CHRIS KLEINHANS-SCHULZ
***AWARD-WINNING SPORTSCASTER***
About "The Kleinhans"
- 2012 Radio Sportscaster, News Reporter of the Year (IASB)
- 2011-12 WVUR "The Source" 95.1 FM Sports Staff MVP
- One incredible life filled with sports
On July 28, 1989, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Atlanta Braves by a score of 4-2 in 17 innings at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. That was the first ballgame that I ever attended ... even though I was not born yet! My mother was seven months pregnant when she went to that game with my father. Even before my birth, sports already became a big part of my identity...
Before my sportscasting career officially began, I was announcing my own backyard sporting events while playing by myself at home. I also played for a lot of teams with my friends when I was growing up. At my busiest, I was a member of five different teams, competing in junior high football, basketball, and track & field along with recreational baseball and soccer squads. For high school, I dropped soccer and picked up interscholastic baseball to be a four-sport athlete for the Waverly-Shell Rock Go-Hawks. As a senior, I finished sixth in the conference 3200m and was a back-up lineman on a district championship football team. As a junior, our basketball team won the 2007 Class 3A Iowa state title, and I was included in a sports column from a writer who, like me, played in "Garbage Time."
In 2008, I shifted from playing sports to broadcasting sports. At Valparaiso University, I earned a communication degree and gained a lot of experience in many aspects of college radio sportscasting. Through on-air sports updates, highlights production, broadcast hosting, play-by-play and color commentary, and other on-air opportunities, I covered many exciting sports moments and added writing, television, and media relations work along the way. By following in the footsteps of my mother and grandmother to Valpo, I also entered a chain of events with Valpo connections that linked my sports media career together.
Valpo was the starting point for my progress in this field. As a junior, one of my play-by-play colleagues referred me to the Waterloo Bucks, a collegiate summer baseball team near my hometown. I was Waterloo's radio announcer for two seasons and enjoyed my first opportunity to have an every-day position in baseball. During my second Bucks season, I followed the advice of my Social Networking professor and created a LinkedIn profile during a road trip. I learned about a play-by-play role through LinkedIn at the University of Northern Iowa, where I have been calling volleyball and basketball since 2012. While at UNI, I received another referral from my colleague from Valpo for a minor league baseball job in 2013. I became the Broadcast and Media Relations Assistant with the 2013 Bowling Green Hot Rods as a result. I have since held several different MiLB positions for the 2014 Charleston RiverDogs, the 2015 Jackson Generals, the 2016-21 Cedar Rapids Kernels, and the 2022-23 Quad Cities River Bandits. Needless to say, this has been quite a journey.
From California to South Carolina, Minnesota to Texas, I have been blessed to travel to great places with even better people while covering sports. I have experienced the excitement of walk-off hits, buzzer-beating baskets, and many other game-winning scores and had the privilege of broadcasting those magic moments. Even in the occasional blowout or so-called "normal" game that does not have a dramatic finish, I greatly enjoy every chance to be involved in sports as a member of the media. It is a great life, and I am happy to have it.
