Photo: Denzel Sequeira Chaves is pictured with NFL scout Javé Brown (left) and sports broadcaster Bonnie-Jill Laflin at East West Shrine Bowl practice.
Denzel Sequeira Chaves was a few days late arriving for his final semester at University of the Ozarks, but he had a pretty good excuse.
The senior communication major from Tres Rios, Costa Rica, spent Jan. 24-28 working events and practices leading up to the 100th East West Shrine Bowl football game in Texas. The game was played Thursday, Jan. 30, at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
The East West Shrine Bowl is a postseason college football all-star game that has been played annually since 1925. Teams consist of players from colleges across the country, and players may be college seniors or college underclassmen who have declared for the NFL Draft. The game and the practice sessions leading up to it attract dozens of scouts from professional teams.
Sequeira volunteered to work for Thunder Studios Broadcasting, helping with coverage of bowl practices that were aired exclusively on Lights Out Sports TV.
“At first I worked at setting up the audio, for the broadcasters and the field reporter, and then since audio was perfect the whole event, I made my way to be a stage manager,” he said. “In this position, I was working with Bonnie-Jill and Jave Brown and basically I talked to the players and coaches asking them if they wanted to be interviewed. I also was in contact with the director, Chad Loury, and just telling him what our plans were for the interviews. I also needed to be in contact with the camera guys in case we had an interview coming up.”
Sequeira said he initially learned about the opportunity to work the game through Instagram.
“I met someone from the famous page called ‘Behind the Broadcast,” and I saw him on a post and ended up reaching out to him,” he said. “I asked him so many questions so I could do something similar to get in the industry. This was actually my second time that I volunteered to work with them. About a year ago I went to Toyota Stadium and worked a pre-season game for the soccer teams of River Plate from Argentina and Pachuca from Mexico. It was one day that I worked with them and we broadcasted for ESPN LatinoAmerica. But this year working the East West Shrine Bowl practices was more fun because I got to set up the equipment and get more familiar with it.”
Sequeira said the experience tied into his communication studies at Ozarks as well as his work-study duties in the University’s sports information office.
“When I got to U of O, I didn’t know much about broadcasting and it was not until I started working for Josh Peppas in sports information that I started liking it week after week,” Sequeira said. “The communications program helped me a lot because we do have some equipment that they use out there in the industry. I wasn’t scared to take the camera or the microphones because I’ve been working with them in my classes here in Ozarks. Since I worked with that equipment here, I knew already how they would work and what to do with them. I do want to thank [Communication] Professors Susan Edens and Russell Jones. I’ve learned so much from them and that helped me in this experience.”
He called the week in Dallas “a great experience.”
“I not only had fun, but also I learned alot and made great friends there. I know that for the future, this experience will help me out because I’d like to work in the broadcasting industry in the future.”
Sequeira met and worked with numerous celebrities, including University of Colorado Coach Deion Sanders and former NFL player and Lights Out owner Shawne Merriman.
“There were so many coaches from different NFL teams and it was nice to see them and see how they work and communicate with the players and the media because I also want to coach one day,” he said. “I want to coach one day and impact players’ lives and I also want to work in sports events and be close to professional coaches and athletes. I’m just going to work hard and be myself. I know with my faith in God, he will open the doors for me to get there.”
Topics: Communication Studies