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Meet the Post Independent’s newest reporter

Jaymin Kanzer poses for a picture on 8th street in late January.

Jaymin Kanzer is the newest member of the Post Independent’s writing team, focusing on the Education and Sports beats. A Roaring Fork Valley native and Glenwood Springs High School alumnus, Kanzer has worked with the Post Independent for over a year as a freelance sport reporter before getting added to the full-time team. He has also done freelance work for independent sports networks like @OfficialSportsPlace and is an all-out sports junkie.  

  1. You grew up in the Roaring Fork Valley and graduated from Glenwood Springs High School. How do you think being a local will shape your approach to reporting the news and stories for our communities? 

As a reporter that was born and raised here in Glenwood, my perspective will be completely unique. I was raised as a member of the community, and I was educated in the same school system less than half-a-decade ago. I faltered in the same math classes and learned so much from the same history teachers filling your children’s brains with knowledge. I know this town like I was raised here, which gives me unique perspectives on the issues that we are facing. The discourse over affordable housing may not make sense to the newcomers in the valley, but I remember when you could sled on the hill behind The Meadows. I’ve woken up to days with four feet of snow on the ground, and days so thick with smoke you couldn’t see The Caverns if you were standing at Two Rivers Park. The problems and discussions surrounding the community have impacted me since I was born and now being able to report and fully understand what is happening is an opportunity I will never take for granted.  

  1. You’re passionate about most things sports — what are your favorite teams, sports and athletes? 

To say I’m passionate about sports is an understatement. I learned how to ski and skate at the same time I learned how to walk, and I learned how to swing a bat and throw a ball the instant I could lift them high enough to do so. Baseball will always be my one true love, and the Red Sox will always be my team (my dad is from Boston), but if a Colorado team is playing, I’m obviously rooting for them. I don’t think many people watch sports the way I do, and I don’t necessarily think the way I watch sports is the correct way to watch sports. I don’t think others see the Super Bowl as a historical event the same way I do or remember the exact position they were in when they saw David Ortiz hit that Grand Slam in the 2013 ALCS (Criss-Cross on the floor). So, in conclusion to a short story made way too long, I have been obsessed with sports from my first breath, and hope that pattern continues until my last.   



  1. What do you hope to learn and experience in your first year at the Post Independent? 

I have had an interesting path into the newsroom on Blake Street. I spent three years working for the Glenwood Springs High School newspaper, two years as the sports editor, and then instead of pursuing a higher education, I traveled the world for two years. I lived in Costa Rica and Spain, visited Europe, Africa, and South America, and by the time I got home, I was even more lost than I was before. Just trying to find a twinge of joy, I began writing again and regained my passion for writing and researching. After years of seeing the world through grey lenses, re-immersing myself into writing helped me remove those tinted glasses and see the world as I once did as a child. I only have two real wishes to get out of this first year on the job; To gain confidence in my work, and to find my way as a functioning adult in the real world, something I have been avoiding since I found out what the real world really was.  

  1. What interests you about journalism? 

I stumbled upon journalism by accident. I entered high school as a five-foot 160 lb. freshman, giving real meaning to the word. My dream up until that point was to play in the MLB, but the realistic part of my brain kicked in when I didn’t even make the C-team. The only thing I have ever wanted was a career in baseball, and I saw journalism as a way to stay close to the game. My high school journalism teacher, Joe Fries, is the entire reason why I fell so deep in love with writing. He showed me where reporting can take you, and where it had taken him (the 2011 Final Four, countless PGA tournaments, and more). That’s when it all clicked for me. Fries helped nurture my love for sports while helping me gain confidence in my writing ability.  



  1. How do you enjoy spending your time when you’re not at work? 

If you read my previous four answers, I bet you could answer this question for me. Being born and raised here in Glenwood taught me how to live in the mountains, how to enjoy the serene nature that we are so blessed to live in. If I’m not enjoying one of the incalculable amount of outdoor activities that the Roaring Fork Valley boasts, I am probably watching one sport or another or am hunched over my computer, trying to figure out what the exact date was when I saw Dustin Pedroia go 5-5 with three home runs at Coors Field in 2010. (June 24, 2010, the Red Sox beat the Rockies 13-11 in 10 innings).

6. Why baseball? And why writing?

The obsession for sports wasn’t created single handedly by experience on the field. The baseline was generated while I stood on the baseball diamond at Sopris Park or skated on the Glenwood Ice Rink, but what made me undeniably obsessed was a man by the name of Dan Gutman. Gutman is a successful children’s author who created the book series which inspired my entire life. Gutman created a book series about a kid who loved baseball, but practically had no chance to make it to the MLB. The boy figures out he has the ability to travel back in time using baseball cards. When I read that as a 7-year-old dreaming of the chance to meet Ted Williams or Jackie Robinson, I was so enamored, I went and spent all my money on baseball cards to see if I had the same power. Of course, I didn’t, but that didn’t stop the spark of a lifelong passion. Gutman was the first to show me how I could merge my obsession with sports with my talent for writing, while inspiring my undying imagination to be able to picture Babe Ruth calling his shot, or being in the fighter jet with Ted Williams in Korea instead of watching him become the all time home run leader.

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