Rockford Native Wins Dream Job Competition As First Radio Voice Of Sky Carp

Once his audition finished as first contestant, Larry Larson listened to fellow aspiring broadcasters and was resigned to fate.

“I’m thinking, okay, well I made it this far, but I don’t think I’m going to get the job,” he said.

That made actually getting the job all the sweeter.

Larson, 22, a Rockford native, who is finishing his final semester at Bradley University, won his way into becoming the first radio voice of the Beloit Sky Carp, after impressing everyone during the “Dream Job Competition” portion of the three-day Sports Broadcasting Symposium Jan. 7-9 at new ABC Supply Stadium.

The event was a cooperative effort between Visit Beloit, the Sky Carp and Beloit College.

Among the impressive array of sports broadcast panelists at the symposium was Joe Davis, a 2010 Beloit College grad, who rose into succeeding broadcast legend Vin Scully as the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The contest to become Sky Carp announcer followed a day where guest speakers discussed a range of broadcasting topics.

“When Joe Davis announced my name, it was pretty surreal,” said Larson, who has worked the past three years as broadcaster for the Rockford Rivets, part of the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate wood-bat league for aspiring pro prospects.

“It is thrilling,” said Larson, his excitement detectable from his reflections on that moment. “I’m a local guy and that definitely adds something to it for me. I am super happy. There is lot of excitement with the new ballpark, and I’m so glad to be part of it..

“It was an unbelievable day. It was a goal of mine to make it to professional baseball in some form or another.”

In this case, his perseverance paid off. The event was set to be held a year ago, but was postponed due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

Once the event was rescheduled, Larson began preparing again to land his chance. In the contest finals, each of the contestants sat in the radio booth of ABC Supply Stadium and called a simulated half-inning from the historic 2016 World Series -- won by the Chicago Cubs in seven games against Cleveland Indians to end the Cubs 108-year gap between championships.

A six-member panel of judges then scored each candidate on a variety of elements.

“Larry was the first to go and when he finished, Joe Davis turned to me and said, ‘If he is the worst or the best, you all are in tremendous shape.’ Every one of the broadcasters on the panel were very impressed,” said Sky Carp executive Maria Valentyn, the team’s vice president for entertainment, who was on the judging panel.

“He opened the gate really strong. He did such a great job. When we tallied up all the scores from the judges, Larry was the clear winner.”

Through efforts of Joe Davis and Visit Beloit, the symposium was able to bring in 15 national broadcasters, including New York Mets broadcaster Wayne Randazzo, Fox Sports-Big Ten Network broadcaster Lisa Byington, Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Jeff Levering, Big Ten Network-Marquee Sports broadcaster Elise Menaker, along with a group of other accomplished radio and television talent.

“It was just an unbelievable amount of sports broadcasters from around the country,” Valentyn said. “All of them spoke on different things throughout the day on Saturday. Most of it was focused upon how do you get better at broadcasting and things like that. The people who attended said they got a ton out of it, so that was rewarding to hear.”

Said Larson: “I have never seen anything like this anywhere.”

The symposium was able to utilize the event space and facilities at ABC Supply Stadium. All of the registrants were able to submit a demonstration tape calling a game as entry into the Dream Job contest.

The seven finalists announced were then given that evening to finalize their preparation for calling their selected half-inning of the 2016 World Series.

The finalists were not told in advance which inning, or what game they would broadcast for the judging panel. Inside the radio booth, they had a video monitor with the replay of the inning and began to broadcast as if it were live.

The panel then sat in adjacent room listing to each of the seven finalists, then provided critique and feedback once the contestant met with the judges. Larson grew up a Cubs fan, so simulating that World Series provided him additional boost.

“It’s a World Series I’m very familiar with,” he said. “I thought I did okay. I got a lot of good, constructive criticism. Broadcasting is very subjective. Some people like a certain style and other people like other styles.

“I was just hoping someone would like my style and very thankful they did. As I told Maria, you all took a gamble here (with contest), but I appreciate the trust. She was thrilled with the broadcasters they got and it means a lot they are putting some faith in me. It is very cool.”

He will soon begin preparing to broadcast all 138 games of the Sky Carp 2022 season, which begins April 8.