Capturing the Coop: Jacob Johnson’s Road to Bantam Sports

Alexa Wai ’26

Contributing Writer

Despite growing up a short drive from Trinity College in Cornwall, Conn., Jacob Johnson only began attending sports games on campus two years ago. Johnson was immediately drawn to the energy in the Coop, and upon realizing no one was there to capture it, he followed his own philosophy: “You should be where you’re needed.” He recognized an opportunity to translate his lifelong passion for sports into a creative career in athletics, and he seized it. The Tripod sat down with Johnson to discuss how he turned a relentless love for the game into becoming Trinity College’s Sports Videographer.

Growing up, Johnson channeled his passion for sports into the small-town athletic leagues of his youth — basketball, tennis and cross-country. Entering his first year at Springfield College, he knew he could continue chasing his passions through the sports journalism major. He experimented with sports journalism across multiple mediums, but found himself most inclined toward TV journalism. He tested his interests writing for the Springfield Student and running student broadcasts for the TV club. He also acted as a sports commentator for Springfield, which he found most fun. However, he knew his talents lay behind a camera.

Beyond his studies, Johnson reflected on his quintessential college experience which was cut short in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He continued at Springfield taking online classes, but the lack of sporting events due to the pandemic gave him no content to shoot. When his step-father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system, Johnson stepped up to help support his family’s furniture moving business. He knew that where he was needed was at home, and subsequently dropped out of school.  Johnson was quick to acknowledge the value in his time working at home. Moving furniture provided him valuable lessons in physical labor, introduced him to a wide variety of people, and took him across the country — missing only four states — but he knew he wanted more. Reflecting on his time working at home, he felt as if he was “just going through the motions for a few years.” Johson explained that he’d hit a rut, with essentially no camera gear or sports games to attend, and his passion dwindled the longer he was away from the game.

In the spring of 2023, a friend who played baseball at Endicott College presented Johnson with the opportunity to shoot content for the team which marked his return to shooting sports. Being surrounded by athletics again “really got the spark going” for Johnson, and inspired him to take his friends up on their offer to move to Boston with them. He acknowledged that this decision was a leap of faith, but he “just had enough money to comfortably sit on, and a dream.”

In January 2024, Trinity entered Johnson’s radar as he watched the men’s basketball team move up the ranks that season. He decided to attend a game against Connecticut College where Trinity won 58-45. Although it took place in a desolate Ray Oosting Gymnasium during J-term, the athletes’ evident dedication and determination left a lasting impression on Johnson after attending the game. Reminiscing on the game, Johnson said, “That’s a good memory to have. That was way before I even knew what any of this would become.” 

He returned for the men’s basketball and men’s ice hockey NCAA tournament home games and did what he does best: film.  He said what stood out to him about the Coop was the energetic and infectious school spirit. “I was for sure extremely impressed. This was definitely an attractive location for me to really develop my skills in this field, and I’m just so happy with the progress that I’ve made,” he said.  Johnson stated that about 90% of the work he was doing was unpaid, he just wanted to get better. He sent some working footage to Evelyn DeVaux, Trinity’s Assistant Athletics Communications Director and Social Media Director, who recognized the quality of his work. Thus began Johnson’s relationship with Trinity College Athletics. 

Johnson returning to Trinity full-time the following year was merely an idea until he began shooting some spring sports. Johnson emphasized that while his expertise lies mostly in basketball, hockey and baseball, he “[tries] as hard as possible in every sport to make the best possible content.” After filming a few baseball, softball and women’s lacrosse games, Johnson felt his stagnation had come to an end. He said “it was just incredible. I really felt like I had purpose again.”

He spoke with genuine admiration for the athletes he captures through his lens, acknowledging them as the pinnacle of student-athletes, whose drive comes down to a quality he shares: grit. “I’m a total realist. I’m proud of my stuff, but I’m never satisfied,” he shared. When reflecting on his own determination, Johnson remembered filming Trinity’s cross country team, multi-tasking with both his regular camera at the start line and a drone. He vividly recalled dashing through the field carrying his gear on a torn ACL, just to get the perfect shot. Johnson expressed a dissonant gratitude for this struggle, which was starkly different from the loss of passion he was experiencing just a couple years prior.

Along with his work ethic, Jonhson also attributes his success to his support system — his mother and his loyal cast of friends — as well as Trinity College. “At this point in my career, I would thank this place with my entire heart. I wouldn’t be doing this without this school,” Johnson said.  

Johnson continued on how his relationship with the Trinity community has been significant to his journey with videography. “There’s no other student videographers here, so that was another thing that really drove me here too, was the fact that I felt like there was just so much work to be done here,” he said.  

Since then, Johnson has shot games for all of the 28 varsity sports teams at Trinity. He even followed Trinity men’s basketball over 700 miles away from home to Fort Wayne, Indiana to capture their electric win over NYU for the program’s first DIII National Championship title on March 22. 

Looking ahead, Johnson will return for academic year ’26 to continue capturing the energy in the Coop. In the future, he dreams of pursuing his work at a professional level in a field he is most passionate about, whether that be the NBA, NFL or MLB.

In the meantime, Johnson is soaking in every second at Trinity. He concluded, “I’m just so thankful to be here, truly from the bottom of my heart, this is a dream job to me, and I am so thankful that I get to do this as a job, and I don’t take a single second of it for granted. This place has given me a lot of purpose, and I really appreciate literally any time anybody leaves like a compliment or a like or anything like that. I wish I had it in my ability to personally thank every single person that has ever shown me an ounce of support because it truly means a lot.”

As Johnson continues to solidify himself as a fixture of the Bantam Sports community, he is also making his mark by embodying his philosophy of going where you are needed, and being grateful for where you are needed.