Greeted by a welcoming smile and a special treat of autographed Dallas Stars cards, writers and photographers invade the Stars’ territory as their practice session began. Armed with cameras, voice recorders, and wit, these eager journalists prepare for the occasion. This is standard ritual for reporters at a Stars home game, only this time the Stars were being observed and photographed by young high school students for High School Media Day.

The Dallas Stars invited several high schools in the area to participate in the high school journalism day. Students were treated to observing a Stars’ practice and attending a small press conference with a few players and professional sports journalists, in which stories and advice were shared with the students.

“They gave pretty good advice,” junior Charlie Brusko said, “and the fact that they’re from the media, giving advice to kids who want to be in the media, actually helped a lot,”

The advice came from journalists such as Ralph Strangis, Gina Miller, and John Rhadigan. Each had their own contribution, but their seemed to be a common idea amongst all of them.

“Love what you do and pursue it with a passion,” Strangis said. “Find what you like and do it.”

The focus of the day revolved around the sports media, and while the players shared their opinions on the current season and past sports experiences, the players also gave their advice to the young journalist on hand.

“I don’t mind talking to the media. I don’t give lame answers because when I was growing up I wanted good information from the players,” Stars winger Adam Burish said. “You want to have the media on your side.”

Another dose of information came from head coach Marc Crawford, who not only provided the insight of a coach but also that of an ex-journalist.

“I appreciate and respect professionals in the media because I used to do it at CBC.” Crawford said, “Interviewing and doing all the research is not easy.”

Throughout the conference the future media hopefuls continued absorbing as much as they could from the speakers. Teachers and advisers were thankful for the experience their students gained.

“I think they heard a lot of good information about good practices for journalism. They learned that it does take a lot of preparation,” Lewisville journalism adviser Corey Hale said. “To hear the professional journalists talk about how much work they actually put in, should be an eye opener for these students.”

The students left with many details encoded in their minds, some of which they will carry them all the way into the field of sports media. The High School Media Day is a helpful event which motivates students to not only pursue  journalistic goals, but anything which the love and have a passion for.

See full gallery of Sports Editor Julio Munoz moments from the Stars practice here

See News Editor Taylor Harris’ report here