2012 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | Hockey Friendship |
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| Date Aired or Published | February 9 2012 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | CBC |
| Name of Program: | Island Morning, CBC Syndication |
| If co-produced, list partner: | Colleen Ross |
| Location: | Charlottetown |
| List awards, grants: | -- |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | 5:39 |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: ‪Hockey Friendship tells the story of Donelda Docherty and Aaron Anderson. When they first met more than 12 years ago, Anderson was a shy teenager with Down syndrome with extremely low self esteem. With Docherty's help, Anderson was made manager for a local hockey team. His duties vary from filling water bottles to providing the all-important pepe talk between periods. His involvement in the team cracked open Anderson's defensive shell, and gave him confidence and a new identity. The documentary climaxes with Anderson's team winning the provincial title in his first year. When the final buzzer blew, the team whisked Anderson on the ice and carried him around the ice on their shoulders. The biggest obstacle to putting this story on the air was Aaron Anderson's overwhelming shyness. It took many days of phone negotiations with his mother for Aaron to agreed to participate. The terms: Aaron wanted to know the questions in advance, and he wanted to read his answers from a typed sheet of paper. I was concerned this would make the story stiff and unfeeling, but I agreed, hoping that focusing on Aaron's friendship with Donalda would help me bring out more depth and warmth in the story. Anderson insisted on doing the interview in a quiet house, rather than at the rink. When I arrived, I put him at ease by chatting with his mother, and asking him to hold onto my microphone while I "got a few things ready." These few minutes of becoming physically familiar with the mic made him much less nervous when the tape started to roll. I was able to gently push him outside of his written answers to something much more emotional. In writing and editing, I used some of his early frustrations and mis-takes as a metaphor for the lesson's he's learned because of friendship and hockey--to never give up. With a bit of wild sound collected from the local arena, I was much more satisfied with the final result than I originally expected. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: Radio recording equipment and studio. It was co-funded by CBC Syndication. |
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