When an Indian football player scored a touchdown, the replay on the new video scoreboard was usually thanks to computer science teacher Brad Poynor’s volunteer camera crew and sideline cameraman senior Austin Vanriper.
The crew consisted of a cameraman on top of the press box, Poyner in the press box and Vanriper on the sidelines.
“He picks up things really quickly,” Posner said. “You show him something and he really picks it up fast.”
Vanriper worked with Poynor until he got the hang of the camera set up.
“It was easy to learn how to use the buttons and how the program worked,” Vanriper said. “The hardest thing about learning the camera was making sure it was perfectly aligned for the games.”
Vanriper said it took about half of the first game to get used to the settings.
“You have to get the perfect shot,” Vanriper said, “and you have to keep the ball on camera.”
Poynor said that Vanriper learned future skills.
“He learned to be organized,” Poynor said. “He also learned problem thinking and problem solving skills.”
Vanriper said Poynor helped him the most when using the camera.
“It was not hard to focus with all the action happening in the game,” Vanriper said, “unless they were going to run into you. I learned the value of picking up on the go.”
Vanriper said he doesn’t see a career in camera work in the future. In fact, it wasn’t even a paying job unless one counted the free drinks he got at halftime.
