After the airing of their first broadcast of the Harvard-Westlake Loyola football game on Aug. 31, HWTVSports plans to broadcast more games this season including Harvard-Westlake’s Homecoming game against Palisades Charter High School on Oct. 5.
HWTVSports is a broadcasting program led by Athletic Director Jason Kelly, that livestreams sports video online. Matt Beyer ’15 has been working with Kelly on the live broadcasts, preparing behind the scenes and learning the technology that runs the whole system.
During the first airing, Philip Thompson ’16, along with Beyer and Sergio Perez, who was hired by Kelly, worked on color commentary, Gabe Golob ’16 hosted the pregame show, Jordan Strom ’16 interviewed Head Of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas, during halftime and Matthew Gross ’19 and Clayton Hollander ’16 manned the cameras and hosted the post-game show.
“Harvard-Westlake has an enormous fan base for many sports,” Beyer said. “HWTV is beginning to give all of those fans across the country
—many who are at college—a chance to see their favorite teams play. Alumni can now experience the thrill of our sporting events even if they don’t live in the Los Angeles area.”
HWTVSports is available online at livestream.com and will be streaming the footage live from the stands above Ted Slavin field.The network also plans to stream the rest of the football team’s home games, against Serra on Oct. 11 and against St. Paul on Oct. 18.
“I think the HWTV booth in the stands will enhance the Homecoming atmosphere,” Beyer said. “It’s great to walk in and see that Harvard-Westlake is so proud of its teams that it has a camera crew and broadcasters working to ensure that as many people as possible can be a part of our Homecoming experience.”
HWTVSports was one of Kelly’s first initiatives after taking over as Athletic Director July 1. Kelly, who had previously created a similar program at Milken School, also brought in Max Tash, whom Kelly worked with at Milken, to assist the commentary and effects groups for the first broadcast.
The Loyola game stream utilized three cameras and featured the use of instant replays and an on-screen scoreboard. The network will look to expand to all home sports with the same features, Kelly said.
