Descriptions with a youthful twist

Bryce Alderton

At 13, Newport Beach resident David Penner was the youngest entrant

in the Sportscaster Camps of America’s 21-year history.

He sat among adults with careers as varied as mortgage bankers and

butchers, but after the conclusion of the five-day camp Tuesday,

Penner performed as if he had called games for years.

“David Penner blew me away,” said Roy Englebrecht, founder and

director of the camp that has more than 2,300 alumni, including

Entertainment Tonight co-host Marc Steines, ESPN’s Heather Cox, ABC’s

David Norrie, Boston Bruins’ radio voice Dave Goucher and NBA

broadcasters Jim Kozimor (Sacramento Kings) and Eric Hasseltine

(Memphis Grizzlies).

“At 13 years old, to call an Angels baseball game, play-by-play

... it was as if he has been doing it for two or three years in the

minor leagues.”

Turns out Penner’s dream is to broadcast games for the Angels.

Penner, who will enter eighth grade in the fall at Pegasus, a

private school in Huntington Beach, broadcast Sunday’s game at Angel

Stadium when the Angels hosted the Seattle Mariners, his highlight of

the week.

Forty-one aspiring broadcasters from 15 states, ranging in age

from 13 to 43, descended on the Guesthouse Hotel in Long Beach for

the festivities. Penner’s roommate for the week, Antonio Venegas from

El Paso, Texas, was also 13.

In addition to the Angels game, Penner called one football game --

the 1990 UCLA-USC football game -- and eight NBA Summer Pro League

games at the nearby Long Beach Pyramid.

The camp was geared toward radio broadcasting, but Penner and

classmates also dressed in coat and tie and read off a teleprompter

in a mock sports broadcast for television.

Camp officials critiqued each individual.

Among the critics was Aaron Levine, runner-up on ESPN’s first

season of “Dream Job.”

Penner said basketball and football were the toughest sports to

call.

“[For basketball] they said I was talking too fast and I also

didn’t give enough court descriptions, like saying someone is on the

right wing, down low or on the baseline,” Penner said.

For the football game, Penner had to talk over the roar of the

crowd, which broadcasters re-created in a studio.

Penner also got to interview Miami Heat President and former

Lakers Coach Pat Riley while at the Summer Pro League.

Penner’s dream to become a sportscaster surfaced at age 7 while

watching the movie, “The Sandlot.”

“Baseball is by far my most strongest point and it’s also my

favorite to broadcast,” Penner said.

Joy Penner, David’s mother, will walk by a room in the family’s

home and hear voices leaping out.

“He’ll be playing on the computer with backyard baseball and I’ll

ask, ‘Who are you talking to?’” Joy Penner said.

From an early age, David Penner showed signs of curiosity while at

the game, too.

“He would stare at the scoreboard and was always looking at the

numbers and stats, trying to figure out what it all meant,” Joy

Penner said. “Baseball is symbolic of life, about never giving up and

always trying to get home. It’s taught him how to stick with things.

What a lucky kid.”

David’s passion for baseball has rubbed off on his father Robert,

Joy said.

“[Robert] has become a fan because of David,” Joy said.

David has also called in several times to the Angels’ postgame

radio show.

An avid sports fan, David, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 130

pounds, also plays baseball, football and flag football.

Penner’s passion, a key element for a sportscaster, Englebrecht

said, is unmistakable.

“He prepared spotting charts as if the game was being heard on the

Angels’ radio network.”

In a few years, Penner could be living that dream in Angel

Stadium.