#icancommentate - the winners
September 1982. I was mesmerised. Sitting on the sofa with my Dad watching World of Sport. Phil Liggett and Hugh Porter commentating. I had never seen a sport so colourful, so dynamic, so animated. Before that moment I was mad about football. As a kid I had been a mascot one night at Motherwell after holding a season ticket from the age of 5. On that night Celtic brought the Scottish Cup to Fir Park as winners of the trophy a few days before. Kenny Dalglish and I stood side by side for a photo. After that I moved to England with my family. Football was my thing. But this moment of cycling coverage changed everything.
Mandy Jones won the women’s race. She pulled on this rainbow jersey which at the time didn’t really mean much to me but clearly demonstrated she was best in the world. A British rider as World Champion. Greg Lemond attacked and caught his teammate. Then finished second to Giuseppe Saronni with Sean Kelly third.
My Dad clearly realised that this sport had had an impact on me. He said, you enjoyed that didnt you? To which I replied yes and that I would like to have a go. That resulted in finding a club, riding club TT’s, doing the club runs then lining up on the start line of road races. Dad drove me everywhere to race.
During this period of lockdown many photos have emerged of cycling throughout the ages. A couple of weeks ago someone posted some photos of me in my first ever road race. Darren Kenny is on my wheel in one, I am on the front row of the grid and looking keen alongside Nigel Perry in another.
Those guys went on of course to have great results. I took another path in cycling. One that has resulted in me working alongside or interviewing the players in that coverage, Mandy Jones, Giuseppe Saronni, Greg Lemond and Sean Kelly as well as Phil Liggett and Hugh Porter. Phil Liggett in particular has helped me and advised me a lot in this career that has evolved.
I didn’t plan to be a commentator. It resulted again in a moment that involved my Dad. We used to have City Centre races in Winchester where I grew up. I had finished racing an early race on the programme and the commentator who was one of the local guys in the club kind of got stage fright. There was a big crowd and he just didnt feel easy speaking in front of so many people. He handed the mic to my Dad who with sponsors, council reps and a programme of races just needed a solution to this issue he didnt expect to have. I still don’t know why I helped. But I decided to ‘have a go’. So sat atop a double glazing van in Winchester High Street I called the rest of the races. I must have been ok. After that I was asked more and more to speak at events. Glenn Longland the legendary british time triallist asked me to do the Southampton Track League, I stepped up to National Road Champs and over time I eventually worked at the Leeds Classic until a call from Eurosport. The rest is history and in this blog I don’t have time to write all the steps to get to where I am now. But there is no doubt that quite a few people have helped me get here.
Which is why in the first weeks of lockdown I decided to do something different. To try and help a young commentator have a chance. I launched #icancommentate, teaching myself to build the website (yes it is harder than it looks and the one I built is really basic!).
I wanted to highlight an up and coming commentator. Give anyone who wanted to a chance to put their voice in front of a group of judges. I called Simon Brotherton, Rob Hatch and Laura Winter and asked them if they would help me go through the entries and decide on a winner. Thankfully they all agreed.
It hasn’t been a big shining lights competition. It’s been a bit of fun for us and for those taking part. But daily the entries have been hitting my inbox. We have had messages from people saying: Respect to you all, I didn’t realise how tough this is! We have had a little bit of criticism here and there but overall we have had a great time listening to some people who wanted to try commentating for fun, or people who really want to do what we do. If the voice we have picked makes it in 10 years time then we have achieved something positive in this time of crisis. As I said earlier, I never planned to be a commentator. A lot of people helped me and if we have helped a young person just take things a step quicker then fantastic.
So we have now gone through all the entries. Laura, Simon and Rob have made their choices as have I. This is our final podium!
Podium of the #icancommentate competition 2020.
Winner of #icancommentate
Jonathan Simon
Jonathan is from Melbourne in Australia. He is 24 years old and loves sport. He has already done some commentary on Supercars Australia covering the E Series that Fox Sports have had during Coronavirus. He is trying hard to break into MotorSport and has had valuable experience on Sim racing. The judges liked his style. It is engaging and confident. He is already not concerned about using silence when necessary and his voice is interesting to listen to.
2nd Place
Kieran McGinley
Kieran is 22 and from Chatham UK. He would love to be able to share his passion for sport with viewers. He loved listening to John Motson and Murray Walker as he grew up.
The judges thought that Kieran already had an exciting style that can be honed to work really well in sport. At times he still uses too many words but that’s just enthusiasm. In time he will relax and use his ability to hit level 11 with even more oomph and in more control.
3rd Place
Jack Simpkin
Jack is 23 from Surrey in the UK. He is fascinated by the ways that a real spectacle can be made out of live sport. He loves the way master commentators make it look so effortless and flawless and he is striving to do that. The judges loved Jacks style. His voice is great. He already uses pauses so highlights producers and editors will love him! He tends to cram in a few too many facts at the moment but in time he will be confident enough to be selective. A young guy with a bright future.
Many congratulations to our winner Jonathan and to our 2nd and 3rd place finishers. Thanks to Laura, Rob and Simon for giving up their time to select our final 3. I hope that this little project to bring some positivity in challenging times might result in one of these three achieving what they dream of. It’s a wonderful job to do and the best thing about it is that it never feels like you are working. You are just marvelling at the performances and feeling the enthusiasm of the fans. How lucky we are.
Anthony