Five Miami HEAT “kidcasters” starred alongside the FOX Sports broadcast team of Eric Reid, Jason Jackson, John Crotty and Ruth Riley on Heat Kids Day January 5, 2020.
Pre-game, in-game and post-game during the Heat’s game against the Portland Trailblazers the kidcasters-
Siena Feigenbaum (11yo fifth grader at Pinecrest Elementary)
Marcos Gonzalez (18yo senior at American Heritage Plantation)
Lila Hewitt (10yo fifth grader at Tropical Elementary)
Dariel Ried (13yo eighth grader at American Heritage Delray)
Corey Zaslow (10yo fifth grader at Posnack Jewish Day School)
were an integral part of the broadcast.
The kidcasters did play-by-play and color commentary and interviewed players. The broadcast featured specialized graphics, hand drawn pictures of HEAT players, and an on-court tutorial by Coach Tony Fiorentino.
The annual kidcaster broadcast, now in its fourteenth consecutive year under Heat Executive Director of Broadcasting Ted Ballard and Television Producer AJ Speaks, has become a favorite of Heat players and fans and has won multiple Emmy Awards.
Some sample twitter comments during this year’s game included:
“Heat don’t lose on kidcaster night”
“I’m 30 years old and I still dream of being a Miami Heat Kidcaster” and
“Kids day is still one of the coolest things the Heat broadcast does every year.”
Feigenbaum had the opportunity to work closely with legendary broadcaster Jason Jackson. She put that mentorship to work conducting a pre-game interview with Portland Trailblazer CJ McCollum and then interviewed Goran Dragic after the game. Feigenbaum didn’t waste her opportunity and asked insightful questions on how the Heat prepared for back-to-back games after losses and Dragic’s decision-making on when to take scoring opportunities or pass the ball to others.
Siena also participated in Coach Tony Fiorentino’s free throw tutorial and made her shot from the charity stripe.
“Jason Jackson and the rest of the crew helped make this such an amazing experience for me,” said Siena.
“We are so proud of Siena and happy that she was given the wonderful opportunity to participate at such a young age in the role that she aspires to achieve as an adult,” said Siena’s mom Jessica Morales. “Jason Jackson, AJ Speaks, Ted Ballard, and all the crew were so kind and made her feel right at home.”
Kids between the ages of 10 and 17 are eligible to apply to be a Heat Kidcaster. For more information visit FoxSportsFlorida.com
