Special to the Herald

When the students at Cranston High School East hear Maurice “Mo” Holtzman’s voice in a classroom or in the hallways, they may wonder why it sounds extra familiar to them.

It may be because Holtzman, a junior, has been heard announcing a football game in the past. More recently, he has led the play-by-play broadcast for the Cranston East boys and girls varsity basketball games that stream on the NFHS Network.

Holtzman is a member of the new CHSE Sports Broadcasting club – which, according to faculty advisor Ken Simone, was started as an initial step towards increasing student involvement in school sporting events.

Holtzman and his analyst partner, friend and fellow Cranston East student Ben Harding, have announced a number of basketball games together, and Holtzman says they’ve developed good chemistry together.

Holtzman’s interest in sports broadcasting began several years ago as a middle school student.

“I was always active in sports,” he said. “I played soccer, lacrosse and basketball. Baseketball was my favorite but I was never really very good at it, which is funny because I’m so tall.”

It was Holtzman’s mother who first noticed an online advertisement for a play-by-play summer camp for kids interested in sports broadcasting. She thought it might be a great opportunity for her son to be involved in basketball without having to necessarily play on a team. With an uncle who was an ESPN sports broadcaster, Holtzman thought it sounded like fun.

“It was a sleep-away camp in Boston and I was a seventh-grader at the time,” he said. “It was a great place to meet people and to talk sports. Each summer I have gone back, and while we are there we have the chance to set up at Red Sox games or to go on tours of Fenway. We get little mics and we call the games. We also get to interview guests that they bring in. We’ve interviewed Patriots players, Celtics players, Bruins players and other broadcasters and beat reporters. It’s a very immersive experience. You really feel like you’re in it. ”

In high school, it was Holtzman’s girlfriend who connected him to Simone when she realized that both shared a passion for sports broadcasting.

“She had Mr. Simone in elementary school, and she introduced us,” he said.

Holtzman filled in for Simone as a public address announcer at a Cranston East football game last season – receiving “rave reviews” according to Simone – and the connection was made.

“He’s now our lead play-by-play broadcaster for our boys and girls basketball games that stream live on the NFHS Network, and the plan is for him to also do play-by-play for football games this year,” Simone said.

Holtzman also had the opportunity to announce the middle school state finals games this year as he continues to branch out in his broadcasting opportunities.

It was the realization that most play-by-play analysts function as parts of a team, not as a single broadcaster, as well as an already established friendship between Holtzman and Harding that led to them doing play-by-play together for the school.

“He was a quarterback on the football team and he could hear me announcing over the PA from the field, and we thought that this could be a cool opportunity to do together,” Holtzman said. “At first we didn’t have a ton of on-air chemistry but we got better and better the more we did it. He is a really bright kid, he’s good at sports and he does a great job having had no broadcasting background.”

The plan going forward is for an additional friend, Nate Poshkus, to join Holtzman on air during the football season as Harding heads back out onto the field as a player.

When asked whether or not his on-air personality differs from his off-air personality, Holtzman doesn’t think so, at least not very much.

“I think maybe a little bit because I don’t have as much time to calculate my responses on air as I do off air,” he said. “I might talk a little louder or a little bit faster.”

He notes that when he is on air anyone can listen in for free, and he will often get tips coming in by text from his family members who are listening in.

“They might tell me to not be so repetitive or not to stutter,” he said. “It’s also a different way for them to look at me. In a way it’s like having my first job. I’m only 16 and I haven’t had a job before, but with this I am learning about myself in a new way.”

Holtzman is grateful to Simone for giving him the opportunity to expand his sports broadcasting experiences.

“He really has given me great opportunities, especially as a high school student and especially as a public high school student,” he said. “This is something he is passionate about and it’s something our school was missing. I definitely see myself as having a leg up on the competition because not many have opportunities like this in high school.”

This coming summer, Holtzman will attend a second camp at Dean College in Massachusetts in addition to returning to the play-by-play camp. He has also recently added a new aspect to his interest in sports broadcasting – college.

“I recently toured Syracuse University and their communications department,” he said. “They are known as one of the top broadcasting programs in the country. I definitely want to pursue this as a career. Someday I want to be one of the names associated with basketball.”

To listen to Holtzman and Harding’s past play-by-play broadcasts, visit nfhsnetwork.com and search for “Cranston East.” Past games can be found in the on-demand section.