10 SECONDS with Jordan Woodill and Cam Lavallee

CLOCK PHOTO/ ELIZABETH BARDEN

10 SECONDS with Jordan Woodill and Cam Lavallee

Justin Siewierski
Sports Editor
js2010@plymouth.edu

“One minute!” Shouts PSU broadcasting manager Dan Salzer. Next to him, two former Plymouth State Alumni stand side by side, overlooking the temporarily clean, smooth ice of Hanaway Rink. It’s ten minutes past 5 PM, nearly an hour away from puck drop. Not a single spectator has claimed a seat yet, but these three have been prepping for this game all week, and have been setting up their booth since four. On the left, stands 2015 graduate Jordan Woodill, sipping his Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and rehearsing names of the opposing team on his program. On the right, stands 2014 graduate Cam Lavallee; suit-and-tie, hair slicked back, taking on the iconic Barry Melrose approach with every mannerism he presents himself with.

“10 Seconds!”

Both slip their headphones on, rigorously checking their statistics one last time.

“5! 4! 3! 2! ...”

Salzer gives them the cue, and for nearly three hours, the game is theirs.

A 2011 graduate of Plymouth State, Salzer has been a part of the PSU Broadcasting services since his time here as a student. “The goal that I am striving for is to produce the most professional looking broadcast in college sports that is not a national telecast,” he said. “When I started as a student junior year, our first game was a Men's Ice Hockey game, where it was only myself, a camera and no commentary.” Salzer now finds himself with much, much more than that. “This year, we have had the fortune of getting brand new equipment that has allowed us to produce HD quality video for the first time. We have expanded to include commercials, pre-game shows, full graphics, and better quality commentary for almost every Plymouth State home game.”

Associate Athletic Director Courtney O’Clair also weighed in on the trio, and in particular, Jordan and Cam. “They both bring so much to the table. Being PSU graduates, they both bleed green and it really shows when they work together,” she said. “Their passion is what really has helped grow this project. Getting to know the fans, the arena, the students and the teams themselves really sets them apart from everyone else and its starting to set a new standard of college broadcasting.”

The standard couldn’t have been set with a better sport, as the Plymouth State hockey teams have an extremely high amount of online viewers every week, with records being broken now becoming the norm. The norm here at the Clock has changed, however, as for the first time ever, we sit down with two of the members of PSU Broadcasting.

What does broadcasting at PSU mean to you?

Jordan: Broadcasting at PSU is more than just a job to me, it’s another step forward to my dream of working in the sports industry. For Cam and I to be able to provide an exciting and professional broadcast of the Men’s and Women’s hockey games to the fans who are unable to make it is a really rewarding experience. Personally, I would do this job for free, but the fact that I get paid to do something that I’m so passionate about; there is honestly no better feeling in the world.

How did you first get involved with broadcasting?

Cam: As a kid, whenever I played a sports video game I found myself doing the play-by-play for the games I played so that’s how I generated an interest in calling games. However, I first got involved legitimately when I started doing Public Address (PA) announcing for PSU when I was a student here from 2011-2014. My first play-by-play action was for a wrestling match my junior year inside Foley Gymnasium. I don’t understand wrestling at all but it was fun just being able to call a game. I also did a few basketball games that year as well as baseball the following spring before taking over hockey last season. Doing PA led to opportunities to work for the Manchester Monarchs, Lowell Spinners, Merrimack College basketball, and UMass Lowell hockey so I can certainly say it helped me in my career path.

What sports did you play growing up, and how did they help you with the transition from playing to broadcasting?

Jordan: I was a three-sport athlete for most of my life (Basketball, Baseball, and Football). I dropped basketball after middle school, and continued to play baseball and football throughout high school. I had the honor of playing my freshman year at PSU for the football team as well. When you grow up playing sports, you begin to understand the rules and fundamentals, terminology, etc. and it makes it really easy to transition into a broadcasting role. You do lots of research to prepare for the broadcast, but when it comes down to executing the broadcast with your partner, if the chemistry is there, then it’s like sitting down at your buddy’s place and casually talking sports.

Do you think you would have gotten this opportunity at a different school?

Cam: You know that’s a question I’ve asked myself before, wondering if I had decided to go somewhere else would this have been a possibility and I have no regrets in my decision to go to PSU because I believe that this was the best opportunity to further my career in broadcasting. Experience is such a big factor in the field so being able to do this is very important to me.

