Capturing the emotional moments of the many young athletes of Northwest Indiana is what James Boyd has been doing for the past two years. A sports journalist for the Times of NWI, Boyd has traversed all the Region to cover sports.
“I had just graduated college in 2018, and I was searching for jobs,” Boyd said. “The Times had a job up on their website, and I applied. I’m from Illinois and I was applying to all sorts of places. Usually, you never hear back, and the one job I applied for in Indiana called me back.”
Boyd originally studied communications at the University of Illinois, but after taking a journalism class he knew what his true passions were.
“I took this journalism class in college and loved it,” Boyd said. “I remember after every class, I’d stay back and talk with my professor, and after a while, they were like, ‘You need to just go write for the school paper.’”
Once Boyd changed majors, his love for sports, basketball in particular, collided with his passion for writing.
“I was a basketball player in high school, but at 5’10’, 140 pounds, I didn’t quite cut it for college basketball,” Boyd laughed. “But I knew I wanted to write about basketball because I loved the game so much. Covering town meetings and stuff like that is very important, but I wasn’t as passionate about that as I am with sports. I’m very thankful to be living the dream, even if I have to drive everywhere and live off gas station food when I’m out on coverage.”
Boyd’s focus as a writer is to capture those emotional moments from players, many of whom he has been covering since his start at the Times.
“There’s always the cookie-cutter questions,” Boyd said. “But when you cover some teams for long periods of time like I have, you build a level of comfort with the coaches and players. I’ve found that when the players are more comfortable with you, you’re able to get to know them as a person, not just an athlete.”
The first example that came to mind for Boyd was getting the chance to talk to a player from Hobart High School’s football team as they ascended to the state championship game.
“When I first started at the Times was when Hobart football really started to ascend back to greatness,” Boyd said. “So, for two years, I spent nearly every Friday with the players and coaches. For one piece, one of the players’ mom had recently passed away, and he dedicated the season to her. It was an emotional conversation, but since he’d known me for two years, he felt comfortable opening up like that with me. You can’t get those genuinely emotional responses from people if you’re strangers.”
The impact of COVID-19 on Boyd and the other reporters at the Times has been immense and harsh at times. Boyd has felt an obligation to capture every detail of whatever game he covers since many families and fans are unable to attend sporting events recently.
“I remember the first game I covered before the pandemic really took off was March 7, 2020,” Boyd said. “I was in Kouts covering the sectional championship game. It was 21st Century versus Kouts, and the stands were packed with people. I’ll never forget it; everyone was shoulder to shoulder, and then the very next day, I had to write my first Coronavirus story. That will be a game I will never forget.”
After the sports stopped, Boyd had to adapt so his writing would continue to flow properly. Shifting from covering games most of the week to none made Boyd’s job a nearly impossible one to fulfill.
“Early on it was definitely hard to be a sports reporter with no sports going on,” Boyd said. “I did a lot of senior highlights and talking to players about losing their final season due to the virus. It was interesting, but once things picked back up, I knew I had to really capture the atmosphere of a game because I was fortunate enough to be there. I wanted anyone who couldn’t be there to see their children or friends play to feel like they were sitting in the stands.”
In his spare time, Boyd enjoys spending time with family and friends in his hometown of Romeoville, Illinois. He often frequents the basketball courts and plays as much as he can for the pure love of the game.
“When things were normal, I’d play basketball anywhere,” Boyd said. “I love the competition. I’m a big proponent of always wearing a mask. If we can band together and always keeping our faces covered, hopefully, this pandemic will be over soon.”
To get the newest sports coverage from Lake County and beyond, follow James Boyd on Twitter @RomeovilleKid, and keep an eye out for his articles on the Times website.