While UNC Asheville athletes stand in the spotlight, the dedicated behind-the-scenes team helps spread the sports program’s culture.
“Some people don’t really see how much work goes into the back end,” said Allen Ellis, former director of live productions at UNC Asheville.
Many roles go into the back end of production for collegiate sports, from photographers and videographers to commentators on ESPN. According to Ellis, sports serve as the lens into the university, it’s the easiest way for people to know what the university is about.
“What makes what we do here so special is the fact that it is all live. We make mistakes from time to time but we have to turn around and go okay and move on. We have our fun when we can, but that makes it all the more satisfying when things go right,” said Ellis.
Ellis explains there is a place for everyone in production. He is a tech-savvy guy who handles photography, creative video, Photoshop work, and prepping graphics for the games. Then there is the voice behind the screen Matt Stradley, a broadcaster for UNC Asheville athletics, who handles audio communication and commentary on ESPN.
“I get paid to talk about what I see and get paid to watch sports,” said Stradley.
With the content being produced for each game day Dani Nicosia, the assistant athletic director for digital and creative media, said the team shows up about two and a half hours before each game to capture content for the game and the week’s social media posts.
“All those things could take a week just to put together,” said Nicosia.
This team puts in countless hours each week to prepare for games and to produce content for the media. Stradley reveals he watches 10 hours of film and spends another 4 hours taking notes. Along with Ellis who explains that it’s a full-time job, with prep work requiring 10 to 15 hours a week.
“Game days it depends, you’re here sometimes for 40-hour weeks and here for 70-hour weeks sometimes depending on how many games are being played,” said Ellis.
Nicosia also reveals something as small as music could take her an hour or more to pick out for each video.
“It all depends on the feeling or the vibe of the video that I’m going for, and then being able to find something that fits can be really challenging sometimes,” said Nicosia.
Each crew member has a different reason for getting into media production but all have the same passion for sharing the culture of athletics. Ellis has a love for sports but didn’t have the athletic build for it; it was his way to be part of the athletic grind and be able to do something unathletically.
Nicosia was previously a student-athlete in college for women’s soccer, she has always loved hearing the different stories from her teammates.
“I’ve always had a passion for photography,” said Nicosia
Stradley also reveals you have to make sure you’re prepared to share big moments in sports, and to do that properly takes a lot of preparation on the back side. He watches two games for each team to prepare for the match, which is about 8 hours of film.
He looks into their best players, role players, the bench, the freshman players and the media they have put out. He wants to know if there are any cool stories he wants to tell.
“I always thought it was cool how you can create and craft a message to bring people together to tell a story and share a moment,” said Stradley.
Student-athletes have a clear job in athletics but Nicosia explains it’s also important to shed light on the other great things that student-athletes are doing beyond the field, including how they give back to the community, and how student-athletes balance their schoolwork.
“Being able to share the stories of other student-athletes and teams just became a passion of mine, and to shed light on what it means to be a student-athlete in college,” said Nicosia.
Stradley conveys why broadcasting specifically is such a big part of athletics, he explains not everybody’s family, friends and people who matter to them can always be there for their big moments. Asheville has athletes from all over, and being able to broadcast those moments, capturing feelings and emotions into words to tell the stories of the athletes, is an honor for him.
“It’s what brings us together, it tells a story,” said Stradley.
