UK Sports Video Department, Coordinator Win National Honors

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 23, 2019) — The Collegiate Sports Video Association (CSVA) recently named Christian Fiero, coaching video coordinator for football at the University of Kentucky, the 2018-2019 Bob Matey National Video Coordinator of the Year. Also, UK Athletics' Sports Video department won the first-place trophy in the Weekly Football Motivational category at the annual SAVVY Awards, also presented during CSVA's annual conference in Anaheim, California last week.

One of 14 finalists for the award that included both football and basketball video coordinators, Fiero was selected by a vote of his peers. The Bob Matey Award is annually presented to the video coordinator who displays innovation, determination, perseverance, and technical skill as portrayed by the late Bob Matey, legendary video coordinator from Texas A&M.

“This honor represents the outstanding job Christian does for our program,” Coach Mark Stoops said. “He works extremely hard, is a great help to our coaches and staff, and is always looking for new ways to improve our video capabilities. He is very deserving of this award.”

The 2019 season will be Fiero’s sixth year as the football coaching video coordinator at Kentucky. In March, he was named Southeastern Conference Video Coordinator of the Year. 

“I’m humbled and thankful to be recognized by the CSVA membership,” Fiero said. “The entire sports video department at UK works extremely hard and I am happy to represent the department with this award. Many of my mentors in this profession have received the Bob Matey Award and it is an unbelievable honor to be joining them. It is very satisfying to know that not only are Kentucky football’s efforts and achievements are being recognized for what we do on the field, but also all the hard work and dedication that it takes behind the scenes to be successful.”

Meanwhile, UK's SAVVY Award-winning video was the hype video produced before Kentucky’s SEC East showdown with Georgia on Nov. 3. The video was produced and edited by creative content producer/editor Kirk Hanselmann and shot by UK Sports Video.

“Our football program had been building toward that moment for years,” Hanselmann said. “We wanted to be ready to capture that moment, and it took a team effort to do it. It was an honor to do it and we are thankful for the recognition of that teamwork.”

Presented at CSVA’s convention, four awards are given each year from among more than 600 entries, in the categories of Weekly Football Motivational, Recruiting, Highlights and Social Media.

The award-winning video took on the theme of “It Takes All of Us,” a message consistently delivered by head coach Mark Stoops during his Kentucky tenure. From ideation to scripting to execution, the video took approximately two weeks to produce. To date, the video has generated in excess of 500,000 views across social and digital media.

“We had been thinking about this theme for a long time, so we needed to get it right when we brought it to life,” Hanselmann said. “This was the perfect time for us to tie in players and fans to visually show how everyone associated with Kentucky football has combined to build this program.”

UK Sports Video shoots, produces and edits thousands of videos each year for all 22 Wildcat teams appearing on social media, UKathletics.com and video boards at live events. UK Sports Video also produces dozens of live game broadcasts airing on the SEC Network and SEC Network +, manages video board production at UK events and coordinates coaching video.