Restrictions were placed on the attendance of sporting events everywhere in response to COVID-19, making it harder to keep up with games and events happening at Pius X.
While live streams have been available, senior Alex Fern sought out the opportunity to begin providing commentary for both the Pius X girls and boys basketball teams. By doing this, he brings about another way to stay connected with Pius X teams while spectators cannot be there in person.
Communications Director Zachary Baehr assisted Fern in setting up equipment and getting started.
“Alex had heard of football broadcasting being done and he wanted to focus on basketball,” Baehr said. “A few weeks before the season he came to me asking how to get started. The first step was figuring out the technology part of it.”
With the assistance of Baehr, Fern learned to set up the speakers and cameras. Fern now works independently to set up his live stream for commentating.
He began commentating early in the basketball season for home varsity games and later added segments of the JV games.
By providing play-by-play, Fern’s work allows for parents and students to tune into games they cannot attend unlike years past. His commentary tracks keep Pius X fans updated on the score while also giving them an opportunity to watch the games live, or simply listen in.
Fern has always been interested in commentating. He started this project because it is within the career field he is interested in. From a young age, mass communications has always been present in his life.
“My mom has a degree in broadcasting, and she worked in the radio station industry for the first thirteen years of my life, so this line of work has always been a dream to me,” Fern said.
Calling the basketball games gives him an opportunity to practice and to learn more about commentating, while also giving back to the Pius X community.
While being able to practice commentary on a live game has been beneficial for Fern, what he enjoys most is being lucky enough to attend games in person and experience them in a non-virtual way.
Fern also enjoys the speed of the basketball games.
“It is great to have a nice pace of action while watching the games because it makes my job a lot of fun,” Fern said.
The fast pace of the game provides little to no time to take a break which makes it more entertaining for Fern.
“It is a lot of fun to be able to commentate cool plays and to watch games develop from beginning to end,” Fern said.
His commentary tracks along with game footage can be found live on the Pius X YouTube page. The videos can also be accessed after the game.
To listen to just the commentary, Fern’s tracks can be found on mixlr.com/bolt/commentating.
