By Paul Zwicker, Executive Director, OCA Media
Back in the 1980’s, I worked as a news photographer for Madison’s ABC broadcast affiliate WKOW-TV. As a member of the Wisconsin Rugby Club, I would often borrow a Sony Betacam to record and replay games to the delight of the players who gathered together after the match.
For the past twenty plus years I have continued to record rugby games, but for the last several years, as a coach for the Oregon High School Rugby Club, I have also been producing the Wisconsin High School Boys Rugby Championships.
This year, OCA Media took this event to a new level. In partnership with The Rugby Network, OCA Media streamed the Division 1 and Division 2 Championships to a national audience!
In all, a staff of seven from three local media centers streamed this event live from the Madison United Rugby Complex in Cottage Grove on Saturday, June 4, 2022.
WSTO Stoughton supplied cameras, wireless intercoms and a video transmitter along with announcer headsets and support equipment. WSTO employee, Spencer Meier operated a live camera while Derek Westby operated video playback, audio and graphics. Audio feeds from the referee, PA system announcer, play-by-play announcers, field audio mics and video playback kept Derek quite busy.
Ben Becs, Village of McFarland WMCF, helped the OCA staff as floor manager and instant replay operator for the streams. Ben's position was responsible for cuing the team to run onto the field on time and getting those much-needed replays cued up and played back in a hurry
OCA staffers, Josiah Wampfler and Jordan Hake, operated cameras. Josiah along with Derek figured out some video logistical issues that always seem to present themselves just before we go live on these bigger productions.
Technical Director, Natalie Hinkley of Hinkley Productions operated the video switcher and directed production crew for both games. Pre-production included script writing and talent and staff coordination, as well as building graphics, video introductions and commercial breaks.
As producer, I spent a lot of time coordinating coaches, players, PA announcers, broadcast announcers and crew before the stream began. Once underway, I helped direct the first half of the Divison 2 match letting crew know what to expect from a game many people do not grow up with here in the United States.
Viewers can sign up for free on therugbynetwork.com and watch replays of the games. The 2022 Division 1 game between the Green Bay Leprechauns and the Muskego Warriors and the Division 2 match between the Marquette University High School Hilltoppers and the Elkhorn Demon Elks will also be available soon for replay on all Wisconsin Community Media member stations.
OCA Media is a non-profit organization dedicated to covering the Village of Oregon. Funding for the media center comes from city-allocated video service provider fees and program sponsorships. Media platforms consist of school and community cable TV channels on TDS (channels 1019 and 1020 – both in HD), Charter Spectrum (channels 983 and 984 – both in SD), and OCA’s YouTube channel.
Covering hundreds of local events each year, most of them live streamed, has been a challenge for the small staff of OCA Media, which consists of four part-time employees, several Oregon High School staffers and a student, who started as a high school staffer and is now pursuing a degree in television production at Madison College.
The Wisconsin High School Boys Rugby Championship coverage is an income-producing event for OCA Media due to the sponsorships garnered by tournament director, Richard Bergemann. This exciting opportunity caps off an arduous month for OCA Media, which produced more than 30 live streamed local events in 30 days. Since COVID, the OCA Media audience has come to expect livestreaming of events and OCA has had to step up its game to cover the many end-of-school-year events like performing arts performances (4th grade to high school), soccer, lacrosse, school and government board meetings, and Oregon Area Senior Center events.
I’ve really enjoyed bringing the Wisconsin High School Boys Rugby Championship to the attention of a large nationwide media audience. It’s quite a feather in our cap! And it shows what collaboration between local media centers can accomplish with determination -- even with our small budgets.
