My one-half of Live football

I wasn't prepared to sit in the hot seat. The opportunity came as a total surprise. Given that it was the last "Live" game of the season, I knew I had to grab the chance. It was now or never as next season might not come. As I went through my duties for the past three seasons, it felt more and more like a "hand-over" ceremony tonight.

Though I know it will be easier to do first-half, I have to be fair to the person taking over my duties. She too, wasn't quite ready. But she did well for the first time. With the whistle of the second-half, it felt that the production team has turned into an all-girl team. Would it be like that for the next season? I can only pray.

The seconds ticked by, but at the other end of the panel, the minutes seemed to fly by. It was difficult to look at so many monitors at the same time. I began to feel the stress. Stomach cramps set in. I didn't even sit properly on the chair.

There were periods of dry spell that I didn't know what to do. My throat clammed up. I couldn’t speak. My attention was on what I used to do. My mentor stepped in. He told me my focus is now on the monitors, and not the graphics. I need to concentrate on giving directions now. Taking in a deep breathe, I started to ignore what’s going on at the other end. It was difficult, but it was something that I had to do – to let go.

Slowly but surely, my confidence returned. I began to make myself heard on the panel. I have to express my heart-felt gratitude to Cam 4. He gave me confidence to direct – ah gong style. It’s going to take some time before I reach that level.

I came out of the van with both of my legs weak. I could hardly walk. I had to drag myself to the toilet. There was a mini-party going on. Just to celebrate the last “live” game of the season. I went into the stadium to do my “lap of honour”. One of the crew said, “Anything for me”. I was touched. I know I will miss this very much when it’s finally over. If I don’t get to do it next season, I’m really going to miss the crew. We have been through a lot during these three seasons.

Advice from mentor: “Listen to commentary and think ahead of the commentators, then you can direct the cameras to the players, coaches, subs or even crowd. Always have backup plan when it comes to dull periods of the game. Get EVS to standby to playback the goal, the tries or even controversial decisions.”

Comments from mentor: “Overall good attempt. Just don’t use Cam 1 and 4 during match, very jarring.”

Thank you teacher, for all the advice and teachings, and for giving me a taste of my one-half live football.