UA Students Launch YouTube Show Covering Bama Sports

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The business of sports talk radio and television is booming, and what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry has two female newcomers to the scene. University of Alabama students Jayde Saylor and Katelyn Heffler launched Bama Network on YouTube in the fall and have seen their following increase exponentially.

The co-hosts for the show met when they joined the same sorority in Tuscaloosa and they both discovered that they had a passion for sports and shared a goal of entering the sports broadcasting industry.

San Diego native Katelyn Heffler said she transferred to Alabama in 2019 for the purpose of getting into sports broadcasting. A former gymnast and track athlete, Heffler said working in sports has been a lifelong dream.

"I always knew that I wanted sports to continue to be a part of my life," Heffler said. I decided I wanted to transfer I chose Alabama because of their sports broadcasting program, internship opportunities, and of course stellar football team. My family and I have always been huge NFL fans, but I have become a college football fan over my time here at Bama."

Jayde Saylor followed a similar path to Tuscaloosa.

"I am from Kentucky and although a huge Bama fan since birth, I didn't attend Alabama until I transferred in January of 2019 to pursue a career in sports media, coincidentally, so did Katelyn," said Saylor. "We both joined the same sorority when we got here and realized we had the same major and shared a couple of the same classes. Our love for sports and passion to work in this industry led us to becoming great friends and to the start of Bama Network."

Heffler said the idea for Bama Network came when she was brainstorming with her parents about how to improve her resume and get some extra practice in the field before applying for internships this summer. "I reached out to Jayde and wanted her to be my co-anchor and co-host, Heffler said. "Immediately she agreed and we got started from there."

Although football has dominated the subject matter thus far on the show, Bama Network covers all Alabama sports, and each episode — generally between 20 and 30 minutes long — brings together each co-host's expertise.

"Katelyn is very knowledgeable about the sports we cover and delivers good insight on different players and games," Saylor said. "She grew up in a family of football players, watching football and other sports her entire life and she understands the game. She's also good at doing research on things she knows we will be talking about. My strengths are understanding and knowing the game enough to break it down and talk about it in my own opinion with Katelyn without having to read off stats and facts about the game. I also grew up with my dad who is a huge Alabama fan and I can use the knowledge I have in the history of Alabama sports to my advantage."

If viewers are looking for simply a couple of fans agreeing that they love Alabama sports, this is likely not the show to watch, as the hosts often have differing opinions in their commentary. However, the fact that they disagree on many of the topics they discuss adds some flare to the show.

"We hardly ever agree on everything," Heffler said. "Our differing opinions is what makes our show unique and also makes us better broadcasters."

"We can both share different opinions and agree to disagree and give two different point of views instead of our viewers getting the same insight on every subject we touch on," Saylor added.

Something both agree on is that the speculation in national sports media about Alabama football coach Nick Saban's tenure at the Capstone is just that — speculation.

"I don't think Saban is the kind of guy that wants to go sit at home and be bored everyday, and I don't think he would know what to do with himself or his time as a coach," Saylor said. "He himself has even said this before, so I think he will coach until he physically cannot coach anymore or until he feels he has done all he can for this program and it is time to step away. I don't think he has a set year that he wants to walk away until that time comes."

"I think that it is hard to really determine how much longer he will be here," Heffler added. "He
has said many times that he will be around for awhile and I think he will stick to what he has
said. I can’t imagine him not coaching…I think that just like any coach and athlete- sports are
apart of our lives and we want to keep sports around as long as possible.

Bama Network can be viewed on YouTube and fans can get insight and updates by following the Bama Network Twitter account (@BamaNetwork).