Northwest Notes Sept. 26, 2024

Idaho Athletics to broadcast three Vandal football games in Spanish

MOSCOW — Idaho Vandal athletics, along with Nampa based Radio Rancho will broadcast three Vandal football games in Spanish this season on La Poderosa 100.7 FM which reaches the entire Treasure Valley, extending all the way to Twin Falls. 

The Spanish language broadcast will also be available online via the Varsity app and on govandals.com.

Seattle Mariners broadcaster Steve Guasch will handle play-by-play duties for the broadcast with former Vandal kicker/punter Ricardo Chavez handling analyst duties. Idaho will be the only college football team in the Northwest to broadcast its games in Spanish in 2024.

"Vandal Football is for everyone, including over 200,000 Hispanic Idahoans. We are thrilled for the opportunity to meet these fans where they are and jump into this opportunity with the Radio Rancho team," Idaho assistant athletic director Jerek Wolcott said. "General manager DC Calton and owner Kevin Terry have gone above and beyond to help us make this happen. When you add in the professional play-by-play voice of Steve Guasch and a former Vandal All-American in Ricardo Chavez, this is rounding out to be a very exciting and professional broadcast."

Idaho will broadcast three home games in October starting on Oct. 5, with the home game against Northern Arizona, the Oct. 19 game against Cal Poly and the Oct. 26 game against Eastern Washington.

"We are extremely excited to kick off this partnership for the 2024 season. The broadcast team of Steve Guasch and Ricardo Chavez displays the passion and determination of Jerek and his team at the University of Idaho in reaching Idaho's Hispanic community." said DC Calton, vice president and general manager of Radio Rancho, said, "It is a great opportunity for Radio Rancho to continue serving over half of Idaho's Hispanic population here in the Treasure Valley and extend that coverage to most of Southern Idaho. Vamos Vandals."

Born in Manhattan, N.Y., Gausch has lived in the northwest since moving to the Seattle area in 1987. He took over the Spanish language play-by-play duties for the Mariners in 2023 where his voice can be heard on Root Sports and online. He is also a musician and band leader of the Orquesta Nueva Era. Additionally, Steve works as a real estate agent in the Seattle area.

Chavez was an All-American kicker and punter for the Vandals in 2022 and 2023. 

The game broadcasts will feature a 15-minute pregame show, a full halftime show with highlights, scores and interviews with University of Idaho faculty, staff and student-athletes and a 15-minute post-game show with highlights and post-game interviews with Spanish-speaking Vandal football players.