By Max Miller — Reporter
There’s more to the San Jose State club ice hockey team than those who lace up the skates. There have been many voices behind the team over time.
Aspiring sports broadcaster and SJSU second-year grad student, Chad Oklin-Jolin, is a long-time broadcaster of the club ice hockey team.
Oklin-Jolin always loved sports but didn’t feel like he was good enough to play them. In his hometown of Santa Cruz, he took a regional occupation course during his junior year of high school.
“I came into school wanting to be a baseball broadcaster and then did a couple of seasons of Collegiate Summer League Baseball and I just didn’t like it,” Oklin-Jolin said.
He said the games were just too long.
Oklin-Jolin’s favorite sport to watch is hockey. That was why he made the switch. His first season broadcasting with the SJSU hockey team was 2015-16.
His favorite memory came during his first road trip with the team.
“We went to Boise and got stuck in Winnemucca, Nev. when our bus broke down … we were at a roadside casino bus stop and that was fun,” Oklin-Jolin said. “It started dumping rain and we just didn’t know what to do so we ended up having to stay at a Motel 6.”
Eventually, Oklin-Jolin passed the mic to senior student Ryan Carlson. Carlson grew up playing hockey but felt that he had a different place within the game as a broadcaster. Going on road trips with Oklin-Jolin was something that Carlson took to heart.
“On the Vegas trip in 2018, we actually stood on top of the foam borders that usually go on the ice. Our heads were actually above the glass and we almost got hit by a puck,” Carlson said. “There was no net where we were.”
Carlson will pass the mic down to freshman Jonathan Schaffer. Like those before him, Schaffer is taking the same steps as Carlson and Oklin-Jolin. Carlson introduced Schaffer to Oklin-Jolin, who quickly began to show him the ropes.
Just like Carlson, he began as the public address announcer. By the end of his first season, he was sharing the broadcast.
“He said he calls me his right-hand man,” Schaffer said. “I definitely feel more comfortable broadcasting with him. Chad and Ryan have both been great in helping me learn how to become a better broadcaster.”
Oklin-Jolin has taken this job to new heights and used his experience to get a position with the San Jose Sharks’ minor league affiliate, the Barracuda.
SJSU ice hockey has been a jumping-off point for past broadcasters and has been beneficial to Oklin-Jolin’s career.
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