Broadcast journalism students from North Texas provided play-by-play and color analyst duties for the Sun Belt Conference Soccer Championship. During the November 5-8 event, the conference provided a hands-on educational experience for the students, who also assisted with replay, graphics, directing and camera operation.

“By partnering with the Sun Belt Conference, the students at the University of North Texas learned a great deal about production and broadcasting that will help them in their future careers,” Commissioner Wright Waters said. “But most importantly, working with students shows that athletics is an extension of higher education.”

The conference tapped NTTV, an entirely student-run multimedia platform, for the job, which gave the students the opportunity to learn how championship broadcasts are produced.

“Producing the Sun Belt Conference Soccer Championships allowed us extend the reach of NTTV and provided us a brand new experience  that definitely helped us as students and aspiring television professionals,” NTTV Sports Director Jason Chinnock said.  “Every time we do a broadcast myself and the rest of the NTTV staff learn something new. We certainly took a lot away from this experience.”

The production was broadcast locally on NTTV and SBC Extra, the broadband channel for the Sun Belt.

The NTTV students will also be involved in productions of the conference’s softball and tennis championships in the spring. Officials said the priority was providing students with an educational experience.