Ava Potter has a score to settle with the sports world.
“A lot of women’s sports aren’t broadcast,” she said, “and there are not a lot of women broadcasters in sports.”
She aims to do something about the latter.
Ava is a junior at Clinton High School, and works two paying jobs. One is a lifeguard at Clinton Aquatic Center. The other is an announcer at KDKD and The BIZZ, Radford Media’s two radio stations.
“I like the hands-on experience and exploring a career,” she said of the job.
Ava said she was working at the Primitive Olde Crow and Winery making pizzas, but when she heard about the job at the radio station from a friend. So she applied and was accepted.
“We hired Ava because she expressed interest in sports broadcasting and made the perfect fit for our sports crew,” said Clay Radford, CEO of the Radford Media Group.
Clay said he hires high school students to provide the opportunity to the next generation of broadcasters to get their start. He started at KDKD when he was 15 years old in high school, he said, working board op for sporting events.
Ava said she learned to operate both the old station equipment and that of the new station. She plans to attend the University of Missouri and major in broadcast journalism with a minor in sports journalism. She plans a career in television sports broadcasting, and pictures herself reporting from the sidelines at professional football games.
At Clinton High School, she’s on the field, playing softball in the fall, soccer in the spring, and in the winter, is a power forward on the basketball team.
Ava also scored at February’s District 10 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) conference, where she and Xavier Mason brought home first-place medals in broadcast journalism. With Briley Wishard, Ava also took second place in social media strategies in the FBLA district, based at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Ava was elected vice-president of membership, meaning she will help plan the district conference next year.
Broadcast journalism is a presentation category. For their entry, Ava and Xavier presented live coverage of a local story, a newscast about the Clinton High School football team winning their first game in several years, Ava said.
A key to the win: she doesn’t get nervous speaking in public.
“It’s fun,” she said. “I enjoy it a lot.”
They also submitted coverage of a global news story on the Ukraine/Russian war, Ava said. They’ll present both stories again at the state FBLA competition in April at Missouri State University in Springfield, and if they place in the top four, will advance to nationals.
At the radio station, Ava has broadcast pre-game interviews with CHS football Coach Cody Carlson, interviewing him about his plans for the upcoming game and the season. She learned a lot about football from Carlson, she said.
She also got to broadcast one of the CHS football games, which was a little daunting at first, she said, but got easier as it went along. Participating in a precast of a football game with Spencer Edwards was also a good learning experience, she said, as was interviewing Clay Bradford about sports reporting.
At CHS, Ava said her favorite class is Laura Daniel’s English composition. Ava has already picked out a topic for the next assignment, “Sexism in Sports Media,” for a problem-solving essay. She said she thinks it’s awesome that women are breaking down the barriers to become members of professional sports teams. The CHS football team is currently recruiting a kicker from the girls’ soccer team to be on the football team next year, Ava said.
“I hope she ends up doing it,” Ava said. “I think women are just as tough as men. If you believe you can do it, you should do it.”
Ava works at 95.3 KDKD FM on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and is also on air on 104.9 The Bizz on Saturday afternoons. Clay said Ava has developed into a great all-round broadcaster that Radford Media is honored to have as part of their team.
“We are very proud of Ava and all the success she has achieved on-air, within sports, FBLA, and in academics,” he said. “She is a bright star just starting her shine.
“We expect to hear and see a lot more from Ava Potter for many years to come.”