What's the hardest part about being a sports broadcaster?

Jordan: I think the hardest part about being a sports broadcaster is either the wait between games or just the patience and discipline it takes to make your broadcast crisp and clean. Broadcasting is one of my favorite things to do, so as soon as one game is over I would be ready to commentate another game right after. Unfortunately, we have to abide by the schedule, so I get super impatient and antsy as I wait for the next game to arrive. The patience and discipline just comes with repetition and practice. Cam and I have been doing this with one another for over a year, and I still have occasions where I talk faster than I can think, or stutter, or just spit out word vomit. Public speaking is one of the biggest fears in the world, but it’s the challenge of perfecting your broadcast that makes it so exciting for me.

Greatest memory you have at PSU?

Cam: Well, there’s some memories that are best left unsaid, but as far as my favorite sports memories here, one of them was when the men’s hockey team captured it’s first MASCAC championship. At the time I was the PA announcer and I remember thinking “Wow, this was awesome to be a part of”. Being able to work the only NCAA game here was something special. And of course, being able to call the MASCAC title game a year ago. Those were great experiences to have as both a student and an aspiring play-by-play broadcaster.

Why did you pick PSU?

Cam: Well, to be honest, PSU wasn’t even on my radar at first. I was horrible at the whole applying to college thing so I only applied to one school, and luckily I got in. But as extenuating circumstances would have it, I wouldn’t be able to attend said school. So after a semester at NHTI, I transferred here. I was able to get a job in the athletics department working for the Sports Information Director Kent Cherrington and since then I’ve just run with this. I owe him a lot of credit for where I am today, if he hadn’t have hired me who knows if I would be doing this.

Seeing how you're currently with the hockey teams, what are your hopes/expectations for both men's and women's for this year?

Jordan: Men’s: So far the Men’s team has done an unbelievable job at filling in the holes that were left in their roster due to some of their top players being lost to graduation. They have a strong system in place, and everybody knows their roles and they are executing them. The freshman are getting great guidance from the veterans, and its correlating on the stat sheet, in the wins column, and in the team chemistry. My hopes and expectations are that this team continues their dominance and brings home back-to-back conference championships.
 

Women’s: The Women’s team has been a pleasure to watch so far. They have already improved so much from last season to this season. Much like the Men’s team, they have some great leadership in their upperclassmen, and that is allowing for the freshman to make an easy transition into their new system and immediately make an impact. I love the new found confidence or “swagger” that this team has, and if they continue to get better from period to period and have limitless goals and expectations than this team could make a deep run in the New England Hockey Conference this season.

If you could pick any pro team to broadcast and travel with, who would it be?
 

Cam: Well with hockey being my favorite sport, I’d be happy working for any pro hockey team. Obviously, the Bruins would be ideal, but being in Tampa Bay or Los Angeles in the winter doesn’t sound too bad either, so we’ll have to wait and see.

What advice do you have for anyone interested in becoming a sports broadcaster?
 

Jordan: My advice to anyone interested in becoming a sports broadcaster is to have fun. You’re going to make mistakes, nobody is perfect, but if you love what you’re doing than it’s easy to get yourself to practice and make the positive strides towards perfecting your broadcast. It’s always been a dream of mine to work in sports, and broadcasting has really become a passion of mine in the last year. So don’t be afraid to really go after the things you want in life. Life’s too short for you to worry about all the stresses in the world, so go out there, have fun, and follow your dreams. You never know when one of those dreams-big or small-will come true.
Cam: I would tell them to just go for it. This has been something I’ve known I’ve always wanted to do so it was easy for me to want to pursuit it. It’s not an easy profession to achieve by any means, I still have a long way to go until I reach where I want to be in life, but I know that if I continue to work hard, do the right things, and make the right connections I’ll have the life I want some day.

Every home sporting event for basketball, hockey and wrestling will be on a live broadcast this year, with the remaining winter sports pending. You can find them at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/plymouth/. All of PSU Broadcasting would like to give thanks to John Clark-Former Athletic Director, Kim Bownes- Interim Athletic Director, and Courtney O'Clair- Associate Athletic Director. This amazing opportunity wouldn’t be available without you.