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Article by Sara Hinds
Photos by or courtesy of Grace Dowding

Killian Bousfield and Cassie Kessler ’24 placed their headsets over their ears. Grace Dowding and Anna Beckett adjusted their focus. Warmups were first, then it’d be tipoff for the women’s basketball exhibition game between ����ɫ�� and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Pre-game jitters were to be expected. It was a bigger crowd and arena than ����ɫ�� was used to. After a while, the larger stage had a reverse effect on nerves. 

“The second I started going it felt exactly like riding a bike,” Kessler said. “The atmosphere was so energetic and lively, it helped me remember why I love doing this.”

Kessler and three current ����ɫ�� students had courtside seats. Kessler and Bousfield did play-by-play and color commentating for the ����ɫ�� Sports Network. Dowding took photos. Beckett captured video for the university’s athletic department. 

Student workers are a considerable help in collecting and producing content (photos, video, commentary, statistics and more) for ����ɫ�� Athletics, which sees hundreds of student-athletes competing across 23 sports. 

What starts as a convenient on-campus job turns into something more — career path exploration or an opportunity to hone professional skills. For Kessler, it was both. She always wanted to work in sports media. As a media communication major at ����ɫ��, she gravitated toward the ����ɫ�� Sports Network, the official online video and audio stream for ����ɫ�� Athletics. She explored multiple mediums and built a substantial portfolio. She learned how to interact with student-athletes in a professional capacity, a skill she now relies on in her product support role at Hudl, a Lincoln-based sports company that provides tools for coaches and athletes. The job is a step toward becoming a full-time sports analyst some day, Kessler said.

Her commentating partner for the women’s game, Bousfield, doesn’t have similar sports-focused career aspirations. The senior exercise science major plans to return to the United Kingdom for graduate school. Even still, he likes commentating home volleyball and basketball games.

“When I stopped playing sports at ����ɫ��, the opportunity presented itself and I said ‘why not?’” Bousfield said, who played basketball and did the high jump in track and field at ����ɫ��. “[It] gave me an opportunity to still be part of the athletic department.” 

Dowding, a two-sport athlete in softball and soccer, has also found a home within the athletic department outside of playing. Since her first year at ����ɫ�� she’s worked for the university’s Sports Information Department. She's done everything tracking stats and running the game clock. Her main job is photography. She works almost eight hours a week attending sporting events, taking and editing photos and interacting with peers, coaches and athletic department staff. 

“Although this job isn't related at all to what I would like to do post graduation, I still have learned many important skills through it,” Dowding said. 

With a degree in environmental science, she said she can take many different routes after graduation. Her dream career involves wildlife conservation or studying animals. For now, she watches her fellow Tigers in their athletic glory. Goals, touchdowns, buzzer beaters and takedowns — Dowding sees them all through her camera lens.