Tech and high school sports

Following high school sports, especially in the vast state of Wyoming, can be tough. When my children were in high school, I put on thousands of miles to watch them play. 

Sometimes I had to miss their games due to having to work, sometimes I had to risk driving on some pretty sketchy roads, and sometimes I had to choose between who to watch play when they were playing at the same time in different locations.

Of course, I was more than happy to put on those miles and take the risks in order to be there to support my kids, but it sure would have been nice if I would never have had to miss a thing.

Once my kids graduated, I still wanted to see as many Dogie games as possible, but now without a dog in the fight - so to speak - going out of town for games probably wasn’t going to happen anymore.

But, being a huge Dogie fan, and a sports’ writer to boot, I still wanted to watch. Being able to at least listen to the action on the radio was definitely nice, but seeing the action was just so much better because you never miss a play.

The Cube was the first platform that provided high school fans with the ability to watch games online. It was awesome, but definitely had its limitations.

Not all schools were hooked up and cameras were operated manually. What that meant is that sometimes the camera was watching the wrong end of the field or the court because the operator was distracted and, as such, you missed out on what was going on. 

From the Cube, high school sports upgraded to the NFHS Network and schools across the state upgraded to the Pixalot camera which follows the action automatically. 

Granted, NFHS does require you to pay for a subscription, but it’s pretty cheap if you sign up for a year, and you can watch regular season games as well as postseason tournaments with your
subscription. 

The platform has its glitches, to be certain, but overall the quality is pretty good. You can even download the app on your smart tv and watch your Dogies on the big screen!

Sometimes, you also get a broadcaster for the game you’re watching. Whether the NFHS feed is hooked into the radio broadcast or there is someone on the network itself, it’s cool to have that option when watching the game. 

It makes you feel like you’re there.

Last Thursday, as the Lady Dogie volleyball team started conference play in Glenrock, I was tuned in at home, watching on my tv.

For the freshmen and JV game, there was no sound so that was a little weird, but when the varsity contest got underway, I was super happy to hear an announcer jump on, and being the one who broadcasts volleyball and basketball for Newcastle, I was also pretty pleased to hear it was a woman!

Right from the start, I knew that she had a lot of knowledge about the game. She was, or is, a coach, and that knowledge brought a lot of good stuff to her commentary. 

She was also obviously biased toward the Lady Herders, but she was in a way that was endearing rather than irritating. Though biased - which I know I also can be - she gave Newcastle the credit they were due as well.

I also loved the love she gave her home team, and it kind of made my night to listen to her. It also didn’t hurt that Newcastle won. 

At any rate, I am super thankful for the technology that is available to us in this day and age that allows fans anywhere to follow their favorite high school sports teams.