3304 Sports transforms sports media learning at Virginia Tech
3304 Sports is Virginia Tech’s multi-media online platform for student sports journalism. The club is training students to become professional journalists, broadcasters and producers even before they enter the workforce.
Atlanta, Ga. -- Three members of 3304 Sports travel to Bobby Dodd Stadium to broadcast and cover Virginia Tech's matchup with Georgia Tech on Oct. 30. 3304 Sports has given numerous students the opportunity to professionally cover games before they receive their bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech.
Photo by: Chris Hirons
November 11th, 2021
By Chris Hirons
Tyler Katz’s dream job is to become a sports broadcaster. Jackson Didlake and Carter Hill have their hearts on becoming sportswriters.
What do all three have in common? They’re all students enrolled in Virginia Tech’s School of Communication and are members in its sports journalism club, 3304 Sports. Through the club, Katz, Didlake and Hill all gain invaluable experience covering Virginia Tech athletics for the club as it looks to develop the next wave of sportscasters and sportswriters in the sports media workforce.
​
Since the group’s inception four years ago, it’s grown from about 20 students to over 75-to-100 aspiring sportswriters, broadcasters, studio hosts and producers.
“We’ve grown so much since our group came together,” said Katz, 3304 Sports’s Media Manager. “We keep bringing in new talents to develop and grow.”
Didlake, who got his start in sportswriting with the Richmond Times-Dispatch three years ago, said that his time as 3304 Sports’s co-Editor-in-Chief has allowed him to grow, not only as a writer but as an editor as he helps teach aspiring writers hone their skills.
“I think [our club] is really unique and if you look around the country, there aren’t a ton of programs that get people ready to go out [as a post-graduate] and cover sports as a journalist or a broadcaster,” Didlake said. “3304 gives people the opportunities that they might not have elsewhere to develop their skills so they can land a job after they finish college."
​
Virginia Tech’s sports journalism program is on the rise, and could very well end up on-par with some of the best programs around the country that include the likes of Syracuse and Arizona State, David Teel of the Richmond Times-Dispatch predicts.
College Factual rates Tech’s journalism department as the No. 29 in the country, and the second-best in the Commonwealth.
Hill, meanwhile, is the beat writer that covers for VT’s football and said that “3304 has given him numerous opportunities to write recap and feature stories” that allow him to develop better interview and writing skills to show off to potential internships and employers.
“3304 has given me so many professional opportunities that most other students around the country might not get,” Hill said.