GW Alumni Find Passion and Employment in D.C. Sports Networks

Move over fair-weather fans! While the DC area is mainly known for its politics, there is plenty to participate in that has nothing to do with government. The D.C.-based teams remain institutions that attract a plethora of business and talent from across the country. This includes alumni Adam Kelsey, BA ’13 and Hayley Milon, BA ’14, who both have found golden opportunities within the intimate D.C. sports media industry.

Adam is currently a Frank J. Reynolds Fellow for ABC News, where he covers stories across politics and government. By night, however, he is an in-game host and reporter for the Washington Capitals hockey team. His job includes hosting a pre-game show called “Caps Countdown,” as well as hosting promotions, interviews, and activities throughout every home game at the Verizon Center. Adam honed many of the skills he currently employs while serving in the cabinet for Colonial Inauguration and as a radio host for WRGW Sports.

“With colonial inauguration, you very quickly have to become comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people, always having a smile on your face and being a little bit silly,” he says, which are crucial skills for a host tasked with hyping up the audience. For WRGW Sports, he participated in a sports talk show every Thursday afternoon and did play-by-play and commentary for men’s and women’s basketball games.

“That was an extremely cool experience,” he says. “I never thought signing up for the radio station I was going to get to travel across the country with the basketball team.” This made him feel comfortable with live broadcasting and allowed him an opportunity to exercise a passion for sports outside of the classroom.

Alumnae Hayley also found an outlet to express her passion for sports through WRGW and GWTV. As a transfer student, coming to GW in her sophomore year, Hayley jumped right in and facilitated the creation of a new sports department for GWTV. Between this and being a full-time student, Hayley also found time to work as a reporter for The Nationals, a position she got after attending a seminar with an alumnus in the sports industry.

“I gave him my resume for a production assistant job but didn’t hear back,” she says. “Then a couple of months later, I got a call out of the blue about a reporting job for the Nationals for MLB Advanced Media and was super stunned.

“I was kind of thrown into the fire. It was a crazy way to get started but it was really incredible—making that work with classes was difficult but worth it.”

When she graduated, Hayley was presented with another incredible opportunity, a position as a network host for Monumental Sports Network. There she covered both the Wizards and the Capitals and hosted live pre-game and post-game shows. She also presented long-form feature stories on CBS in D.C. and hosted her show, “Caps Redline,” on NHL network.

“It was definitely an experience having to switch modes overnight,” she says. “Like tonight I’m covering the Capitals—I’m talking about goals, assists and penalties. And then turn that off and flip the switch to basketball. I had these crazy travel hours and flights, but it was so fun, it was a dream.”

Now an anchor for ABC 47, Hayley is looking forward to flexing her creative muscles, covering not only the D.C.-area sports, but whatever she finds interesting. “I’m covering stuff from Navy football to a local high school standout and doing a feature story on them—I could cover bowling if I wanted to,” she says. “Every day there’s something new.” —Kelly Danver

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