Over the summer, the CKDU radio show “Injury Reserve” won the National Campus and Community Radio Association award for Excellence in Sports Broadcasting. The show is hosted by Callum Watson and Ethan Hunt, two fourth-year journalism students at King’s. 

“It was an unbelievable feeling,” said Watson, about winning the award. “I was jumping around my house, I couldn’t stay seated.”

Both Watson and Hunt mentioned their disbelief at winning the award after only one year of hosting the show. 

“We always felt like we were only talking to our moms and our girlfriends,” said Hunt. “We never saw this as some massive thing.”

While Injury Reserve was relatively new when it won the award, the show’s hosts weren’t strangers to sports journalism when it started. Watson had written several features on Dalhousie athletes and Hunt was working as sports editor for the Dalhousie Gazette. 

“I always wanted to have a sports show, I just needed a platform,” said Watson. 

He found that platform by learning about CKDU, the campus radio station, from other students with radio shows and the King’s society fair. He invited Hunt to join him in making the show. 

“I was really psyched about the idea because it’s a dream to just talk about sports on the radio,” said Hunt. “There was no question when Callum asked me … this was a pretty cool opportunity.”

Since starting from scratch last September, both Watson and Hunt have created popular segments, providing sports coverage anywhere from the local university level to the major leagues. 

Watson was quick to give credit to Hunt for creating the show’s recurring local news segment, which provides a weekly overview of sports at King’s, Dalhousie and other teams in the Halifax area. 

“We talk a lot about mainstream sports but we also thought it’s really important to mention sports happening in Halifax,” said Watson. “It’s nice to have a local scope of things.”

Another popular segment is Watson’s Game of Thrones themed piece, comparing soccer teams to characters from the show. This was an idea sparked by his mom, who suggested he relate sports to something more people could understand.

“Sports is a thing where when people feel left out of it, they can’t fully understand what’s going on,” said Watson. “It’s important to explain certain sports scenarios and the magnitude of what’s going on in terms everyone can understand so it’s just a lot more interesting for casual listeners.”

As journalism students, hosting the show has given Watson and Hunt learning opportunities that they haven’t encountered in the classroom. 

“Obviously the technical things … you’re going to get from school, but knowing what is and isn’t a worthy thing to talk about on the show is such a difficult thing you wouldn’t think of [learning],” said Hunt. “We get ahead of that by having an actual show and realizing that.”

Hunt also expressed how hosting the show has boosted not only his education but also his love of the game. 

“I think as a whole it’s helped us grow as journalism students and as sports lovers,” he said.

In the show’s second season and in their final year at King’s, Watson and Hunt are hoping to bring back some of their favourite segments, such as their NFL top 10s during the upcoming season, and to bring more guests onto the show for interviews. 

The show airs every Tuesday, from 3-4 p.m. on CKDU 88.1FM.