Aidan Garaygordobil, founder of Delano Sports Media and Delano Sports Foundation, takes after his parents, who have worked as journalists for over 30 years, covering and serving the Central Valley and Delano. Like his parents, he is proudly serving the Delano community by offering a different perspective on what Delano is.
His parents first began their own online magazine, Delano Now, providing residents of Delano and the surrounding communities with current news. Through their work, they have been able to shine a spotlight on student athletes, educators, and locals in their respective communities.
Garaygordobil’s mother, Maria Garaygordobil, has since worked as the sports photographer at Delano High School since the late 90s. When he attended high school there, he took over as the new photographer, eventually catapulting his career and beginning the start of Delano Sports Media.
“ It started off when I was a high school athlete. I would shoot the games I wasn’t playing, and it started as a photography page for my personal use while I was building a portfolio. I was self-taught for most of it,” said Garaygordobil.
With the little journalism experience he had from reinstating the school newspaper at Delano High, he began creating static graphics and producing content focused on sports in his hometown. However, that didn’t stop there; he would always be covering the community in Delano before he ever launched his online brand, Delano Sports Media.
In the fall of 2019 and his first year at Fresno State, Garaygordobil would drive back home every Friday to cover any sports game. Through his work, he has captured the sense of community and pride found in Delano through local sports.
He managed a full-time job as the Fresno State athletics communications assistant, and everything else he provided and produced in Delano was a side hobby he didn’t intend to develop into what it is now. Once COVID hit, everything changed for the young creative, as time seemed unlimited.
“I was just gonna create this like multimedia news network thing that was going to be called Delano Sports Media because I couldn’t stick just to one thing. I wanted to do photo, video, podcasting, and all that’s kind of how that came about,” said Garaygordobil.
His brand was always more than just covering sports; it was his creative outlet that many in his hometown came to appreciate. He discussed how his creative outlet grew into something bigger, wanting to capture the essence of Delano by recognising the significance of each game.
“For me, covering this feels like a digital archive for all these people because sports are really important to a lot of people here in Delano, because it’s a small town, there’s not much going on here,” explained Garaygordobil
In creating this digital archive, he is continuously preserving these memories and creating memorabilia for past and current student athletes in Delano and the surrounding areas, free of charge.
Aidan Garaygordobil, holding the Kennedy CIF Section III Title
Although all the traveling back and forth between Fresno and Delano became costly, it didn’t matter to him because he felt the need and love to highlight his community’s achievements and talent. His reasoning was simple, he wanted to see people happy and be able to see their content
He further explained that many held a misconception that his page was a big media company and that he was being paid for his content. However, that has not been the case; his work has always been pro bono, and as for himself, he likes to remain behind the scenes, not wanting the attention.
“People associated it with a big media company, not me, because I’ve never tried to make it about me. I don’t wanna be mentioned because I’d rather they care about the community, kids, and sports,” said Garaygordobil.
Since the growth of his page and his professional life, many young creatives in his hometown have become more involved and are following in his footsteps. He often shares any collaborative efforts with them, provides feedback, and connects them to people he has met in the field.
This past July, he turned Delano Sports Media into a nonprofit scholarship foundation, which was finally approved in October. The scholarship foundation aims to provide scholarships to support athletes in Delano pursuing higher education. The next wave of his plan would be to provide scholarships for young content creators who he has noticed want to do photography, videography, and graphics.
“I’m excited because I didn’t see that much when I was growing up in Delano. I’m sure people were interested, but they didn’t have the facilities for it. But now a lot of kids are starting to develop that, and I want them to. I want to encourage them to go into that and get a higher education. I plan to foster their ability,” explained Garaygordobil.
He is currently seeking to raise enough funds to cover six $500 scholarships by the end of May. Apart from this huge milestone he hopes to accomplish, he is also in communication with the Delano Joint Union High School District to become an official media partner and create a website that will host information and photos for each game.
