Ultimate connection: Ian Toner from frisbee to the mic

Ultimate connection: Ian Toner from frisbee to the mic

Ian Toner, a Broadcast Digital Journalism Masters student at the Newhouse School, discovered his career through a passion for ultimate frisbee.

Not everyone is able to turn their passions into careers. For Ian Toner, a graduate student at Syracuse University, he discovered his passion for broadcasting thanks to a love of ultimate frisbee.

A lifelong athlete, Toner played hockey and ultimate frisbee throughout high school and college. His ultimate frisbee career blossomed, however, once he moved to the mountains.

While working full-time as a public relations consultant in Colorado, Toner spent much of his free time playing for elite-level ultimate frisbee teams. Not only did he win a National Championship with a Colorado men’s team, but he also holds a World Championship with the under-23 Junior Team USA.

Around then, USA Ultimate, the sport’s national governing body, was negotiating broadcasting contracts with ESPN. Thanks to a willingness to put in extra time after work, Toner found himself taking on some broadcasting opportunities as the contracts were put into place.

Spending hours after work researching for each broadcast, he figured ‘why not make this a career?’ Where ever his career takes him, he doesn’t plan on taking any time off.

“I feel like a dream scenario would be…covering hockey in-season and then covering ultimate frisbee in the summer.”


Full interview audio here 
Full interview transcript here