Live broadcast ends 18 year streak

By Richard Dawes

The year was 1994 the last time a St. Clair College varsity game was broadcast live in Windsor, but that’s about to change.

On Jan. 9 the Saint’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will host the Fanshawe College Falcons live on TVCogeco. The Saint’s women (5-4) will be tipping off at 6 p.m. followed by the men (3-7) at 8:30 p.m., marking the “renewing (of) this partnership” between the college and local cable telecommunications company.

St. Clair Athletic Coordinator Ted Beale said this is a great opportunity to gain exposure for the college’s basketball program.

“Cogeco certainly is to thank since they are renewing this partnership and recently became aware of the technical capacity to take on a broadcast from our gymnasium,” said Beale. He also said the college’s administration has played a big role in making this a possibility. “St. Clair has a strong presence in the community and Cogeco highlights community events.”

Beale said the teams share in a typical Windsor/London rivalry.

“I expect the games will be competitive while St. Clair will surely be the underdog,” he said.

The two teams have already met this semester. When the lady Saints went head-to-head against Fanshawe, the Falcons won by 10 points. St. Clair forward Kendyl Rizea scored 20 points making her the highest scoring player of the game. Fanshawe, however, was more consistent with scoring across the roster. When the men last played, Fanshawe took the game by 12 points in what Beale said was a close match. Both teams had 27 turnovers and scored the most points in the final quarter.

The Falcons women’s team sits at 6-2 and the men at 8-1 so far in their season.

St. Clair food management student, Ralph Frak, 21, follows post-secondary sports in Windsor and said his main source of sports information, the Windsor Star, covers the University of Windsor Lancers more than anything. He said a live broadcast would be good for St. Clair.

“I think it’s cool because it gives people more of a chance to take an interest in Saint’s sports, instead of just Lancers,” said Frak.

Frak reads the sports section every day and said his favourite sports to keep up to date with are basketball and volleyball. Frak also said he will most likely be attending the Jan. 9 basketball game in person to show his support.

As for alternative media platforms, a search for “University of Windsor Lancers” on Facebook brings up nine results tied to the Windsor team. A search for “St. Clair College Saints” returns two results tied to the local college. Lancer men’s basketball head coach, Chris Oliver, said their sports department places big emphasis on social media. All of their basketball games are broadcasted on Ustream.com, a public live-video streaming service.

“I think (any coverage is) very significant from a market, brand and recruiting standpoint. It has an impact on out fan base and players,” said Oliver.

The university’s air time on Cogeco varies by the week and event, said Oliver. The Lancer’s recent football game against University of Western Ontario was shown live on Nov. 21 and another live broadcast is set for Jan. 23, for the men and women’s basketball teams.

Lucky for Frak the college is lining up another live-cast event to be announced soon, this time a volleyball double-header.