 

Since their freshman year, RJ Media has expanded beyond being just a sports network. It has become a more professional network and is making great strides in what is created and how they do it. They have even made plans to create a news shows that will be broadcast throughout the school every other Friday. This has been a long and complicated process to make this happen. This means broader opportunities for students to get involved trying different skill sets until they find the one that is the best fit.

 

RJTV has influenced their thoughts on a possible future within the broadcasting world. “ I think it is something to consider,” Nathan shared. “ The skills I have learned are at a much higher level than many of the kids going into college to major in journalism.”

 

Tyler had a different perspective. “ For me, I would only go for sports broadcasting and that is a really tough industry to get into. I like that I would be able to tell people that I have a background in journalism ­ it would be a good way to meet people.

 

For Nathan his second career would be elementary education. For Tyler, he would like to be a head baseball scout and work with high schoolers. So while I continue to work with RJTV, it sounds like keeping my options open for the future is a good idea!