Wednesday, February 4
Eugene, OR
6 p.m.
University of Oregon
vs
Illinois
Photo by: Rob Moseley/GoDucks.com
All-Female Crew to Work NGWSD Broadcast
02/03/26 | Women's Basketball
All 17 members of the broadcast production for Wednesday's Oregon women's basketball stream will be female.
EUGENE, Ore. — It wasn't long ago that Sophie Fowler was a newcomer to broadcast journalism. That meant a couple of truths: She'd have to earn her stripes as an entry-level camera operator at UO athletics events, and she'd be one of the rare females in the program.
Fast forward just a couple of years, and much has changed for Fowler, a University of Oregon senior. She's now a producer for the athletic department's broadcasts for the B1G+ streaming service, as part of the Big Ten's "StudentU" program. And she's surrounded by other women, both inside and outside the control room.
That will be on full display Wednesday, for the Oregon women's basketball game against Illinois at Matthew Knight Arena. Fowler will be one of 17 women contributing to the broadcast, with an all-female crew producing the game to mark National Girls & Women in Sports Day.
"When I started out — end of freshman year, beginning of sophomore year — there wasn't a lot of girls," Fowler said a couple weeks ago, prior to working as technical director for the broadcast of the UO women's game against Penn State on Jan. 24. "And so to be able to have this whole girl-run and driven broadcast I think is super cool."
From the camera operators scattered around the arena, to the on-air talent positioned courtside, to the production crew like Fowler sitting "back of house," the broadcast crew Wednesday will team up to shatter a glass ceiling. In time, an all-female production crew won't be a novelty, but the women involved are celebrating it for the landmark it is.
"It's so easy to look at the past, and then think about where you want to go in the future," said Olivia Arciniega, a UO senior who will be the on-air analyst Wednesday, seated courtside next to play-by-play voice Lily Crane. "But just the fact that we're here right now and we can put together a crew of 17 women, I think that is just so special. Celebrating that right now and taking a day to just bring ourselves into the present, and be like, 'this is where we have put ourselves,' I think that's honestly what the day is about. I'm really excited."
As producer for Wednesday's game, Fowler will write the script for the broadcast, determining what storylines to highlight and when to weave them into the game. Arciniega, Crane and sideline reporter McKenna Rowland will be the on-air voices for the production. The director — charged with overseeing the broadcast from a technical aspect according to Fowler's script — will be Shyla Orquia, a double major in advertising and planning, public policy and management.
Orquia also is pursuing a minor in science communications. She joined the broadcast team as a freshman, and has parlayed that into work experience with major networks including CBS and NBC.
"I got here as a freshman, they somehow let me in and they haven't been able to get rid of me," Orquia said. "Being a college student, not in my wildest dreams did I think this was an option for me. And it doesn't feel like work at all. I come in here, mess around with these guys and have the best day of my life producing big-time shows."
Her growth in the broadcast field, Orquia said, helps in other aspects of her life.
"The skills that have been imparted to us, just to be able to advocate for ourselves in every other field of our lives — whether that's school or future endeavors — being able to advocate for myself and trust my skills, it's immeasurable," she said.
Women like Fowler and Orquia working in the control room are "the unsung heroes of the broadcast," Arciniega said. Her desire to work professionally as a sideline reporter has led to Arciniega shadowing broadcasts by various networks, none as female-centric as Wednesday's will be.
"The first production room I really shadowed was this one, and to see Sophie and Shyla up there, I thought that was the standard," Arciniega said. "To me, they set the expectation: Why can't all control rooms be like that? So when I don't see it, that's something I take note of, and wonder why it can't be like this one."
Rowland, the sideline reporter for Wednesday's game, is a former UO cheerleader. A double major in business and journalism, she joined the broadcast team after a cheerleading injury and hasn't looked back.
Hearing female guest speakers from the industry, and working with all the other women in StudentU, Rowland said, has been an inspiration.
