KANSAS CITY, Mo. - At the start of the 2021-22 academic year, the MIAA announced a partnership with KQ2 to offer a pair of MIAA students an opportunity to apply for a digital media internship.

Northwest Missouri's Calvin Silvers was looking to expand his knowledge of Division II sports while gaining valuable sports broadcasting skills. In addition to being the KXCV sideline reporter for Bearcat football, Silvers was involved with the Northwest Missourian, the campus radio station KXLZ and the campus TV station KNWT. He had also done commentary for the local high school's football and basketball contests.

"One of my goals heading into the school year was to improve my portfolio for future job opportunities," Silvers said. "Some of the jobs I'd like to pursue include helping or being a part of hosting a sports radio or TV show. I heard about the internship through a professor and knew it could help me."

An avid racing enthusiast, Missouri Western's Harry Loomis got an email from the chair of his department and couldn't pass up the opportunity to throw his hat in the ring. In addition to being the Sports Director for Griffon Media, Loomis also spent time as the sports anchor for KGSM-TV at Missouri Western.

"My goal was to be more well-rounded in journalism," said Loomis. "I had two years of writing for my school newspaper under my belt, so I really wanted to get as much experience doing broadcasting as I could. Getting an opportunity to do that in a professional setting like this was way better than I could've asked for and reinforced that this would be an area I'd love to pursue after I graduate."

As part of the paid internship, each intern helps provide content for the MIAA's social media platforms to help promote games and coverage within the MIAA. Each Tuesday, Loomis & Silvers would alternate hosting a Tuesday MIAA Minute segment, where fans were given a schedule of that week's action across the MIAA platform of in-season sports.

On fall Saturdays, the focus would turn to a football-specific show that ran weekly. Heading into each week, Loomis & Silvers would have to cut highlights, create graphics and make a script for each show. Each would be responsible for researching and securing an interview with an MIAA head coach or student-athlete, with help from each institution's media relations departments. After that, they would head into the studio and execute the script in front of a green screen with a teleprompter. By December, the focus would shift to basketball and the duo would alternate interviewing men's and women's basketball student-athletes throughout the season.

At this year's MIAA Basketball Championship Tournaments, presented by Citizens Bank & Trust, each intern added to the coverage of the five-day event by providing a standup post-game segment for each of the 18 games.

In order to provide an opportunity of this magnitude, the MIAA needed a strong partner with industry knowledge to assist with technical and professional learning points. Luckily, a news station extremely familiar with the conference was able to step in and fill the role.

KQ2, an ABC affiliate out of St. Joseph, Mo., provides coverage for both Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri in its coverage market. Chris Roush, the station's Sports Director, has to balance coverage between the two institutions fairly.

"We have to make sure that we attend/cover as many games/events for each school that we can," said Roush. "There are times where we have to pick between the two, but we try not to get into that situation. It’s important to cover both schools as equal as possible because both fan bases are extremely passionate and we want to give them the best content that we can. We also want to make sure that we highlight the achievements and accomplishments of the student-athletes and programs at both schools."

Having an independent television partner that had experience in balancing coverage made KQ2 a great partner for the MIAA's digital internship project. The students received hands-on experience in a professional news room while creating content to boost both their resumes and the conference's online profile. For Roush, the ability to help provide students further their careers in sports journalism was key. A Northwest Missouri graduate, Roush has been with the station nearly six years and knows that MIAA fans are passionate and well informed about their teams.

"I wish this opportunity was around when I was in school because it gives students a wealth of knowledge about programs, coaches, and student-athletes across the league," Roush stated. "If I can help any current students to improve and chase their dream in sports media, I want to do as much as I can to help them and the MIAA is a great league to do it in."

Both Loomis & Silvers earned class credit for the internship and had to fulfill course requirements along with the MIAA video projects. For Loomis, his advice is to get involved as much as you can.

"There is no such thing as bad experience in this field," Loomis said. "You have no idea what your niche might be. Go out, figure out what you can do with yourself and pursue what your passion is. It will make your college experience that much more enjoyable."

Silvers echoes the point and wants to encourage others to seize every opportunity when one presents itself.

"Some advice I would give to younger students within my department is to never shy away from an opportunity," stated Silvers. "There are handfuls of sporting events happening at once, and you should never be afraid to help where needed. I would also recommend attending sporting events regularly, to keep atop of rules, players, and teams you follow."

Following the success of the first year of the internship program, the MIAA and KQ2 will continue its partnership with a focus to bring more student-athlete content to fans.