Over the winter break, College of Journalism and Mass Communications student Arden Louchheim fulfilled a longtime dream when she got to call the Las Vegas Bowl game with her dad by her side.
Louchheim, a junior sports media and communication major who's also pursuing her master's in journalism, called the play-by-play for the Huskers vs. Utah game with her dad, David, as her analyst and her mom, Akemi, as her statistician and spotter.
"It could be the only time we ever get to do this, and having my mom in the booth too, it's just pretty incredible," Louchheim said. "It's an experience that we all remember for a long time."
Louchheim grew up watching her parents thrive in the broadcasting industry.
First in Seattle, where Akemi was the radio sideline reporter for the Seattle Seahawks, as well as a sports anchor and reporter for Seattle's NBC affiliate, and David was the voice of the WNBA's Seattle Storm and the program director and radio play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Supersonics.
Then, in Utah, when the Supersonics became the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Louchheims decided to move to Salt Lake City, so David could begin his role as the radio voice of the NBA's Utah Jazz.
Their rental house in Utah was on a golf course, so at three years old, Louchheim played golf for the first time, and at eight, she began playing in tournaments after watching the movie "The Short Game."
"It was about these five kids who were my age and playing in the World Championships, and I told my parents, 'I want to do that,'" Louchheim said.
So Louchheim's parents signed her up for her first tournament, that same year she reached her goal of making the world championships—and she's been playing ever since.
Now, Louchheim is a member of the Husker women's golf team with sixteen-plus honors and awards—including the biggest tournament win of her collegiate career, the 2025 Utah Women's State Amateur title.
"My parents were really good at helping me and my brother both find what we were passionate about when we were little," Louchheim said. "We got signed up for everything and for me, it was sports that really stuck."
Going from golf to tennis to softball practice, the trunk of the Louchheim car was always full of sporting equipment.
"That was my childhood and so I knew that sports was what I wanted to stay involved in and keep doing, but I also know that I can't play forever," Louchheim said.
Watching both of her parents work in broadcasting and seeing how they've been able to stay involved with sports throughout their careers empowers Louchheim to want to wake up every day and talk sports.
"My dad's been a play-by-play announcer my whole life," Louchheim said. "He's been my biggest role model in this industry and he's why I want to do what I want to do."
Throughout her childhood, Louchheim would go to Utah Jazz games with her dad. In her earliest memory, she remembers dressing up, bringing a notepad and pen to a pregame press conference, then changing into the jersey she kept in her backpack to enjoy the game as a fan.
"I'd have my little notepad and take notes just to feel like I was part of it," Louchheim said. "As I got older, I began to help my dad with stats and during my last few years of high school, I started actually being part of the broadcasts."
At Nebraska, Louchheim has called many games for Husker sports, including basketball, softball, baseball and starting this spring, gymnastics, but she had yet to call a Husker football game.
When she saw Nebraska was playing in a bowl game against the team she grew up watching, she knew this was a game she wanted to call, so she reached out to CoJMC Assistant Professor of Practice Bill Doleman.
"Bill has been my biggest cheerleader for the last two years, and he's helped with a lot of things, but with this specifically," Louchheim said. "I was supposed to call a game this fall but lost my voice the day before, and I knew Bill really wanted to get me on a call, so I asked him, 'What are the odds I can go call a bowl game over break?'"
Doleman got to work, emailing Husker football's sports information director and reaching out to his connections in the sports world and broadcasters based in Vegas to help secure credentials for Louchheim and her parents.
Then Jamie Wenz, the college's technical director, set Louchheim up with the equipment she'd need for the broadcast and with CoJMC student Harmon Johnson, who worked from the 90.3 KRNU Sports studio in Lincoln as Louchheim's producer, making sure her game was on the air.
"Truly, none of this would have been possible without the incredible staff at our college," Louchheim said. "I don't know if people always think 'Nebraska' when it comes to media and sports journalism, but I think with the amount of effort our staff puts in and the positive experiences I've had, we deserve to be up there with every other school."
The Louchheim family story and legacy resonated with sports broadcasting fans from all over. Check out these features from the Lincoln Journal Star, KETV-Omaha, 8 News Now Vegas and the Las Vegas Bowl Instagram.
