ALYSSA GALL
SPORTS WRITER
With sports’ seasons put on hold and social gatherings limited on campus, Alma College’s Athletic Department seeks to find new ways to keep student-athletes connected, even when they are off the field. One new way is through the use of the latest form of communication during this disconnected time: video.
While student-athletes may have to wait to put on their uniforms and see the field, the Athletic Department, along with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), has created a new way to get to know the athletes beyond their jerseys. In the new weekly video series posted to YouTube, Inside Scots Sports, each video takes a deeper look into the lives of some of Alma’s athletes.
“Our Inside Scots Sports videos are made to give athletes and faculty something to look forward to during this troubling time with no athletic events,” said SAAC Social Media Coordinator and host of the show, Hunter Nash(’22). “We aim to show that there is more to our student athletes here at Alma than just being an athlete. In saying that, I try to focus my questions not only on what made the athlete or faculty member come to Alma but what sparked their love for sports and competition in the first place!”
In these videos, each episode focuses on interviewing a student-athlete or even a college staff member within the Athletic Department. When interviewing, Nash dives into more than just questions about the athlete and their sport. Each video centers around getting to know the student-athlete on a more personal level rather than just being a number on the field.
“The idea for these videos was to give our community more information about our athletes here on campus to solidify a bond that athletes across campus all have with each other,” said Nash. “We want all athletes to look at the Athletic Department as a community where they can reach out to anyone if need be!”
With the aim being to strengthen the athletic community, it is no surprise that the push behind the formation of the videos stems from the Athletic Department’s own Sports Information Director, Matt Moran. The concept for the videos started as an idea to increase not only a sense of family amongst athletes, but to introduce the Alma community to the variety of students, who make up Alma’s 27 different sports’ teams. All Moran had to do was pitch the idea, find a host, and the rest was history.
“The idea is something I came up with as I wanted to feature our student-athletes more on a personal level,” said Moran. “I was suggested to reach out to Hunter because he has a passion for these kinds of projects. Hunter basically took the idea and ran with it by coming up with the name of the show and deciding what questions would be asked. I then worked with Hunter as well as our Assistant AD Kiana Verdugo on how we would go about putting it all together.”
When it comes to the production of these videos, Nash was eager to accept the challenge as the host with his interests in the business field and wanting to focus on his professionalism in public speaking. In each seven to ten-minute-long video, Nash interviews a different student-athlete to not only get to know them as an athlete, but a student as well through his wide array of witty questions.
“A typical video consists of some easy questions to get to know why the individual started playing their sport and how they found their way to Alma,” said Nash. “I then like to get into some questions about them so that myself and the community can learn more behind their name on their jersey. I then like to keep it light and fun by throwing in some weird and out of the box
questions to make it interesting and something to be talked about around campus. Finally, we have a speed round to see how many quick off-the-bat questions the participant can answer in 60 seconds!”
Just like how Nash switches up his questions to keep the interview interesting and participants on their toes, he also looks to interview student-athletes from all across the athletic community. This is notable in the videos posted, which consist of interviews featuring Men’s Soccer junior, Jarod Arendsen(’22), Volleyball and Softball Junior, Haley Ullrich(’22) and Men’s Golf and Tennis senior, Tait Morrissey(’21).
“I started the first couple interviews by interviewing individuals from other sports teams that I know, but it is completely open to anyone who wants to participate, so if you want to be on the show….Send me an email!” said Nash. “However, if I do not get volunteers, then I plan to make my way through the Athletic Department and hit someone from every team before going back through.”
With the future of sports’ seasons up in the air, it is important to take this time to reflect on not only what these sports mean to athletes, but to acknowledge what these athletes mean to the sports and athletic community. Thanks to the Athletic Department, Moran and Nash’s push for the Inside Scots Sports videos, it helps give the community something to rally around and learn more about the athletes, who they will cheer on when sports go back into action.
“I think it’s important, especially during this time, that we feature the members of the Alma College family,” said Moran. “With no competitions going on, it gives us more time to do these projects and tell the stories of these people. At the end of the day, I hope people are entertained by them and that they learn something they never knew before about the person being featured.”
