Finding a way of staying connected with people—strangers and friends—has had an impact on relationships being built and seeing each other’s values. 

There may be some students in FHC who are developing their friendship by talking about their love of sports all day; that’s what FHC’s The Sports Report Podcast staff are spending their time on. Seniors Tate Greer and Thomas Cobb are both editors of The Sports Report who are in charge of the routine, along with senior Adam Hop. However, it really wasn’t an easy first step for them.

“I was really nervous because I had never done anything like that before,” Tate said. “We were all new to it. We [had] never done a podcast like that.”

In fact, this podcast program wasn’t originally their own plan. There were predecessors who did the errand of helping the podcast get ready to be utilized. As the year went by, the next group of students who were given the job to run it regularly started to find it less laborious.

“We had people that came before us,” Thomas said. “The ability to work and do it more regularly made it a lot easier for us as the time went on.”

However, that still led to some trials of how to receive as many views as possible. It involves a great amount of effort and time to have the podcast gain traction on their website.

“We’re trying to increase [staff participation] more and more,” Thomas said, “but it’s definitely a struggle.”

Moreover, when Tate was appointed to manage the podcast, he had also carried the responsibility of improvising despite a lack of resources. He understands the struggle of people being stuck in their comfort zone of handling a regular conversation in public, so he believes that it’s important for people to relish that intimidation and search for some way to get used to it.

“When I started the podcast,” Tate said, “I didn’t have any notes in front of me, so I was improvising on the spot. That’s something that a lot of people should try; it’s difficult to talk.”

As the work constantly brews, the podcast has been gaining popularity at FHC. It lets the establishment of athletes attain local attention as well as finding satisfaction in doing it. Although that current circumstance is all there is, it still marks an influence on students.

“We are getting athletes involved there,” Tate said, “so we have kids who go to this school, which is cool for other kids to listen to on Spotify. It’s a way to get athletes to give them a voice, and it’s a fun thing to do during sixth hour.”

Even though The Sports Report Podcast has been rolling stronger, the ideas for further advancements are not being forgotten. There is a hope that, in the near future, this podcast won’t be lacking a lot of fans and creativity. This program has already been running for a year, and the dream is to develop a transition into some variety of a sports award show.

“Hopefully, [it can] get more publicity and [become] bigger,” Thomas said. “There’s a lot of intentions for high views or recognition.”

Being in charge of the podcast has also let the editors feel like it’s a place that’s full of freedom to express themselves with enough personal space. It’s not a room that gives the vibe of working under someone. It’s the chance to be their own selves.

“You can act like yourself,” Tate said. “Be realistic, and it’s a nice place to be yourself.”

Doing the management didn’t come from any personal experiences or inspirations from people. The motivation formed from themselves with a realization that it’s a genuine passion.

“It’s in my nature to do things the way they’re supposed to be done,” Thomas said, “and [to] do it with everything I have.”

Looking for success by starting with something small and then getting better each time requires perseverance to try different things. Trying what’s best in the progress is the key to expanding this accomplishment, at least that’s what these students know.

“I think we’ll get to the top of the hill,” Tate said. “But right now, we’re trying to find out what works for us [because] we’ve only been a thing for a year.”