I’ve had a comfortable seat for this winter sports season thanks to modern technology.
Last week my stint as the sports reporter for the Luverne High School gymnastics team came to an end.
Thanks to live broadcastings and online scoring, I was able to cover the team’s away meets with ease — much easier than my predecessor did.
Coach Phoebe Flom introduced me to the world of live, online scoring. No longer did I have to worry about getting all the events results from paper copies following the meet — the scores were right there on my computer screen.
The few times the host school didn’t subscribe to the online service, Phoebe would send pictures of the paper results to my iPhone.
For those away meets, I often sat in my cushioned office chair, a blanket covering my lap and a cup of hot chocolate in hand. As I watched the social media feeds, I cheered for the local girls and made notes of the scores as each event finished.
With no drive home in a cold car, I simply clicked off the computer and crawled into bed.
I did thoroughly enjoy the home meets when I did “old school” reporting in person, on site, shooting my own photographs.
Even though covering home meets meant sitting on those uncomfortable bleachers, the experience was enjoyable as the Luverne gymnasts introduced difficult maneuvers into their routines as the season progressed.
I watched as their confidence grew and I admired the difficult routines most Luverne gymnasts were not performing just a decade ago when I was just a parent in the stands.
Over the three-month competitive season, I got to know the athletes, and none impressed me more than freshman Ella Reisdorfer.
When her teammates needed a solid score, she delivered and earned herself a third-straight appearance to the state gymnastics tournament.
Talking with the 15-year-old prior to the tournament, I asked her about who in the gymnastics world she admired (she listed her teammates) and she credits God for her athletic abilities in not only gymnastics but in volleyball and softball.
Ella is a young person to be admired — something I wouldn’t have learned through technology or from even sitting in the bleachers.