HEATHER ALFORD
SPORTS REPORTER

For three Humber College students, alumni and current, being involved in the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics is the opportunity of a lifetime.
Alumni Geoff Rohoban will report on Olympic events, Tonia Hammer will work as part of the Molson team and current Guelph-Humber student Heather Butts will volunteer.
Geoff Rohoban is getting the chance to be one of the voices for Olympic coverage on Vancouver radio’s News 1130, a local affiliate of Rogers’ national radio station.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity being able to cover an Olympics, especially in the city that you’re living in,” he said.
Rohoban, who graduated from Humber’s journalism program in 2003, is the station’s morning sports anchor and will report sports and Olympic coverage every 15 minutes during the morning segment as well as providing updates for all other affiliate stations across Canada.
“At our radio station I’m going to be one of the main voices and to be heard all the way across Canada as well.  It’s going to be awesome.”
Tonia Hammer, who graduated from Humber’s public relations program in April 2009, works for Molson Canada, and is thrilled to be working in Vancouver as part of the Molson team.
“With the Olympics being in our country and me working for a company where our beer has the name Canadian in it, it makes it even more special,” she said.
Being the community relations co-ordinator and a part of Molson’s internal social media team, Hammer manages the company’s online profile.
“I’ll be doing the live blogging and the twittering so it’s kind of like I’m a Molson reporter while I’m there.”
For Heather Butts, a fourth-year journalism student at Guelph-Humber, her media background and passion for downhill ski racing influenced her to decision to volunteer for the Paralympics.
“In the summertime I coach disabled athletes waterskiing,” she said. “So I decided I should really be helping some winter athletes get a little bit more media coverage as well.”
Butts will volunteer as a media assistant helping journalists and reporters at both the media office and at the alpine events on Whistler mountain, acting as a bridge between the media and the athletes.
She chose the Paralympics because she feels the Paralympians are not fully represented in the media.
“As an athlete and a Canadian I think it’s awesome to see our athletes competing on home soil and I think it’s really important that Canada supports its athletes.  These people are competing for us, they wear our country on their sleeve.”