Pursuing her dreams on the sidelines: Miley Lenzen of CHS Sportscast
CANTON, Ga. — Miley Lenzen has grown up watching sports, primarily football. Both of her parents, Brandon and Ashley, are avid sports fans. As Miley explains, “They’re the people yelling on the sidelines.” Having watched sportscaster Erin Andrews on tv for many years, she always thought, “Now this is a job that I could see myself doing. It’s a whole lot of things that I love all rolled into one: sports, traveling, high energy, conversations.” With that seed planted, Miley decided to pursue sportscasting at her own Cherokee High School as a rising freshman. In the summer of 2023, she began laying the groundwork for what is now CHS Sportscast where she interviews athletes and coaches as well as covers various sports events for the Warriors. Her interviews are shared on her Instagram page where she has amassed more than 1400 followers in just a year. As a student-athlete herself, Miley has cheered for the past four years and will be courtside again for the CHS Warriors basketball team this winter.
Miley shares, “I’ve learned a ton and it’s only been a year. The biggest thing I’ve learned is, it’s hard! And it’s super time consuming.” During certain seasons of sports, she finds herself after school every day waiting to interview one or more people. Since they are doing her a favor and allowing her to interview them, Miley does her best to work on their time—and sometimes it can be a lot of waiting around or hurrying to catch them. She has also learned that the people she is interviewing are often far more nervous than her! Some of her interviewees will ask what questions to prepare for ahead of time because they want to prepare an answer.
Always coming up with questions to ask has proven to be Miley’s biggest challenge. Typically, she will ask basic questions to get to know an athlete, but she also comes up with one or two that are specific to them—whether about a big play they made at a previous game or maybe why they decided to sign with the college that they did. Keeping the questions straight in her head and memorizing everything can be tricky sometimes, especially on days when she conducts two or three interviews in one day.
The best advice she has received is just to “find what you love to do, and love doing it.” And to enjoy the process along the way—even the hard times or the times where you may doubt yourself. Miley’s mom, Ashley, tells her to “enjoy the speed bumps as well as the triumphs.”
When asked what she loves about broadcasting, Miley easily shares, “I love being able to hear what it takes for these incredible athletes to become who they want to be on the field. I don’t think some people realize how hard some of these players work, day in and day out. There’s no off season. And I love hearing about that. Just like I’m striving to accomplish a goal, they are reaching for that end game as well. I love being on the sidelines watching their dreams come true too.”
As a one-man team, Miley says, “I think the biggest thing I’ve learned it to be prepared. When I think I have everything together, I check again. And really, I guess it’s a two-man team because if I didn’t have the opportunities that the athletes give me, I wouldn’t be here. I have learned to always be respectful of their time and their sport, and to always be encouraging.” Before each interview, she makes sure that her mics are charged and ready to go. Then she goes over the questions with her mom to make sure they sound right before she hops on camera and knocks it out!
When she’s not in front of the camera or preparing for her next interview, Miley loves to travel or be with friends. She shares, “It makes me really excited to go somewhere I haven’t been before. Going back to how much I love hearing people’s stories—I think the same thing happens when I travel. I can meet people who live very differently from me and learn all about their way of life. And that’s really cool.”
One thing she learned specifically from watching Erin Andrews is that she always thanks the athletes for their time and tells them how much she appreciates them. Miley is always sure to do the same because they are taking the time out of their day, and she truly is grateful for that. She continues, “I also love that she says to never want to make a name for yourself so bad that you chase a story that could bring an athlete down—to remember they’re human and to highlight all the good spots about them. I love that. She says treating athletes like individuals will take you further than treating them like a story. I always keep that close.”
When it comes to recovering from mistakes, Miley says, “I’m a little lucky because I can cut the film and start over if I say the wrong thing. And that happens. If I’m interviewing a coach after the game, I can’t redo it—so honestly, I try my best to remember everything and if for some reason a question slips my mind, I improvise.” She is sure to keep some easy questions handy in her mind just in case she needs a filler question.
Already planning for her future, Miley’s goal is to attend college for sportscasting—at University of Florida, in particular. University of Floria admissions is highly competitive and with only a 19% acceptance rate, Miley knew she needed to do something to stand out. She shares, “I can play sports and make good grades, but majority of the people applying will have similar statistics. By starting CHS Sportscast, my hope is that the things I’ve already done to work towards this career will make them see me on a different level” In just a year’s time, she has already conducted over 100+ interviews.
Last fall, Miley was invited on Georgia Public Broadcasting where she was able to be on the sidelines with their sportscasters. She was also featured in a segment on their podcast. Recently, the Major League Pickleball Association had her attend the first weekend of the Atlanta Bouncers to interview their athletes which was a really neat experience. Last summer, Miley attended University of Alabama’s sports broadcasting camp where she took home the award for best overall group. This summer she is attending a similar camp at University of Florida—hopeful to make connections there, saying, “I’m really trying to grab any opportunities that come my way and just keep building my resume.”
Miley’s dream job is to be standing on the sidelines interviewing incredible athletes, where she would love to focus on either college or professional football. She adds, “I’ve loved Erin Andrews for years (who also went to University of Florida) and she’s who I look up to career wise. I hope someday you guys can see me broadcasting at the Super Bowl. How fun would that be?”
Offering advice to fellow students in pursuing their own goals, Miley shares, “I think, as a high schooler, one thing that we all have to realize is not everyone is going to have the same dream as you and not everyone is going to care about your dreams. You’ll have many people rooting for you, but you’ll also have many people waiting for you to fail. Sometimes it’s hard to ignore the people hating on you. Just keep going—focus on what you want long term and not so much on what other peers think about what you’re doing right now.” Her parents remind her that other driven people are going to understand her motivation and hard work and will applaud it, and just not to worry about the others. So that’s what she would share with her peers—do what you love and don’t let others bring you down for it. Work hard and give it your all; that’s all you can do. She concludes, “I know I will be proud of all the time I’ve put into this regardless of whether I get accepted into University of Florida or not (but please let me get in).”
“It’s funny because I can be quieter in person, but for some reason in front of a camera, I can get out of my head and just focus on what someone is telling me. I’ve always thought about how everyone around me has a story and how neat it is that reporters are able to be gifted just a tiny bit of information about someone’s life. Anytime I interview someone, I truly am grateful that they gave me the time and the tidbits of information that make them the athletes that they are.” Miley Lenzen, CHS Sportscast
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