Westfield HS duo finds calling with Rocks Sports Podcast
WESTFIELD, Ind. — Two guys. Two different backgrounds. Two different favorite sports teams. One dream. We’ve shared the same dream for broadcasting ever since we met in the seventh grade. I don’t know, we just clicked. Since then, we’ve been able to bounce off of each other, and it’s been a big benefit in life thus far.
Aidan McNally, my partner and fellow Westfield High School senior, was born in Germany but grew up here in America. He is very talented at multiple things. Broadcasting, singing (which not a lot of people know he can do), and, his biggest talent, his humility. He interacts well with everyone he meets, and it makes me so proud. I’ve watched my best friend grow from a shy person to an outgoing, social master of friendship. His passions sink deeper than his interests, as they often do in me, too. His passions are the Bears, his wonderful girlfriend, and sports in general.
Me? I have talents and passions, too, and most of them are the same as Aidan’s. Broadcasting and sports are big passions of mine, and I look forward to continuing to study them with my best friend in college at Ball State. Ask anyone that knows me, I live, breathe, eat, drink, and sleep sports. I’ve been blessed with the ability to retain sports information, which is really beneficial when I’m doing one of my many jobs that require such knowledge. I’ve been involved with sports media since I was a freshman.
My first job was with our amazing athletic director, Andy Tebbe, and included operating a social media program. Sophomore year, I joined the RockTV program and covered sports, as well as doing halftime interviews with head coach Jake Gilbert. Junior year, I focused more on Westfield sports on RockTV and started a broadcast of home football games with Aidan. And now here we are. Senior year. The broadcast (which I’ll dive into more in a bit) is going as strong as ever. Our Sports Report –as it was formerly called– evolved into its own episode of RockTV, and we’ve started a podcast about all things Westfield sports. The show is called The Shamrock Sportscast and is available wherever you get your podcasts.
The football broadcast that Aidan and I started is the product we’re most proud of. Every home football game we sit up in the press box and switch between play-by-play and color commentating duties. In the future, after we’ve both graduated, we want to make sure that the students after us are set up for success. To that end, we’re trying to make away games possible as well, but for now, home games are our focus.
If you have a passion or even mild interest in broadcasting, I would highly recommend this position for someone. Every week before the game, Aidan and I both write game notes on Westfield and whoever they are playing. We have learned that the better the notes are, the better the viewer experience. Our awesome producer and senior Rock, Alan Scheller, does an amazing job running the show on Friday and helping throughout the week with graphics and audio engineering for our podcast.
Both Aidan and myself are accepted and admitted into Ball State University, where, for the next four years, we’ll study sports, sports media, sports journalism, and, hopefully, work for a pro sports team in one of those categories in the future. Overall, it’s an honor, an amazing experience, and we’re truly blessed to have seized the opportunity that was presented to us. We are forever grateful for the staff at WHS and look forward to the road ahead.
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