PRINCE GEORGE – 20-year-old Tyler Croome decided to make the most of 2020.
While the world was figuring out how to deal with the situation put forth by the coronavirus, the native of Prince George figured since he was now temporarily without work, he’d dip his feet in the world of sports media.
With that, he started up a podcast with one of his best friends.
“My Uncle Gary mentioned that I was very talkative and said how I have a passion for hockey, so he mentioned ‘hey, you should start a hockey podcast,” said Croome. “I debated it and considered it. Then the pandemic happened and now I’m stuck in my room with nothing to do. So I called up my good buddy Noah Driedger and asked if he wanted to start a hockey podcast. He said ‘yeah, let’s do it’ and we started laying down the groundwork and it went off from there.”
With a focus on the local hockey scene, Croome has been working to indulge himself in the media and communications side of the sport since the pandemic hit, doing some social media work with the Cariboo Cougars on top of his podcast titled Rink Masters.
“My experience in sports is that it brings people together. Especially during hard times like this with COVID-19, we’ve never experienced anything like it, and I think hockey is one of those things, amongst community sports, that brings people together and brings a source of joy here in the community, which I think is critical.”
And while the podcast is still young, Croome’s podcast has sparked a number of big-name personalities from the local scene in the few months he and Noah have had Rink Masters up and running.
Their first guest on the podcast was Prince George Cougars alumni and 16-year NHLer Dan Hamhuis.
As much work as Tyler is putting into this project of his, the 20-year-old is using this whole experience to lay the foundation for his next big chapter.
He hopes to one day pursue an education in communications and broadcasting.
