Finding the Story in the Story

Two weeks ago culminated 400+ people hours in a collaborative effort of 16 people working together on one goal, encapsulating the 2023 UNC Field Hockey national championship season. While filming of the documentary began in December 2023 with the player interviews, the real work started back in February 2023. That is when a recent UNC grad took over the storied Field Hockey program intending to win a National Championship as both a player and now a coach.??

It has been my privilege to work with an amazing and talented team at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media while covering equally amazing student-athletes in their quest to win it all.? My fellow journalists and I have been able to cover three National Championships over the past three semesters culminating in documentaries for each Championship.? I want to break down what I’ve learned through the process of creating these documentaries.?

The first documentary was my ending of my first semester at UNC back in August 2022. As the new kid on the block, I signed up for Hussman’s Sports Xtra broadcast to film games and cut highlights (our class expectation). I knew nothing about the rules of the sport and yet when the time came, I volunteered to cover the Women’s Field Hockey team for a game.

It was senior day against Duke and my second time experiencing the rivalry. When I first stepped on the freshly watered turf and sat in my spot looking up at the crowd littered with shades of blue, I was surprised. I know UNC has a top-notch sports program, but this fandom was new to me. I filmed the game on my Sports Xtra DSLR kit battling the moving sun and tracking a tiny bouncing ball around the field. It was not my finest shots, but I got the video I needed in the 2-0 win.

By covering the team, I witnessed firsthand the passion of the players and their fans who traveled near and far to support them on their quest for greatness. I filmed the home NCAA tournament games which were filled with tense moments followed by bursts of absolute jubilance. I then sat breathless on my couch watching a nail-biting title game that saw North Carolina defeat its top rival, the Northwestern Wildcats in a? 2-1 thriller in the waning minutes of the game. That team dominated most of its competition to complete their undefeated season.

The “story within the story” was seeing legendary coach Karen Shelton retire after 42 years at the helm as a 10x National Champion and 25x ACC Champion head coach. Most importantly, it showcased a team with an unwillingness to lose.

The following semester saw the UNC Women’s Tennis team begin their quest for greatness. The mindset was simple, not just win an indoor title, but walk away as the indoor and outdoor champions. This is something that had never been done in program history. After numerous hours of filming and conversations with classmates, many of us thought that Carolina looked unbeatable.

The ACC Championship pitted two bitter and equally talented rivals.? It was the UNC Tarheels taking on their interstate rival, the NC State Wolfpack. The stronger and more talented Tarheels were shocked as the Wolfpack beat them, claiming the ACC Title. In a true sports saga, the NCAA Championship saw a rematch between the two teams as they both reached the finals. This time, however, UNC took the dub over NC State after a grueling back and forth. In the end, North Carolina got their win and claimed the NCAA Championship, and most importantly, the outdoor and indoor titles in one season.

The lesson in that story was that when a goal slips from your grasp, don’t give up. Trust in your talent and training and put in the hard work necessary to get back on track without fear of failure. The match against NC State in the ACC’s was a small hurdle that taught the team to never let their guard down and allow an opponent to find a weakness that they can exploit. The team put together the run that now raises the bar of what UNC Women’s Tennis can achieve in future team generations.

The most recent documentary and third project was the 2023 UNC Field Hockey title, the eleventh championship in the program's storied history.? What added intrigue to the quest for their national championship, was that last year’s Player of the Year, National Champion, and newly minted Head Coach, Erin Matson, was a mere several months removed from graduation. The season itself was shrouded in aggressive media attention with the high expectations in their quest to repeat as National Champions. The resounding question was, can Erin Matson find her replacement as the best player on last year's team while at the same time, replacing a legendary coach in Karen Shelton? Would the young coach be able to handle the adversity of losing (as they did three times in 2023) when last year’s team went undefeated, posting a perfect 21-0 record? Coach Matson, as she did in her playing career, kept the team calm and focused on the end goal.?

After claiming their 7th straight ACC Title, the team went into the NCAA Tournament with a lot of confidence yet remained focused. Having a home-field advantage for all the tournament games, UNC took the first three games with comfortable wins. Playing back-to-back games for the title against a tough opponent in Northwestern is where things get interesting. With a one-to-nothing lead throughout the first portion of the game, it was all Carolina. After an awarded penalty stroke with a rather simple placement, the Wildcats knotted the game at one apiece. The atmosphere was beyond loud with a screaming crowd of 3,200 people underneath “Carolina Blue” skies. Through two overtimes the game couldn't find a winner. Shootout best of five. After the first few rounds, UNC fell two goals behind. Goalie Maddie Kahn made several impressive saves when Katie Dixon stepped up to the dot with the opportunity to tie the game. With a quick pull around the right side of the Northwestern goalie, the shootout was now tied. On their next attempt after another goalie stop from Kahn, UNC sophomore Ryleigh Heck got the winning goal on a pretty half-spin shot. The game was over and the celebrations in Chapel Hill began with the roars and cheers from the packed house.?

The “story-in-the-story” was simple. No matter the doubters, the haters, the people that tell you it can’t or won’t happen; prove everyone wrong, and never lose sight of your goals. Success will follow. You simply need to work hard and most importantly, believe!?