By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
Now, thanks to a new program, even if you can’t make it Cherokee High School games, you can still watch them on the internet. Several Lady Braves basketball playoff games have already been aired and more are set to go online at www.nchsaanetwork.com/cherokee.
Shawn Crowe runs the Youth in Radio program at the Cherokee Youth Center and has been working with software from Play On Sports, a company that offers broadcast software to high school sports associations, to bring Cherokee sports to life online. The company has provided the software to nine state high school association including: Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
Crowe, who has an extensive background in radio broadcasting, related that Cherokee High School was chosen as a pilot school for North Carolina, one of a few in the state, for the program provided by Play On Sports.
“The software allows schools to broadcast their events on a small budget,” said Crowe. “Basically, all you need is a camera and a couple of microphones to use with a computer and the software which gives you production capabilities that allows you to make your broadcast look like an ESPN broadcast.”
And, students will be heavily involved in the production. “It is intended for the students of Cherokee High to do the production work and would give them an opportunity to learn about the video broadcasting profession,” said Crowe. “I have started, along with the Cherokee Youth in Radio Program, a video production class at the Cherokee Youth Center and thought this will be a great opportunity for my students, in partnership with Cherokee High students, to enter into a new experience of broadcasting.”
Crowe said several games are already available online. “At the present time, I am learning the software so that I can teach it to the students and I have already put up two of the Lady Braves post season games for on-demand access. With the software, we are able to put up on the internet a tape-delayed broadcast or a live broadcast – live depends on having an internet access at the location – and all of this can be done with just a camera and the computer with the Play On software.”
Crowe is excited about this opportunity for his students as well as the school system. “I think this has really moved Cherokee athletics into the 21st Century and is open to endless opportunities for the students of Cherokee High and the Cherokee community as a whole.”
