Campbellsville University sports is an important factor in campus life.
Soccer and football at Finley Stadium.
The basketball teams in Powell Gymnasium.
The volleyball teams competing in Gosser Gymnasium.
The question is, how do you watch these sports teams go at it with the best if you aren’t in Campbellsville?
Look no further than the CU Sports Network.
Beginning in the summer of 2018, the CU Sports Network was created by the Sports Information Department (SID) at CU. The only live sports being covered at the time were football and basketball. Zach Clements, the current assistant sports information director and creative director, was tasked with growing the broadcast.
“My job was created to spread the coverage to more sports,” Clements said. “In my first year, we started streaming soccer, volleyball, non-conference basketball, baseball and softball.”
As time went on, the CU Sports Network was transformed completely. What started as a one-camera broadcast eventually grew into a multiple-camera shoot with graphics, replay systems and control rooms each constructed to fit the specific sport being broadcast.
“We changed the landscape of live production at the NAIA level,” Clements said. “We also got to run the NAIA Softball National Tournament in Columbus, Georgia. Three of our games were broadcast on ESPN+, spreading awareness for our brand.”
As the CU Sports Network has grown, so has the team behind it. In June of 2021, WLCU took over the broadcast production while SID focused on the creative side of CU media. Zak Wilson and Collin Sheffield are responsible for producing all the athletic broadcasts for streaming. Their day-to-day work schedule varies, depending on many different factors.
“My day-to-day job consists of anything from organizing equipment and testing equipment, making sure it is up to par and ready to go for broadcasts, to setting up for a broadcast or event later that day, as well as scheduling out students to work events throughout each week and everything in between,” Wilson said.
Sheffield, who is also the “Voice of Tiger Football” as well as the host of “Under Center,” the weekly coach’s show with Jake Russell, has similar tasks but also travels sometimes with teams to their games.
“I get to travel with the football team and call games, which changes my schedule a bit at times, and do things like fly out to Florida a few weeks ago to cover the Tigers at Webber or drive down to Tennessee to cover basketball games for us,” Sheffield said.
Clements had high praise for Wilson and Sheffield as he works with them on a daily basis and has a strong friendship with them, too.
“We work with the broadcast team almost every single day. Zak Wilson and Colin Sheffield are two of the hardest-working people at this university,” Clements said. “CU is lucky to have them. I’m fortunate to call both my close friends, and they do an excellent job.”
However, one of the best parts of the network is that almost every live production is student-led. While Wilson and Sheffield are producing and helping teach, the student workers are doing the hands-on work. Whether that is directing, camera work, running replay systems or speaking on air, students are the backbone of the CU Sports Network.
Ian Lopez, an international student-athlete and part-time assistant producer for WLCU, works with the CU Sports Network. His job requires him to come to sporting events and do camera operations most of the time.
“I enjoy getting the best shots of every sport, being creative and pushing myself to be better and also help to do a good production in comparison to other universities,” Lopez said.
The requirements to work for the CU Sports Network are simple – one must be a student and eligible to work on campus. Matt Payton, the director of WLCU TV/FM, is one to contact if interested in working. If ineligible to work, then there’s no need to worry.
“If you’re not eligible to work on campus for a paid position, we are always welcoming to students who want to work for us for internships or practicums,” Wilson said. “For information on that, you can reach out to myself or Collin Sheffield.”
If interested, both paid positions and internships are available, contact Zak Wilson, Collin Sheffield or Matt Payton via email.
