This year, senior Tyler Ellis has stepped up to interview John Champe athletes after games, following a tradition that the school has had.
Ellis’s social media account, “The Scout”, features sports news, football takes, and in-person post-game interviews with players, as well as pre-game interviews with coaches. Ellis’s passion for sports is what motivates him to create this type of content.
“I love sports and I love talking; it was something I’ve done that I could put on college applications,” Ellis said. “It gave me ‘real world experience’ and all in all, I thought it was a great idea.”
The support for the social media account from students at Champe has been shown. Viewers and athletes alike love the videos he makes and the interviews he produces. The questions he asks are engaging and build school spirit.
“It was pretty cool to get interviewed,” junior Tyler Kann said. “I think Tyler did a great job asking questions that were entertaining and got good answers.”
The questions a sports journalist asks are very important. It gives a way to let the athletes accurately express themselves. Every journalist approaches their questions differently. Some like to focus on past or upcoming games, while others like to let the athlete show their personality and dive more into the mindset of the interviewee.
“Most of the questions I asked were more so just things I wondered personally [rather] than what I thought people might want to know,” Ellis said. “The experience of how someone felt in a certain moment or what their mindset might have been can come out as great advice in an answer.”
The questions he asks in his interviews aren’t the only aspect of his videos that make them entertaining. The answers the athlete gives are just as important, if not more. If student-athletes plan to get to the highest level of their sport, being media-trained is very important.
“I think getting interviewed after a game is a really cool experience, and I think it’s good training if you’re going to the next level where there’s a lot more people interviewing you,” Kann said. “It’s also just good for school spirit to see people around the school interested in sports and interviewing the players.”
Ellis has done multiple interviews for Champe and is a massive supporter of their school’s sports. “The Scout” is not limited to Champe sports, however. He also makes videos analyzing famous athletes and college sports. Ellis plans to expand his platform in college. He is very passionate about college and professional sports and wants to work in the field as a profession.
“I hope to continue The Scout through college, hopefully grow my platform, and keep talking about sports and predictions online,” Ellis said. “That is what I’m extremely passionate about.”
Champe has had media for student-athletes in the past and the tradition will likely continue in the future. The Scout was a great avenue for Ellis to conduct these interviews and will continue to grow past high school.
“I was really honored to get interviewed by Tyler since I’ve never been interviewed after a game before, and it was a really cool experience,” senior Brandon Pena said. “I think it would be cool if someone at Champe [interviewed athletes] next year.”
