PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – These past two weeks were my first weeks at WAVY as the Sports Intern. I work in the sports department writing scripts, editing VOs and SOTs, and shadowing my coworkers out in the field. So far, I have been able to do everything I’ve wanted to from stand ups to behind-the-scenes work.
The first week was the busiest by far. I joined the team right in the middle of the VHSL State Championships. On my first day, there were still about 16 teams from the 757 in post season play. On just my second day, I went out on the field for soccer. In this game, Great Bridge beat Norview 2-0- to advance to the VHSL Class 5 Boys Soccer State Semifinals. I got to film a stand up and learn how to shoot a game for news reports.
My second field experience was traveling to York High School to help with a feature story. I learned the process of creating a package and more interviewing techniques. It was a little different interviewing high school students, but in the end the package turned out really good. It was fun to see it live on the news.
Continuing with high school sports, nine teams ended up making the semifinals, and six teams won it all. Semifinals and Finals both took place in Richmond a day apart, so it was a very busy two days. I edited some clips and wrote my first story recapping the weekend. During high school sports coverage, I also learned more about the 757 area outside of Virginia Beach.
Another task I undertook these first few weeks was NBA finals coverage between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. This involves watching press conferences and finding sound bites that are appropriate for news and sum up the game as much as possible. I’ve been doing similar tasks with the NFL team Washington Commanders and their preseason practices.
I also got to visit the Norfolk Tides batting practice and talk to some of the players. It was really cool to work with a Minor League Baseball team and meet players who have played in the majors.
My favorite thing I’ve done so far was bring back hockey coverage. The people I work with said they haven’t covered much hockey outside of the Norfolk Admirals. The NHL Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers has been taking place, and I was able to make a VOSOT on Game 2 to be broadcasted. My supervisor even gave me a shout out on live television for putting that together, which was super cool. I had no idea he was going to do that, and it made me feel like part of the team.
So far, I’ve done more and learned more as an intern at WAVY than I thought possible, and it’s only been two weeks. I look forward to the rest of the summer and all the new experiences.