Meet the voice of Petaluma Trojan sports

Griffin Epstein and Trojan Live makes Petaluma High sports accessible to all|

Every play, call and time out is captured during most, if not all, of Petaluma High School’s sporting events. The school’s student-run broadcasting journalism class, Trojan Live, makes it possible for athletes, students and their families to watch school events from the comfort of home.

The events are live-streamed on Trojan Live’s YouTube channel, yet the actual work behind the class is downplayed, and many don’t understand the time commitment put in to allow the footage to run smoothly and be accessible to the public.

No one talks about the person behind the camera who has spent countless hours learning how to comment on each sport, editing footage in his free time, and even giving up full days to cover tournaments. Griffin Epstein, a senior at Petaluma High School, has done all of this and more.

“I can really make a big difference by calling games and broadcasting games to the community by traveling on the road and covering games that families can’t make it to,” he explained.

Many believe he commentates and goes to the games because it is part of a class requirement, when in reality, he does it because he loves it.

Beginning as a young child, Epstein has aspired to be included in the ever-growing sports world. “I have always been a huge sports fanatic, and I think when I was really little, I wanted to be a football or basketball player, and I realized pretty early on that I wasn’t the most athletic person in the world.”

His lack of athletic ability only heightened his passion for behind-the-scenes work. His commentating abilities, however, were not widely known until the Trojan Live class started his sophomore year.

“The only way we even knew about how the sports teams were doing was from Miss Fitch,” he said. “She would just go on the bulletin, and it was kind of sad and pretty brief.”

After joining the class his sophomore year, he has stuck with it throughout his high school career, and he hopes to continue in the future. He hopes to attend Indiana University in Bloomington, with a specialization in sports media.

“College football is my favorite sport to call, and that’s kind of my dream,” he explained, but elaborated and stated, “I’ve tried to get a pretty good wealth of sports here with coverage so no matter what sport offers me a job in the future, I’ll be able to call that.”

Although he makes it sound easy, it has been anything but that. While Epstein attends almost every sporting event at Petaluma High, he also takes several AP classes, is captain of the tennis team, and he holds the title of Lieutenant Governor of Northern California while being an active leader in the PHS Junior Statesmen of America Club. These extracurricular activities and school responsibilities have forced Epstein to master the art of time management. He made it clear that “it can be hard. I don’t have a lot of time to do things normal teenagers do on weekend nights because I’m always at sporting events. I think I love it, though, so that’s what matters most.”

Epstein isn’t always stressed, and he often enjoys laughs and excitement behind the camera. He has several memories, ranging from most exciting, to most hilarious. One of his most exciting plays to call occurred in the stressful girls soccer Egg Bowl against crosstown rival Casa Grande. “Casa’s own goal I think was one of the most exciting moments this year to call,” he recalled.

However, he explained, “I think my favorite call, most exciting moment, was last year in the NBL lacrosse tournament championship game with Isaiah Blomgren’s overtime game winner against Casa Grande. The players stormed the field, and I think I was the only one that recorded that.”

Being able to witness such emotion and excitement has allowed Epstein to truly understand the important effect of Trojan Live’s livestreams on the community.

“I’ve gotten a lot of really heartwarming feedback from parents and athletes about how they watch the games and really enjoy them and from family members across the country that watch the games, and I know the athletes really appreciate all the coverage as well,” he said.

The influx of encouragement and good feedback has helped push Epstein past the frustrating times to gain valuable experience in the field of sports commentating. He has proven he can go above and beyond to help the community experience the same love for sports that he has.

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