Greg Levinsky
The morning after a Belmont High School boys’ soccer game this past fall, BHS junior forward Andrey Leshchiner approached classmate Royce Pang with a compliment, not about the latter’s performance on the field – Pang doesn’t play soccer – but regarding his friend’s call of the game.
“Your commentating was so funny and I loved watching it,” Leshchiner told him before starting calculus class.
Moments like these happen often at the high school. In partnership with Belmont Media Center, Pang is among more than a dozen students who rotate among broadcast roles, including play-by-play and color commentating, camera operation, and scoreboard operation for live home and away broadcasts of BHS athletics. It is all part of the new BHS Sports TV Club launched this fall.
“Having your friends commentate and then go back to class is a very fun experience, and we share a lot of laughs,” said the 17-year-old Pang. “I’m all about having fun in high school. These small moments really make a difference for people.”
According to Executive Director Jeff Hansell, Belmont Media Center began livestreaming Marauder sports approximately 10 years ago. At first, BMC covered home football games and a handful of home basketball and soccer games with support from a combination of media center staff and community members, parents, and student volunteers.
“We wanted to encourage more involvement, but in order to grow something like that, you just have to keep at it even when there’s nobody involved,” Hansell said. “You have to put the call out and keep the line of communication open, and that eventually seeded the interest over a period of time where people then became more familiar with it.”
The expansion started with community members and parents. During the pandemic, community volunteer Sheryl Grace gathered a group of approximately 10 parent volunteers to broadcast both boys and girls hockey. That group continues to broadcast games today. Steve Bauer and his son, Ryan, a Belmont High School alum and current Bentley student, now help out with hockey coverage along with Nicole and Chris Rocci, among others.
Grace’s two sons, Thomas and Peter, played hockey and other sports at BHS and graduated in 2021 and 2023. She remembers receiving a general request via email from BMC looking for help. Grace, who grew up active in theater, started announcing in 2017. She primarily operates the camera now but still does some announcing.
“Over all these years I’ve found that the people love it and appreciate it,” Grace said. “I think production is fun. I get a kick out of it and it provides a great service.”
Last spring, then-sophomores Pang and classmate Tom Borkowski approached the media center about getting more community members involved with the athletics community. They have extensive coverage planned to start this fall: football, field hockey, soccer, basketball, and ice hockey in the winter and rugby and lacrosse in the spring.
“The students understand that they have this resource, but it isn’t going to do anything unless they get involved in it,” Hansell said. “It’s their tool, school, and channel … They’re claiming ownership and fitting it into their schedule.”
Pang, who plays on the junior varsity basketball team, oversees the growing number of students and community members involved with the broadcasts, sending out a weekly email to compile availability. Borkowski plays soccer and swims. About 70% of the students involved play a sport for Belmont High School.
“A lot of people that are athletes want to try out commentating [on] other sports and get involved in other sports programs,” said Pang. “It creates a very warm and welcoming environment where everyone can get involved, encouraging people to help out.”
Longtime Belmont Media Center sports producer Jeremy Meserve coordinates the logistics, equipment, and volunteer training. All student volunteers stem from the BHS Sports TV Club, and the hours spent working the games count for the school’s mandated community service graduation requirement.
More volunteers means more games over the air and online. Belmont Media Center negotiated to get an internet connection at the Marauders’ temporary home rink, the John A. Ryan Arena in Watertown, enabling successful Belmont hockey broadcasts and those of nearby Watertown High School. The partnership resulted in new equipment and leading-edge technology, providing a high-quality broadcast. After games, students cut highlights to post on the BHS Sports TV Instagram account, and sophomore Isaac Weng posts his mixtapes with footage he shoots. Games are streamed online at belmontmedia.org/publictv and through cable television, Comcast channel 9 and Verizon channel 29, in Belmont.
Pang, who doesn’t envision a professional career in sports broadcasting, sees student and community interest continually increasing. People watch and then want to get involved.
“At first, we didn’t expect many people to watch the games, but as time went on, more high schoolers started watching the games because of their friends,” Pang said. “We started this club just thinking about how there aren’t many people broadcasting, and people who can’t go to the games can watch. I think it’s just a very good opportunity to pursue what you like.”
