This year, OP’s N2 sports broadcast class takes on an ambitious project – a series of documentaries, highlighting a different sport for each season titled “Blue on Blue.”
Sports broadcasting teacher Zach Kernell said the idea for the project came from the kids in N2.
“Over the summer, I had a group of students from last year, Kale Williams, Jonah Gosney, Anderson Dial who were involved in it, Forest Montgomery and Zander Culp,” Kernell said.
“They came up with an idea of trying to highlight more of our sports in a documentary series style capturing, kind of behind the scenes and in what you know sports look like day-to-day.”
According to Kernell, the documentary will be around an hour and a half, highlighting different sports in four to eight episodes throughout the year.
Senior N2 broadcaster Forest Montgomery was a fan of the project from the start.
“I love the idea, because last year, we felt that we didn’t do enough to cover a lot of behind the scenes of the sports, especially like the smaller sports,” continues Montogomery. “Football gets a lot of coverage, but the documentary will help focus a lot on some other sports that maybe don’t get as much time in the light.”
This new documentary will be an ambitious step forward for N2, who normally focused on live streaming games, but senior Anderson Dial says he’s ready to take N2’s content to the next level.
“As far as our content goes, our hope is that it looks like a real professional production, and our hope is that when you’re watching the documentary, you feel like it wasn’t a bunch of high school kids that produced it, it was a bunch of professionals who produced it.”
The documentary sets to give Oak Park sports fans a way to view little-seen parts of the programs.
Montgomery said he looks forward to “showing love to athletes that get underappreciated.”
“We have state athletes in many more things than what people mainly know about, basketball, football, baseball, track, stuff like that. We have state athletes in many other sports that I feel like will get recognized.”
Dial also said he wants to give fans an opportunity to see a different side of players.
“You know, everybody always wants to know what’s happening on a Friday night or a Thursday night, a big game, Oak Park versus Staley, or Oak Park versus Park Hill South. But, you know, just getting into the minds of the athletes, and you know, just letting them express what their thoughts were and what their thought processes were and what their mindset is.”
Athletes were also excited about the new attention. Senior Travon Pankey, who committed to South Dakota State University last month, approved of the project.
“I think it’s a great thing. It’s a thing I haven’t seen necessarily done for our seniors in the past. It’s just something to really get our seniors’ voices out there and everything like that.”
Pankey was also excited to show fans how the football team came together, even with some aspects missing at first, such as bigger linemen or the teammate chemistry.
