Zen Hill (he/him)
Age: 19
City: Bellingham
Lived here for: 2 years
Originally from: San Diego, grew up in a nearby small town called Julian
Notable: First-year Bellingham Bells broadcaster, Western Washington University athletics webcast broadcaster (softball, volleyball, basketball), second-year Western student and intramural athletics supervisor.
How did you get your start in sports broadcasting?
It’s a really funny start, actually. I was working for the athletics internships — for the marketing people — and I, initially, my freshman year, had gotten the job of being the mascot for Western. I was Victor E. Viking for a little bit.
I was kind of just talking about how I want to be a broadcaster. Luckily enough, Jeff Evans [Western athletics’ director of communications] … overheard me saying that, and the person who was doing it at the time, Ben Bagley, was on his way out. So, Jeff needed someone to kind of step in.
I had no experience. In high school, I didn’t do anything. I kind of just jumped into it with Western.
Who do you model your broadcast style after?
Being a basketball fan, you have to go Mike Breen. I’ve always looked up to him in the sense of my basketball commentating. Baseball, it’s been a lot harder because there’s a lot of good broadcasters out there, but I feel like everyone does it differently.
I feel like I’ve taken a little bit from everyone and tried to kind of sculpt and craft my own sense of broadcasting.
What have your first few weeks been like broadcasting for the Bells?
It’s been really good. I’ve been getting some good feedback from the staff, as well as the coaches and players. I think they are really interested in the things I do up there.
It was kind of hard coming in; I felt like maybe I was going to be looked at as a little under-experienced — whether that’s because of my age or just one year of broadcasting.
How do you balance being a student and all your extracurricular activities?
It’s definitely hard. A lot of my time is taken up by either doing my classes or doing this. I think the biggest thing that makes it a lot easier on me is, like I said, it’s just an easy job. I love what I’m doing, so it doesn’t feel like I’m getting time taken up when I’m doing a job like this.
What’s your favorite game that you’ve called? Is there a moment that stands out?
For Western, it was this fall — getting to call the volleyball [NCAA Division II] West Regional. That was really fun because it made me really feel like I was legit. It really was special to be trusted to be put on that broadcast, especially so early in my broadcasting career.
So far with the Bells, there have been some really dramatic finishes. Opening night, I mean, the energy was there. That was my first time and I feel like I really kind of gave it my all in that one to cement myself as the new radio broadcaster.
What’s one thing your audiences should know about you?
I want the listeners to know how much I care about the team … When you’re with Western and when you’re with the Bells, you really focus on being the home broadcaster.
You want to make those connections, and you want to bring those connections to the fans. So I just want the fans to believe in me to bring them the accurate representations of our team.
“Faces in the Crowd” is published weekly in print on Wednesdays and online Fridays. Have a suggestion for a “Faces in the Crowd” subject? Email us at newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
