As a freelance reporter you are not tied to one conference or division. You get called up by a scheduler or director in the media department for a conference. You get the call, and they tell you where to be and what days you are there. The rest of the steps are up to you. These are the steps you take after you get the call and put your assignment into action.

1. Before the event starts a few days before start to research the sport if you don’t know it and the teams that are in the tournament. Along with this look at the coaches and key players on the teams.
2. Normally before the practices for the tournament there are calls with the coaches to find out what is going on with the teams and what is going on with them.
3. After this you do more research on the teams and find out quotes and what is going on with the teams.
4. You get to the tournament a day or two before it starts and watch the practices and get your passes. After each practice you single out a few players to talk to and you talk with the coaches about what is going on. You want to get a few details or storylines to use later during the live broadcast.
5. When you get back to the hotel you prepare for the broadcast the next day and have the details and headlines that you will need collected and ready to go.
6. Arrive two hours early for an audio check and to finalize where you’re standing and if the mic is wired or wireless. Also, need to know if you’re going to be on camera or reporting on the sidelines off camera.
7. During the games you are watching the games and when the announcers in the booth send it down to you. That is when you use the details that you learned beforehand to make the broadcast more interesting and for people to know more about the teams. Then after the game you interview the coaches and key players.
8. After the games the next day you still go to the practices and interview the coaches again and maybe a couple of the players who stood out the day before. This will give you more information and more stuff you can add to the games the next day.
9. During the finals you use the stories and highlights that you had learned over the past few days and add the comments that you were given.
10. When the championship is over you will be the one who interviews the winning coaches and the captains or the player of the game. Along with this you will interview possible some seniors and key players that you had talked to in the days before.
11. After that you send it back up to the guys in the booth and they will sign off for everyone and that’s the tournament ending.

Being a freelance broadcaster always has some risk as you’re not fully set to do events or tournaments. The better you do though the better chances you will have. Like my pen pal who got to do her first nationally televised event. The steps and knowing as much as you can beforehand is important, and the more you know the better you will do. To move up in the business you need to be willing to go wherever they ask you to and have the want to excel at your craft.