(August 22, 2013) A pair of STAA clients and a former Jim Nantz Award winner are among four new broadcasters hired by UMASS Boston. John Skudris and Andy Towne will help broadcast 10 NCAA Division III sports for the Beacons. 2012 Jim Nantz Award winner Bill Spaulding and local sportscaster Matt Finkel will join them on the broadcast team.
2011 Jim Nantz Award winner Alex Faust is also part of the Beacon’s play-by-play crew.
UMASS Boston plays in the Little East Conference, one of the most competitive Division III conferences in New England. The recently hired quartet will do solo play-by-play webcasts for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s hockey, men’s and women’s hockey, baseball, softball, volleyball and men’s lacrosse. The school produced over 100 webcasts during the 2012-13 academic year.
A 2012 graduate of Boston College, John Skudris gained considerable play-by-play experience while in school. This summer, he has served as pre and post-game host for Lehigh Valley IronPigs minor league baseball. Skudris has been an STAA client since April 2012.
Andy Towne is a freelance sportscaster in New England. Among his credits are broadcasts for Babson College, the Football University All-American Games, Harvard University and Northeastern University, his alma mater. Towne is a former media relations assistant for the Boston Red Sox. He has been with STAA since 2011.
Bill Spaulding is a graduate of Syracuse University. He is a broadcasting and media relations assistant with minor league baseball’s Dayton Dragons.
UMass Boston Assistant Sports Information Director Seth Orensky says his new crew will play a large role in shaping the broadcasts by working with student producers to come up with a game plan for each part of the webcasts. “We are offering the opportunity for broadcasters who are looking to stay fresh or add to their resume a chance to be a part of more professional broadcast that will include (starting this year) a producer, multiple camera men and graphics.”