TIPTOPSTARS

Every Cameroonian, including sports reporters hate to remember the recent encounter pitting the Indomitable Lions and the Libyan national football team, counting for the qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup. The Lions were beaten. However, one sports reporter went home with a silver lining in his dark cloud. Fonkenmun Baldwin Sama who had had a baptism of fire that day ran live commentaries for that match. He had done a great job and so smiled home proudly. Perhaps what made this smile so deserving was the fact that the newest sports reporter in the service was not only performing the art for the very first time, but he was given tat salient assignment barely 15 minutes to the start of the game. How was Sama going to bring himself together to perform the job? What was he going to do to win his audience and make himself a convincing play-by-play commentator? How was the young debutant sportscaster going to manage millions of CRTV viewers on such an important broadcast session? These questions might have preoccupied Sama’s mind as he walked into the Mfandena (neighbourhood in Yaounde where the Amadou Ahidjo is situated) reporting booth. But the reporter mustered courage and behold, he did it.

This has been Sama Baldwin’s most remarkable moment since he joined the TV Sports Service over four months ago. First discovered and admired on the station’s daybreak talk show “Hello”, Sama Baldwin has been making great strides in the sports service where he was called up to serve. “It has not been an easy ride though, but I must say this has been a golden opportunity for me to learn,” he told TIPTOPSTARS when we reached him for initial assessments. As eventful as it is, the sports beat has kept Sama on his feet. Amongst the competitions covered so far are the Handball and Volleyball championships.

But how have you been coping with sports language which we know is a little different from the ordinary? “I have been acquainting myself to it gradually and making sure I give myself time to learn,” Sama replied. Apart from quickly grasping and using sports terminology which Sama has noticed as a positive mark in his new beat, he also thinks being being able to adlib is has been a plus. The broadcaster also mentioned that he has had to come across, known and worked with several sports personalities who now are his sources of information. “That’s one of the things you get to enjoy as a sports reporter,” said Sama.

If there is a weakness in his performance so far, his collaborators have remarked it is his serious-looking appearance on screen. “My boss has recommended a smile on my face whenever I’m in front of the camera and I’m ready to improve on that,” Sama disclosed. Apart from that, he nurses ambitions of becoming an excellent sports reporter who will cover some of the world’s reputable competitions. “I’m certain I’ll make a name on this beat,” he said confidently. That will however mean hard work and respecting schedules which the reporter has sure been doing.