Highlighting the best: WR man’s sports reels elevate local talent

WINDOW ROCK

The one thing that Dean Becenti and his late mother used to do together was watch high school sports. The pair would always go to the local high school games, traveling to the Chinle Wildcat Den to support the Fighting Scouts from Window Rock High School.

“I would think to myself ‘Boy, it would have been nice if somebody recorded these guys and they could look back on it, years down the road,’” Becenti, 21, said.
After his mother passed away, attending the games became a way for Becenti to honor all the moments he spent with her.

“None of this would have been possible without my mother making me become a fan of high school basketball and taking me to all the games growing up, supporting Window Rock,” he said. “I started my film work in honor of her after she passed.”

Still at the back of his mind was the desire to share these sports moments with the world. So, he picked up his iPod Touch and pressed record.

“There’s a lot of potential on the Navajo Nation,” said Becenti, who is from Window Rock. “They should be getting more exposure to help them get out there more. There’s a lot of talent that deserves to be at the next level, whether that be at the professional level or at the college level.”

Eventually, recording videos at sporting events became a real hobby for Becenti and he enjoyed it. From there he started to create highlight reels for local athletes.

Highlight reels are short videos that showcase the most competitive moments for an athlete. These reels are often sought out by college recruiters who are looking for new talent. They can also be used to get semi-professional and professional sports leagues or associations interested in an athlete.

Although his work is primarily for the athletes, he also wanted to create something for the fans.

“(I) do it for the fans,” he said. “(I) do it for the student athletes to get more exposure. So they’ll have a bigger platform out there for college recruits to find their film. Also, for family members who aren’t able to attend games. They have a place where they can watch the film.”

He continued to take videos and it became more than just a hobby. He started to gain a following and decided to upgrade his iPod Touch to an iPad.

Through this process he has become acquaintanted with a lot of the local athletes. Becenti loves being able to support them in their athletic endeavors.

“It’s been incredible and uplifting,” he said.

This has led to many new opportunities and friendships with other professional athletes.

“It’s just opened a lot of new doors for me,” Becenti said.

He is happy to have these new friendships.

Becenti uploads all his content to his YouTube channel that has over 1,200 subscribers and half a million views on his content. His most viewed sports-related video sits at over 25,000 views. It’s oddly enough a shaky 15-minute video of the 2017-18 varsity girls basketball game featuring the Ganado Hornets playing the Window Rock Fighting Scouts. The game is close — 49-47 — with the Hornets down and only 2 minutes left in the final quarter. It’s a tense and competitive two minutes of play. The final score is 54-53 with the Scouts winning.

His next-most viewed video is of his friend and professional bull rider Cody Jesus practicing at his home. This video has about 20,000 views.

In the future, Becenti would like to purchase a camera to up the quality of his videos and would like to purchase a computer to edit on.

Information: Dean Becenti on YouTube

---