RT
Ryan Thies
  • Sports Management
  • Class of 2017
  • Phoenix, AZ

Ryan Thies Gains Internship as Collegiate Summer Baseball Broadcaster

2015 Jun 1

Ryan Thies of Phoenix , AZ found an internship opportunity in Palm Springs, CA, broadcasting most of the summer baseball games for the Palm Springs Power, a collegiate summer baseball team that plays in the Southern California Collegiate Baseball League (SCCBL). The league hosts NCAA Division I talent for the entire summer.

Theis, a Sports Management major, reported to the team on May 18. The season schedule runs May 29 through Aug. 1. Most games are broadcast through an online stream, similar to the KKWU online radio station at KWU, but some will be carried on the local sports radio station. He is also writing game recap stories and feature stories for the local newspaper. The schedule and the link for hearing the games can be found at http://www.palmspringspowerbaseball.com/.

Theis said he stumbled upon this summer internship while doing a search online about available broadcasting jobs, and the timeframe worked perfectly for him. He applied right away and was chosen for the position, likely based on the broadcasting experience he gained this past spring and his knowledge of the game as a player.

Theis was initially recruited to Kansas Wesleyan to play baseball. An injury ended his playing time, but not his passion for the game. After taking a media production class in fall 2014, Theis liked the idea of sports broadcasting and landed a job broadcasting the 2015 KWU Baseball games.

In addition to covering Coyote Baseball, Theis and his KWU broadcasting partner Jackson Schneider, '18, of Lawrence, KS, also a Sports Management major, went a bit further and emailed KCAC Commissioner Scott Crawford to offer their talents for the tournament season. They wanted to cover the KCAC Baseball Tournament but that was taken, so the commissioner offered them the KCAC Softball Tournament during the last week of April in Great Bend, KS. Each of them was assigned to broadcast eight games in a three-day span, giving them both a great opportunity to gain valuable sports broadcasting experience.