The Quakers just scored another touchdown! Your parents leap off the coach in their bathrobes and cheer so loud the cat looks at them funny. Thanks to Guilford’s internet webcasting service, parents, family and alumni can listen to live and pre-recorded sports games from anywhere in the world.

Through the audio webcasting provider StretchInternet.com, Guilford teams get quality broadcasting by a team of committed alumni, staff and students.

“(Webcasting) is a really unique way for people to get closer to the action without being there physically,” said Dave Walters, sports information director.

The project has come a long way since its simple beginnings almost 15 years ago. Broadcasting games began with football home games over WGOS, a High Point, N.C. radio station. For people out of the area, there was also a phone-through service called Team Line giving final scores.

“As the technology progressed, SportsJuice.com took over the radio broadcasts and also covered select men’s basketball games in 2002,” Walters said.

But SportsJuice.com charged a fee per game, which proved costly. Guilford switched to StretchInternet.com, which charges a one-time annual fee that offers unlimited broadcasting.

StretchInternet.com opened the door for better equipment and more personnel. The service records games through a cell phone connection to download audio onto its servers, whereas SportsJuice.com needed a land-line internet connection. The cell phone connection works great on soccer and baseball fields, and away games on the road.

Football games are now hosted by alumnus Tom Bryant, ’80. Bryant also convinced the sports department to work out an internship for students at Elon University to help cover games and set up the technology. Through the internship, Guilford hired Bryan Jones, the current Sports Marketing Coordinator in August.

“Since he’s come on board he’s invested his time and energy getting other sports involved,” Walters said.

Jones got the internship through a friend at Elon in Fall ’04, and has come a long way since starting as a color commentator for baseball and lacrosse games. He now concentrates on selling advertising and supplementing the webcast, treating the job like he would at any Division I school.

“We’re years away from Division I level broadcasting, but we are trying to build up the program,” Jones said.

The next obvious step for game coverage as technology advances is streaming video webcasts. Jones has already experimented with video at a few basketball and football home games, where he discovered he can easily record video onto a Mac laptop and use the service to get advertising.

“For so long it was just a simple setup, but then I started playing a couple of PSAs off my computer and it took off,” Jones said.

The advertising helps pay for the video streaming, which the school does not charge users for. But regular video coverage will take a little longer to work out. Right now, Jones is more concerned about making sure all Spring and Fall sports get covered.

“If we’re going to do men’s (sports), then we’re going to do women’s as well,” Jones said.

However, equality cannot always happen. Jones tries to cover both men’s and women’s basketball and lacrosse home games. But parents are pushing for coverage of away games too, especially women’s basketball. A major problem is that not all schools have the technical setup needed for away games.

Also, there is not enough man power or equipment to cover multiple games at once. In the fall, football takes away weekends from volleyball and soccer. Often lacrosse gets more coverage due to its spectator popularity. But Jones assures that all sports get covered.

“Everybody gets a good chunk in the end,” Jones said. “Men’s basketball loves it. I’ve gotten to know their parents and families and they love it. It gets them to feel like a Division I team.”

Positive feedback from student athletes and their families encourages the program to continue expanding.

Jones and staff always look for ways to improve the quality of the program, especially with help from the Guilford community. As a result, they hired five student volunteers to help out. The current students, two of whom are also athletes, set up equipment and do live game commentary.

“You don’t need a lot of skill; all you have to do is talk halfway decent,” Jones said.

Jones notes that it is a great experience for any students interested in developing professional sports broadcasting skills. Serious volunteers have an opportunity to hone their skills, while creating a polished broadcast that parents, alumni and any Quaker fan can enjoy anywhere, anytime.