Producer, Photographer, Statistician: These Tritons Do it All

Article Content

This story appears in the spring 2025 issue of UC San Diego Magazine as “Team Players.”

UC San Diego’s scholar-athletes may be making the headlines, but behind every game a group of student employees ensures it all runs smoothly. From live production and photography to statistical analysis, these dedicated students bring their Triton pride and enthusiasm to each game, helping to elevate UC San Diego’s presence on the NCAA and Division I stage. Whether directing ESPN+ broadcasts, capturing the game-winning shot or recording real-time stats, their contributions are essential to the success of the campus’s 24 intercollegiate sports programs.

Production Studio

Alexandra Mirman, a third-year student, found her niche in live event production: editing existing game footage into polished segments. That’s why she enjoys working as a replay operator — selecting and editing key moments for highlights — during UC San Diego’s live broadcasts. These productions, aired on ESPN+, are run entirely in-house by the campus’s Athletics production team.

She applied for a live broadcast production assistant position during her first year at UC San Diego, not knowing what she was getting into. “I quickly found out it’s a whole world I knew nothing about,” Mirman explains. “There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes to get a live broadcast on the air. ”

Mirman began by wrapping cables and shadowing camera operators. “I already thought that was so much fun, getting a front-row seat to the games,” she says. Mirman quickly graduated to work the fan camera for the LionTree Arena video board and, soon after, was a camera operator for the ESPN+ broadcasts of baseball and softball. Next up, Mirman moved into the control room: UC San Diego’s state-of-the-art live production center, capable of producing three simultaneous live broadcasts. The average ESPN+ broadcast requires eight people working in the control room, from audio to graphics to replay, and Mirman has worked each position. Her favorite is editing live highlight packages to tell a story. “When you’re watching TV, you don’t think about how it’s made or the people behind the scenes,” she says. ”I’m editing highlights as the action unfolds.”

Today, Mirman, a media major, has moved into the front row of the control room, where the producer and technical director sit, to direct several live games. She shadowed other directors, taking notes and asking questions, before it was her turn to run the show for the first time on a live men’s volleyball broadcast in 2024. “It was surreal to be a 19-year-old directing all these experienced, talented people,” Mirman shares. Since then, she has also directed soccer, softball, water polo, baseball and basketball broadcasts.

Her biggest takeaway? “Adaptability,” she says. “Every game is unpredictable — the outcome, the weather, any technical issues.”

In June, Mirman will graduate, after only three years of study. She wants to work in print or digital media production. “I like making people smile,” she says.

Photography

For Arwyn Guinto, seeing things through a different lens is easy. Her first foray into digital photography came during a high school class. A competitive rock climber, Guinto put her newfound knowledge to work, shooting photos of her climbing teammates for fun. She grew up a sports fan, watching games with her dad, and was interested in merging her two passions.

During her first year at UC San Diego, Guinto worked in broadcast production for Athletics, just like Mirman. She spent much of her time as a camera operator but also dabbled in audio engineering and directing shows for the video board in the arena. “I had no idea what live TV was like,” explains Guinto, “and so being in that high-stakes environment opened my eyes to the world of television production.”

While television and photography are different, there are similarities, she says. “Rules of framing are very similar, and having that photography background made things more natural.” The broadcast experience proved valuable, but Guinto realized her heart was in photography.

She started shooting for Athletics in her second year, beginning with water polo, a sport she was unfamiliar with. “It was a challenge,” she recalls. “Water polo is tough to shoot, but now it’s one of my favorites. Artistically, I love the water element.”

Guinto, a cognitive science major specializing in design and interaction with a minor in interdisciplinary computing in the arts, plans to graduate in June.

“Paying attention to the details and adapting to new sports in various environments, such as a new arena or different lighting, has helped make me more confident and comfortable to enter the workforce,” she says.

On the Sidelines

Samantha “Sammy” Woodward, a third-year sociology major specializing in law and society, grew up playing softball.

After seeing her sorority sister working at UC San Diego’s Athletics events, Woodward joined the staff as a communications assistant during her first quarter of school. “Sports were such a huge part of my identity growing up, and I wanted to continue being a part of that,” says Woodward.

She worked in various roles from posting live highlights on social media to writing game recaps for the Athletics website. Yet she found a niche as a statistician, beginning appropriately enough, with softball.

By the fall quarter of her second year, Woodward was on the stats crew for soccer and was training for basketball. She would soon be the statistician for the men’s and women’s basketball games in an ultra-high-pressure environment, sometimes on national television. These official stats are transmitted in real time to the arena video board, ucsdtritons.com, the NCAA and ESPN, among other places. In spring 2024, she was recognized as one of the Triton Student Employees of the Year, representing Intercollegiate Athletics by the UC San Diego Career Center.

“I never imagined an experience like this, but it’s been incredibly rewarding,” says Woodward. “Nowhere else could I have gained the opportunities I’ve had at UC San Diego.”

Woodward credits her work in Athletics for helping her secure an internship with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), a federal law enforcement agency, at Camp Pendleton that she completed in 2024. “They were impressed with my ability to problem-solve and stay focused under high-pressure situations,” she says. “When the stakes are high, if a mistake happens, you adapt and keep going. While the actual work is different, the mindset is the same.”

Building on her successful internship, Woodward plans to attend San Diego State University for graduate work in criminology.

“Working in Athletics has been the most pivotal part of my college career,” Woodward adds. “Seeing what goes into running an event and promoting scholar-athletes has been eye-opening, and the support from my supervisors has made it even more rewarding.”

As these student employees prepare to graduate and take their talents beyond the campus, they will leave behind a legacy of excellence, dedication and service — qualities that define what it means to be a Triton.