You can’t sideline this Long Island high schooler.
A senior at Sachem North in Suffolk County is being honored with a first-of-its-kind award for her devotion to local sports broadcasting.
Alyssa Tappin, 17, is the inaugural recipient of the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association’s student media award, an accolade tailored to the talented teen’s creative ways of highlighting her community’s athletics.
“I’ve gained my confidence…I have more of a voice,” Tappin, who serves as the student station manager of 91.9-FM WSHR, told The Post.
“People now recognize me for doing this. They hear me on the radio, or they see what we post online…it is just amazing.”
Tappin has worked hard to invigorate coverage of Sachem’s football team with a social media-savvy, beat-reporter approach for the school district-owned radio station that broadcasts beyond the campus’ walls.
The budding broadcaster spends almost an extra school day a week on her own, prepping for her show and live events.
WSHR General Manager Chris Vaccaro said he was so impressed by the teen that he called the coaches association himself.
“I reached out to the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association and said nobody is doing what Alyssa is doing,” Vaccaro said.
“There’s nobody telling stories like she’s doing on a consistent basis…they said that this award sounds like a great first-time thing we should be doing.”
Tappin, who has greatly improved on the little things like hand placement and articulation, also stands out for her boots-on-the-ground tactics — literally.
“During the season, I had a stress fracture on my foot from running suicides in volleyball,” recalled Tappin, who also plays lacrosse.
“I was in a boot for two months, and really had to keep off it. But that didn’t stop me.”
She instead spent her weekends hobbling up and down the football stadium’s bleachers — not just to get scoops on the team, but also to profile the pep band, do alumni reports, and then dart back onto the field to handle post-game coverage.
“When it came to the football games, I didn’t care [about the boot],” said Tappin, who looks up to Erin Andrews as a career role model.
It’s a stark contrast from tenth grade, when Tappin said public speaking was a chore.
That all changed midway into sophomore year when she got in front of the mic just for fun, doing shows about anything and everything with a close friend.
“Then my passion just skyrocketed,” she recalled.
Tappin’s talents also extend beyond sports, with the student reporter having the opportunity to cover all aspects of Sachem life at WSHR.
“We’ve done shows with political representatives and superintendents,” said Tappin, who is mulling over which collegiate broadcast program she will take her talents to.
“I feel like I’m always here in the station,” added the super senior, who did on-scene reporting during last weekend’s snowstorm.
Her radio spirit is contagious among her female classmates — with several now wanting to join the popular elective.
“Many girls have even texted me…because they want to do stuff like this,” Tappin said.
“It’s sad that I’m going to be leaving next year, but I know that they’re in the perfect hands. I really hope that they find the passion like I did, and want to pursue it in the future.”
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