NBC Sports Disabled Talent Search

Aaron Baker
Spinal Cord Injury Lifestyle Specialist | Shield HealthCare
04/08/24  7:24 PM PST
adaptive-winter-sports

Do you like sports? Are you comfortable in front of the camera? Have you ever been interested in commentating or hosting? If you answered yes to all three questions, then you are in luck! NBC Sports and Making Space, a non-profit, have released a free on-demand training course designed to build an expansive list of disabled talent who aspire to become sports commentators.

Their partnership’s commitment is to increase the representation and inclusion of disabled talent in sports media which will set the stage for an increase in opportunity for hosts, analysts, and play-by-play sportscasters.

Making Space is an accessible talent acquisition and learning experience platform that develops new pathways to employment and career advancement for disabled talent pools through employer-backed education, bridging the education-employment gap and enabling companies to access untapped and underrepresented candidates. The goal is to create careers, over jobs, for the most underrepresented and underestimated population globally.

The NBC Sports course is led by Making Space CMO, Sophie Morgan, which was created to enable disabled hosts, sportscasters (including reporters and analysts) and pan-disabled athletes looking to level up into the hosting role for NBC Sports.

The program offers a comprehensive curriculum covering the basics of sports television commenting. Starting with foundational knowledge on models of disability and person-first language, talent will then advance through modules focused on:

  • interviewing techniques
  • scriptwriting
  • mastering teleprompter use
  • building on-camera confidence

Upon completion of the course, participants are encouraged to showcase their skills by uploading a showreel to the platform, putting them in the “pre-qualified” pipeline for NBC Sports. NBC Sports is actively seeking applications from course graduates for hosting opportunities, with the aim of integrating new, diverse voices into their broadcasting.

The online, free and accessible training is now open for enrollment, inviting disabled broadcasters to embark on a transformative journey towards becoming the next generation of sports TV hosts. For more information and to apply, visit making-space.com/sign_up

NBC Sports and Making Space remain committed to their partnership’s core mission: to improve visibility, representation, and employment opportunities for disabled talent within sports broadcasting, creating a more inclusive and diverse industry.

The Paralympic 2028 journey is only a few years away, and in my backyard of Los Angeles – it would be amazing to see new talent on our TVs!

Lights, Camera, Action,

Aaron Baker

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