Celebrating Women’s History Month
MARCH 31, 2023
BY KRYSTINA MELTON
MLQ PROWL MANAGER, COMMENTATOR
The National Women’s History Alliance, which led the movement for March to be declared Women’s History Month, announced the 2023 theme for March is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories”. Keeping with this theme, MLQ spoke to women in our league who tell our stories in various forms. Our next interview was with Krystina Melton, MLQ Prowl Manager and commentator.
Can you give us a brief overview of your player biography in the sport?
I started playing quadball in the fall of 2009 at Michigan State University, and since then I have participated in the sport both behind the scenes and on the field in varying capacities. Most recently, I stopped playing and exclusively work behind the scenes as manager for Chicago Prowl and as project support staff for USQ. I also picked up on commentating in the past two years.
What got you until the media side of the sport?
Honestly, the first time I joined the media side of our sport was just out of necessity. I attended Bat City Classic in 2016 and was assisting with streaming games because, at that time, there was a big desire to record games and get film. The quality of the stream wasn’t great, and I could see comments coming in on the stream complaining that it was hard to tell what was going on. I just started talking and commentating so people could understand what was happening. I liked it, and had a few opportunities the next summer too, and I just kind of got hooked on it.
Do you have any tips for others who might feel unqualified about getting their voice out there?
The only way to stop feeling unqualified is to just do it. Maybe you don’t start on a livestream and instead just watch film at home and commentate to yourself, but doing something is always going to be better than doing nothing. And if you really want to work at it, there are so many opportunities! MLQ runs a commentary program for people interested, you can ask commentators if you can just sit by and watch them go through their process if you like, and when the opportunity presents itself, go for it!
When you're working your craft to get information to the public, are there any language or prose voices that you think could help others switch from just talking about the sport to translating it for viewers?
I always make it a point to explain the very basics of the sport. Our sport has a lot of niche things that the average person is going to raise an eyebrow at. For example, I always discuss the broom between the legs as a challenge to overcome, just like dribbling in basketball or not using your hands in soccer because it helps relate it to something they already know. Plus, it relates much better to the purpose of the broom as the sport has developed away from the whimsy.
Do you have any general thoughts on how we tend to discuss the sport? Things that are good? Need changing?
My biggest peeve in discussing the sport is how so many people default to “it is full tackle, so we are real athletes!”. Participants, in my eyes, are still athletes without the need to throw heavy tackles left and right. That is not what makes our sport a sport. The intricacies, the strategy involved, the athleticism, that is what makes an athlete and a sport. Not how hard you can blow up your opponent. I have a lot of opinions about how this thought process and the number of concussions and serious injuries in our sport are related, but that would take a lot of time to discuss.
What's a hot take you feel like you have about the sport/ future of the sport?
I truly think contact rules and how we tackle have to change for the longevity of the sport. I am fine with 2-handed tackling, but I think there are other aspects of tackling we need to look at for safety purposes. CTE is real, and the same investigations that are happening at the NFL level should still be thought about in relation to quadball.