Brom airs stories of Sterling teams
For Chris Brom, awardwinning sports broadcaster for Northeast Colorado Broadcasting, a career in radio was something he stumbled into.
Brom, who was born and raised in Sterling, was looking for some direction in his life after graduating from Sterling High School and learned about a contest from his grandmother that took him to broadcasting school. “I’m not doing anything else; why not give broadcasting a try?” he recalls thinking.
“Here we are 16, 17 years later,” he said.
He was drawn to sports broadcasting out of his love for baseball.
“I was always a baseball fan growing up,” he said. “I enjoyed listening to it on the radio and watching it on TV.”
In a small market like Sterling, his on-air duties go far beyond baseball.
“I have had to learn a lot of things I didn’t know about some sports over the years,” Brom said.
Brom also hosts shows, delivers live broadcasts from events, records commercials and has other responsibilities beyond covering Sterling Tiger sports.
As a northeast Colorado native, Brom recognizes that high school sports bring their communities together.
“People get so investing in their local high school teams,” he said, “even people who don’t have kids (or other family members) on the team. They’re there to support them.
“To this day I’m amazed at the number of people who listen to the game that aren’t even necessarily tied to the game.”
He sees his role as telling the stories of those teams and the athletes who are on them, and it’s often a personal one.
Among some of his most memorable moments behind the mic are Sterling volleyball coach Lisa Schumacher’s 500th career win, and former boys basketball coach Mike Holloway’s 300th career win — both taught Brom in Sterling schools. Following the Sterling Tiger football team’s journey to its first state championship was even more personal, as coach Rob Busmente’s parents are Brom’s godparents, and he’s known Busmente his whole life.
“It was a really special moment personally for me,” he said.
He’s also had the opportunity to follow players from childhood through their high school careers and see the kids of former classmates compete for their alma mater.
“It’s cool to see the different generations,” he said.
Perhaps because of his close ties to Sterling, Brom said there’s a little extra pressure on him to do his job well.
“The fact that I’m from here, went to SHS, know a lot of the teachers, coaches, players’ families, there’s a little more weight to it. There’s sort of that self-induced expectation to step up my game because I want to do well by my alma mater and those families,” he said. “There’s a little extra pressure to do what I do and be diligent about the preparation. Being able to tell those stories and bring people closer to the teams — it’s really exciting and it’s really rewarding, but it’s something you’ve got to take seriously.”
Outside of the broadcast booth, Brom finds other ways to give back to the community he loves. For many years, he was on the organizing committee for the annual Red Cross Your Heart Our Hands benefit. He’s taken on a leadership role with the Sterling Music Boosters, helping that organization get back up and running after the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also served as an announcer for the Sterling Comets Special Olympics games, among other community events, and said if there’s an organization that needs help promoting an event or activity, “that’s what we do.”
“It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to broadcast in the community and to the community that I grew up in,” Brom said. “I love hearing from folks that are listening. Thanks to everybody who’s tuned in over the years.”