Since my professional career as a sports reporter officially launched at the Grand Haven Tribune in the late-1990s, I’ve been driven to become the best sports reporter and writer that I could be.
Even more than that, I’ve wanted to develop relationships and make an impact on the communities that I’ve served.
From my two years at the Grand Haven Tribune to nearly 21 years at MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette/Muskegon Chronicle to now entering year three at CatchMark, I feel really good about those relationship and impact areas.
Throughout the previous two decades, I’ve gradually added “mentor” to my tool belt.
That started with Kalamazoo Central alumnus Stephen Brooks and Mattawan graduate Alex Taylor during my Kalamazoo Gazette days. Brooks and Taylor are now successful professionals covering college beats.
It continued during my Muskegon Chronicle days with the mentorship of Mona Shores’ Mike Meekhof, whom I met when he was a freshman and watched him grow by leaps and bounds. Meekhof launched his own sports media company, M7 Sports, while he was in high school. He’s now a sophomore at Arizona State University, pursuing his passion of sports media coverage.
It’s been extremely rewarding to be able to serve as a mentor for those three and to see how much they’ve grown. I’m hoping to have impacted others in a meaningful way, but Brooks, Taylor, and Meekhof hold a special place in my heart.
At CatchMark, we’re trying to take that mentorship to another level with the recent launch of the CatchMark SportsNuts. In case you haven’t heard, the SportsNuts are a group of high school students and other volunteers who sign up with CatchMark SportsNet and we help each other: It’s a win-win situation in which we provide opportunities, training, and mentorship and the SportsNuts provide coverage and content.
I’ve reached a transitional point in my career. I’ll always love covering games and events, but I’m not getting any younger and I’m trying to be there more for my family, which has already sacrificed so much in this career that occupies many nights and weekends.
Birthday No. 51 is fast-approaching and I’m well past the midway point of my career. I still plan to cover games and big events, but it’s important for me to share my passion and what I’ve learned with the next generation.
More so than ever before, I’m shifting into a “player/coach” role. I’m still doing a lot of the reporting and writing as I always have, but the goal is to be able to teach those skills to others so they can grow and have as much fun as I’ve had in this career.
Several people have already signed up to become SportsNuts. If you are interested in signing up, then CLICK HERE.
CatchMark covers the West Michigan Conference, but we’re expanding beyond it into the Muskegon area and beyond.
CatchMark SportsNet has already hosted one training session for the SportsNuts and we plan to hold them periodically.
We want to teach, grow, and work with the next generation.
This long-time sports reporter and sports writer wants to be a player-coach and show you what he’s learned.