Every day, Athletic Director Tim Ginter comes to GA and records conversations with both coaches and students about the future of GA athletics.
“I think it’s been going well,” Mr. Ginter said. “It was born out of two things: the first is information. People seem to be generally interested.”
Mr. Ginter started the Patriot Playbook, a sports podcast that covers GA teams, coaches and athletes in order to highlight the many talented individuals in our community. So far, the podcast has covered most varsity fall sports, as well as boys and girls basketball and swimming. There is also an episode summarizing fall sports from students’ points of view.
Thus far, the podcast has successfully reached many listeners through word of mouth. Students are interested in learning more about the lives of GA coaches and athletes that they interact with on a daily basis.
The Patriot Playbook has big plans for the rest of the year. One goal is to continue interviewing winter sports coaches and athletes, as well as feature spring sports once their seasons begin. The podcast plans to talk to student-athletes who are willing to share their experiences and updates regarding their program. Additionally, Mr. Ginter intends to reevaluate at the end of the year to determine if anything needs to be changed for the following seasons.
“We will do a winter wrap-up like we did in the fall. We will do the same thing again in the spring,” Mr. Ginter said.
Mr. Ginter was interested in starting the Patriot Playbook due to his own love for podcasts, particularly those about history and sports. Aside from his love of podcasts, Mr. Ginter enjoys featuring the accomplishments of GA athletes through such a creative medium.
“I just think it’s a great opportunity to highlight the programs,” Mr. Ginter said. “We have some great coaches, we have some unbelievable athletes, so it’s nice to be able to highlight them, promote them and get a little bit of insight into what they’re thinking.”
Mr. Ginter truly cares about the process of creating the podcast. He likes prepping for the interviews and doing the behind-the-scenes preparation.
Volleyball player Angie Wang ‘24 was interviewed about her fall volleyball season.
“It was really nice to reflect on the journey of our season and our accomplishments. It’s a bit weird at first to be able to hear your own voice when you speak through the headsets we had to wear for recording, but it was nice to just talk about the team and get a chance to recap the season,” Wang said.
Creating a podcast takes a lot of hard work and effort. Mr. Ginter credits a couple of his colleagues for helping him make the podcast possible.
“Mrs. Zighelboim and Mr. Cicchino have been instrumental in getting this off the ground in the communications department,” Mr. Ginter said. “As much as I like it, I could never pull it off by myself.”