I was excited about my story this week about the On Goal Soccer Camp because I found it myself, on the spot. I was filming at Nancy Moore Park for a different story when I stumbled upon this huge soccer camp. After talking with a couple of the counselors and directors, I decided I could get enough info to make a big story out of what I found.
I eventually was introduced to the camp director and they agreed to do the story on the spot, so after filming that day I came back the next day for interviews.
Children assemble for bible discussion at On Goal soccer camp.
Unfortunately after doing interviews the next day, I erased everything off my camera memory cards for more filming, and accidentally deleted the interviews. I went back to the camp the next day, apologized and pleaded with them to re-do the interviews. Luckily, the people at this camp were extremely nice and sympathetic, so I got the interviews again. This was the first time I deleted footage I needed, so at least that is out of the way…hopefully.
On a better note, I was excited that I recognized a story when I saw it, and took initiative to pitch a story I wanted to do.
I was really impressed by the camp and how knowledgeable and friendly the camp coaches and directors were. They were excited I was covering their camp, and after hearing they have been in Okemos for 21 years, I was surprised no one has covered them before.
I had a bit of a struggle deciding how to incorporate the religious aspect of the story to make certain everything was politically correct and not…awkward. I used words like “faith” and other terms in my story to avoid looking like I was promoting a certain religion.
In the end, I think this turned out to be one of my better stories. I focused a lot on using nat pops, and I think they really added some depth to my story.
Maddie's Sports Talk 