If interested in being more involved with Vaqueros sports, there are many resources available for students, faculty, and community. The Vaqueros website homepage is consistently refreshed with recaps of weekly City College games, written by sports information specialist Jimmy Friery.
Twenty-six year old Friery recently took over the position of sports information specialist in August 2023, fulfilling his passion for sport coverage. Prior to this, he spent last spring as City College’s live statistician and audiomaker for baseball as well as softball games.
Friery covers around four to five City College games a week; from men’s golf to women’s water polo.
When attending sport matches, he gets to experience the Vaqueros teams outside of their websites and statistics, highlighting each team’s bond and friendship. The specialist played sports all his life, specifically baseball, which pushed him to create a future revolving around sports.
“All of those girls are so inspiring to me,” Friery said, referring to the aquatics program at City College. “They are incredible athletes, a great team, and just great people.”
Once Friery was able to get to know the coaches and athletes, he was determined to elevate City College’s sport teams. According to the sports informer, his main goal is to make City College athletes feel like their accomplishments aren’t being diluted, and instead are being acknowledged.
“It’s a privilege that I get to lift up their achievements and recognition in any way,” Friery said.
Friery grew up in Moorpark, where he played baseball for his highschool and made the decision to move to Santa Barbara.
The sports informer began to take the first step into his career by his third year at University of California, Santa Barbara, where he attended school and began working at KCSB, a radio station hosted by UCSB students. Friery was a sports radio host before receiving an internship at Santa Barbara Foresters as a radio broadcaster and score keeper.
“I actually didn’t have much writing experience,” Friery explained. “I covered sports in a lot of different ways, but I just began writing in August so I’m pretty new to it. I wrote a lot in highschool, and I always knew I wanted to get more into sports in the future.”
The USCB alumnus focuses on telling a story, bringing out the emotion and humanism in athletics. Although many readers read for the scores and statistics, Friery is always sure to include quotes and highlights from standout players.
With about three stories being published a day, the specialist is in charge of reporting, writing, editing, and publishing each story, creating rapid deadlines for himself.
“Stories can lose dramatism and emotion the further the publication date,” Friery said. “I try to put a deadline on myself that is quicker than what the actual deadline is in order to capture all the emotion and passion of the sport.”
He works part time for City College, and spends the rest of his time as the membership manager at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
Friery’s stories are published weekly on the Vaqueros website, and are also published by Noozhawk. He sends out a monthly newsletter to City College, filled with stories and photos from that month.
“There were a lot of different things that I was hesitant about, and overall anxious about,” Friery said. “And it all worked out great, I say try everything.”
