Hoops fan enjoys sports media ‘dream job’

Tramon Van Leer’s work as an in-arena camera operator is always evident if you watch the large videoboards in arenas during Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx games, Minnesota Golden Gophers games, and Minnesota Twins home games. The Twin Cities native walks around the arena during the game with a huge camera on his shoulder and shoots real-time fan reactions and flashes them on the board.

“This is a part-time job that [lets me] kind of bounce around,” admitted Van Leer, who recalled when a friend asked him if he wanted to do camera work at Twins games. He had previous video experience but wasn’t quite prepared for what would become his role at sports arenas and stadiums for several years. “I had this little cheap camera, so I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” he said with a smile.

That was in 2012, and he has been at it every baseball season since. He later added Wolves and Gopher basketball games to his plate. But this hoops season, Van Leer has added “game analyst” to his resume as he has worked two Gopher women’s basketball games for B1G+, the BTN’s streaming subscription service.

“I love basketball,” continued Van Leer when he spoke to the MSR after he and Kyra Schwanz called the Minnesota-Michigan contest at Williams Arena on Jan. 29.

Van Leer recalled his first broadcast on Jan. 5, in a Gopher loss to then-No. 3 Ohio State. “I was supposed to be unbiased,” noted the 2008 U of M communication and media studies graduate. “My Gopher bias as an alum started coming out, and I started cheering a little bit” when the home team was holding their own for three quarters, before falling behind down the stretch to the visiting Buckeyes.

“This place was rocking. All the fans were into it,” remembered Van Leer.  

In his second broadcasting effort, he said, “I also was nervous, but I think me and my friend Kyra both relaxed a little bit and we learned how to play off each other and just listen to the game.”

Van Leer got his start in broadcasting as an intern, radio personality, and TV cameraman at the old 96.3 Now (B96) from 2007 through 2011. Working on Tone E. Fly’s morning radio show, “We ended up with a TV show on the CW,” said Van Leer.

Working the sidelines at basketball games, and the stadium aisles at baseball games is a dream for Van Leer.

“It’s a job I wanted,” he admits, “and I ended up over [at the Twins ballpark] and got myself into the world of sports broadcasting, specifically in-house production shows, and I now understand how big the cameras are.”

It falls in line with his love of hoops as well. “I think that’s the love that I have for the game and just watching it,” concluded Van Leer, as he eagerly awaits his next broadcasting assignment. “Whether our team is up 30 or down 30, I like to watch hoops and how they compete. 

“I think there’s a lot of opportunity to continue to grow in the women’s game. It’s really, really, really big for me.”

Local teams celebrate BHM

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx are celebrating Black History Month this year with a variety of planned programming on the court, during home games throughout the month of February. Off the court, the two teams are holding “Education Stations” at four youth-serving organizations throughout the Twin Cities, where up to 100 youngsters will be able to select a book of their choice and receive a book bag. The book bag is stocked with books from Strive Publishing & Bookshop, a Black-owned publishing company.