Those who can, teach

Those of us in the sports writing profession are story tellers at heart. And when you are a story teller, you inherently have a desire to teach. It is the generosity of the human spirit that compels us to share with others what we know, to uplift and make them better, somehow. It is a very noble aspect of our profession, which, on the other hand, satisfies the native curiosity that most humans possess.

We love good vs. evil, triumph over tragedy, and redemption stories. Particularly for a country that is still pulling itself up by its boot straps like the Philippines, succeeding against the odds is a big deal. Look at all our sports heroes, and you’ll see what I mean. It is important to do two things with this. First, identify why these heroes are significant to us, and plumb the emotional depths of their success stories. Secondly, have a technical framework with which to replicate the process of bringing their stories to an even greater audience.

This weekend, the local government of Cebu City has invited the Bill Velasco Sports Broadcasting Workshops to hold its first training outside of Luzon. Spearheaded by Councilor Dondon Hontiveros with the support of Mayor Mike Rama, the project is in line with the local government’s hosting of the Palarong Pambansa this year. The workshop will benefit 50 selected students who are in training as journalists to cover the Palaro. It will be run by this writer, Nissi Icasiano (team leader and co-facilitator), Glenmarc Antonio (workshop proper and participants’ needs) and Jerry Rosales (video documentation and production). The compact team is deep in experience in both media workshops and broadcast production.

The most common complaint of students and even athletes outside of Metro Manila is that they do not receive the same level of coaching or competition, that poaching makes it an uneven playing field. In this instance, they are guaranteed to receive the same high level of training and even video simulation that past participants of the workshops have received in Luzon. Everything from the evolution of communication to the development of broadcast technology in the Philippines and beyond will be taught. Exercises to sharpen the thinking and reaction of the students will be shared. And at the end of the second day, everyone will get a chance to be on camera, where their technique will be broken down and built back up again.

More importantly, students will be face to face with industry professionals, and can ask all the questions that will put them on the right path to being better sports writers and journalists, so they can also share heir stories with future generations.