OHS students broadcast game for MSG Varsity

Two Oceanside High School students had the chance to give their best Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti impersonations Monday, when they made up the on-air broadcast team for MSG Varsity’s coverage of the Oceanside vs. Bellmore-Merrick varsity hockey game.

The game, which can be seen on MSG Varsity Friday at 4 p.m., was the first fully student-produced broadcast in the station’s history, according to MSG Varsity Director of Public Relations Ellie Seifert.  

Seniors Evan Pivnick and Tom Maher had play-by-play and color commentary duties, while junior Zach Feldman was responsible for camerawork. All three students take a broadcasting class with Audrey Miller at Oceanside, and have honed their on-air and production skills through the work they’ve done at school.

“We learn the basics of what goes into a production on TV and what goes into production in broadcasting sports radio and television, everything,” Feldman said. “Ms. Miller has been a great teacher for that “

“It’s the second year the broadcasting class has been in existence,” Miller said. “This year we’re able to focus more on putting story packages together about students at the school, filming and broadcasting sporting events and now they are just putting everything together.”

Pivnick, Maher and Feldman have worked with MSG Varsity before, assisting in the broadcast of the Oceanside vs. Freeport football game at Hofstra last fall. Still, they admittedly had some nerves entering Monday’s broadcast, knowing that the responsibility to create a television-worthy product lied solely in their hands.

“I was very nervous,” Pivnick said. “I kind of wanted to be perfect but we are still high school students so it’s not the end of the world [if we make mistakes]. To be able to learn like this and have this experience though is incredible.”

“I had to make it perfect,” Feldman added. “It’s always nerve-racking but once the first period goes by, it’s just all natural and normal from there.”
 
The three said they’d record the game and watch it late Friday night after the Oceanside vs. Massapequa boys basketball game, which they’ll also broadcast but on a smaller stage for their school only. They each expressed an appreciation for being involved in Monday’s production and for the platform MSG Varsity provided to showcase their skills.

Maher, a former Oceanside hockey player, said the broadcast gave him a chance to “give back” to his former teammates and coaches, and for Feldman the game provided an opportunity to get an early start on what could be a long career in broadcast and production.     

“It was just an honorable experience,” Feldman said. “Usually people who get into this business, they don’t get anywhere near these types of cameras until college or after college so for us to be doing this in high school is really an honor and we have to thank MSG Varsity for putting this all together.”