LEBANON — The idea came to Andrew Romike in a place where many people become lost in thought: the shower.
It was Thursday, Nov. 4 — the day before the Lebanon High boys soccer team was to play for the NHIAA Division II title. Romike, a Lebanon senior who is interested in pursuing a career in sports media, wanted to make a documentary about the Raiders’ pursuit of their first state championship in 30 years.
So he did. Romike filmed Lebanon’s practice that afternoon, interviewed players as they boarded the bus to Nashua for the big game, got footage from warmups and the game itself — which the Raiders won in a penalty shootout — and conducted more interviews after the game and in the days that followed back at school.
The final product is a 47-minute production posted to YouTube on Dec. 19, which Romike said was inspired by The Last Dance, the 10-part ESPN documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ run to the 1998 NBA championship.
“It was a lot of work and a lot of storage space,” Romike said. “I would come home from school and just edit in my room for four hours, then do homework. And rinse, wash, repeat.”
Romike helps run the Instagram account @realdirtybirdz, which keeps the school and community updated on all of the Raiders’ teams through podcasts, interviews and game coverage. The account is typically run by student-athletes, but Romike, who does not play any sports for Lebanon, has taken it a step further this year.
He has introduced the Raider Report, in which he conducts postgame interviews with players, as well as the Birdcast, a more in-depth podcast where Romike interviews athletes about more general topics.
Birdcast episodes are typically around 15 minutes, and Romike said he spends the better part of a day editing them. Toy microphones have become a staple of the Birdcast, with Romike and his co-hosts and guests attaching their lavalier microphones to them.
“Before the school year started, I took a couple hours to go through the entire fall sports slate and marked down every single game on my calendar,” Romike said. “I’m pretty sure I went to every single football game and most of the soccer games. Games I didn’t go to I would find someone who had access to (the account) and make sure that game was being reported on because I couldn’t be there to do the Raider Report in person.”
The Instagram account has been around for several years, and its ownership is passed down to each senior class. Wade Rainey, who played football and basketball for the Raiders before graduating in 2020, helped run the account during his senior year and now studies journalism with a sports media concentration at the University of South Carolina.
Rainey introduced the Athlete of the Week Award, which has continued since his graduation. Followers vote for the winner on the Instagram story, and winners receive a wooden plaque with their name and the school logo engraved into it.
“There had always been a social media presence, but it had never really been that prominent of a thing,” Rainey said.
“When (my class) got access to the account, we wanted to highlight everything, not just talking about football or basketball games. We tried to give a member of every team access to the account. Our goal was to try to turn it into a bigger thing, and Andrew has run with that and made it even better.”
Romike also intends to study sports media after high school. He has turned his work into an extended learning opportunity, meaning he receives class credit for projects like the Birdcast and the soccer documentary.
Joy Gobin oversees the Lebanon extended learning opportunity program and said roughly 200 students participate in ELOs each year, in activities from advanced furniture making to equine studies. She said she was very supportive when Romike approached her about turning his sports media pursuits into an ELO.
“Andrew is somebody who is not only working on the social media aspect of it, he spends a lot of time on editing and filming and putting in some nice cuts and transitions,” Gobin said.
“He’s really worked on those types of skills, which are very time-consuming. He puts a huge amount of effort into everything he puts out. He’s really done a tremendous job and learned a great deal, and I’m very proud of him.”
After the positive response to the boys soccer documentary, Romike is now working on something much more in-depth with the boys basketball team, filming practices, workouts and pregame warmups and traveling to road games.
The team has been on a COVID-19 pause for the last two weeks, but Romike plans to pick right back up once they begin practicing and playing again.
“I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from (administration),” Romike said. “Coaches watch my stuff — I’ll introduce myself to a coach, and they’ll already know who I am. They’re thankful that I’m covering sports that usually don’t get that much coverage.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.