"A hard thing with females in the industry is, we're afraid — I don't want to mess up, so I won't even try," Rowland said. "But seeing people who aren't afraid makes me inspired to be better as well.
"I'm just so happy that we have this opportunity. Going through this program, meeting all these like-minded people, everybody's so welcoming here. It's nice to feel protected, to feel respected — to feel like I belong."
Fast forward just a couple of years, and much has changed for Fowler, a University of Oregon senior. She's now a producer for the athletic department's broadcasts for the B1G+ streaming service, as part of the Big Ten's "StudentU" program. And she's surrounded by other women, both inside and outside the control room.
That will be on full display Wednesday, for the Oregon women's basketball game against Illinois at Matthew Knight Arena. Fowler will be one of 17 women contributing to the broadcast, with an all-female crew producing the game to mark National Girls & Women in Sports Day.
"When I started out — end of freshman year, beginning of sophomore year — there wasn't a lot of girls," Fowler said a couple weeks ago, prior to working as technical director for the broadcast of the UO women's game against Penn State on Jan. 24. "And so to be able to have this whole girl-run and driven broadcast I think is super cool."
From the camera operators scattered around the arena, to the on-air talent positioned courtside, to the production crew like Fowler sitting "back of house," the broadcast crew Wednesday will team up to shatter a glass ceiling. In time, an all-female production crew won't be a novelty, but the women involved are celebrating it for the landmark it is.
"It's so easy to look at the past, and then think about where you want to go in the future," said Olivia Arciniega, a UO senior who will be the on-air analyst Wednesday, seated courtside next to play-by-play voice Lily Crane. "But just the fact that we're here right now and we can put together a crew of 17 women, I think that is just so special. Celebrating that right now and taking a day to just bring ourselves into the present, and be like, 'this is where we have put ourselves,' I think that's honestly what the day is about. I'm really excited."
As producer for Wednesday's game, Fowler will write the script for the broadcast, determining what storylines to highlight and when to weave them into the game. Arciniega, Crane and sideline reporter McKenna Rowland will be the on-air voices for the production. The director — charged with overseeing the broadcast from a technical aspect according to Fowler's script — will be Shyla Orquia, a double major in advertising and planning, public policy and management.
Orquia also is pursuing a minor in science communications. She joined the broadcast team as a freshman, and has parlayed that into work experience with major networks including CBS and NBC.
"I got here as a freshman, they somehow let me in and they haven't been able to get rid of me," Orquia said. "Being a college student, not in my wildest dreams did I think this was an option for me. And it doesn't feel like work at all. I come in here, mess around with these guys and have the best day of my life producing big-time shows."
Her growth in the broadcast field, Orquia said, helps in other aspects of her life.
"The skills that have been imparted to us, just to be able to advocate for ourselves in every other field of our lives — whether that's school or future endeavors — being able to advocate for myself and trust my skills, it's immeasurable," she said.
Women like Fowler and Orquia working in the control room are "the unsung heroes of the broadcast," Arciniega said. Her desire to work professionally as a sideline reporter has led to Arciniega shadowing broadcasts by various networks, none as female-centric as Wednesday's will be.
"The first production room I really shadowed was this one, and to see Sophie and Shyla up there, I thought that was the standard," Arciniega said. "To me, they set the expectation: Why can't all control rooms be like that? So when I don't see it, that's something I take note of, and wonder why it can't be like this one."
Rowland, the sideline reporter for Wednesday's game, is a former UO cheerleader. A double major in business and journalism, she joined the broadcast team after a cheerleading injury and hasn't looked back.
Hearing female guest speakers from the industry, and working with all the other women in StudentU, Rowland said, has been an inspiration.
"A hard thing with females in the industry is, we're afraid — I don't want to mess up, so I won't even try," Rowland said. "But seeing people who aren't afraid makes me inspired to be better as well.
"I'm just so happy that we have this opportunity. Going through this program, meeting all these like-minded people, everybody's so welcoming here. It's nice to feel protected, to feel respected — to feel like I belong."
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