The Sports Exchange
The Sports Exchange highlights student-athletes from around the South Shore on their accomplishments, both athletic and scholastic.
Sunday Evenings 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
with Quinn Kelly, Johnny Rorke & Brendan Connelly
Contact The Sports Exchange on Twitter:
Quinn Kelly:
Quinn Kelly (pictured above) grew up in Walpole, MA, spending summers with family here in Marshfield before making the move down full time. He attended Xaverian Brothers High School, where he fell in love with sports broadcasting, and formed a lasting partnership with his Sports Exchange co-host, Johnny Rorke. He and Rorke began broadcasting Xaverian’s football and basketball games during their junior year, being taken in by the high school game and eventually getting to cover Xaverian’s run to the state championship game at Gillette in 2013.
More about Quinn
After graduating from Xaverian Brothers High School in 2014, he went on to study at Boston College. During his time in Chestnut Hill, he held the position of Director of the campus’s student-run sports radio station. His coverage had a focus on BC’s football, baseball, men’s basketball, and men’s hockey teams, broadcasting each team’s games in earnest. He also had the opportunity to broadcast a number of other sports, including men’s and women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, volleyball, and field hockey, on the ESPN platform. During his time with the station, Quinn had the pleasure of covering games all over the country, highlighted by the opportunity to broadcast from all the home of each of his beloved Boston teams; Gillette Stadium, Fenway Park, and the TD Garden.
During the latter three summers of his college years, Quinn worked as the broadcaster and Assistant General Manager of the Plymouth Pilgrims baseball organization. Upon finishing his final summer with the team, he joined WATD, stepping in for Bill Wilhelm as the play-by-play voice of our high school football and basketball broadcasts this past September. In April, upon Bill’s stepping down, Quinn assumed the role of host of the Sports Exchange.
Quinn continues to work closely with Bill, and he and Johnny work each week to continue Bill’s mission of providing the best coverage of high school athletics possible.
Johnny Rorke:
Johnny Rorke grew up in Norton, MA. Like Quinn, he attended Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood where he developed his passion for sports in his four years as a Hawk. With the help of Greg Whittaker, Xaverian’s Director of Technology, Johnny and Quinn started broadcasting the school’s varsity basketball and football games on the XBHS platform. While his fall and winters were spent behind the mic, Johnny spent his spring seasons on the tennis court. During his two seasons with the team, Johnny proved to be a crucial piece in the program’s success and deep playoff runs.
More about Johnny
Upon graduating from Xaverian in 2014, Johnny took his talents to Worcester, where he studied Economics at The College of the Holy Cross. During his four years on The Hill, he was a student worker in the campus bookstore. When he wasn’t in the classroom or assisting customers, Johnny spent most of his time in the Hart Athletic Center as a Manager for the Holy Cross Men’s Basketball team. For three years he spent countless hours at practices, team meetings, games and road trips. The team was able to find success under head Coach Bill Carmody, highlighted by their improbable run to the NCAA tournament in 2016. This position allowed Johnny to grow his love for athletics while developing countless relationships and learning the intricacies of a Division 1 program under a prominent coaching staff. He was able to take what he learned and apply his knowledge to coaching a Worcester middle school basketball team to a league championship in the 2017-2018 season.
Since leaving Holy Cross in May of 2018, Johnny has been working at an insurance company in Boston. In his free time, he has filled in on WATD broadcasts when needed, mostly notably on the sidelines at Gillette for Scituate’s Super Bowl victory over Nipmuc. Johnny’s familiarity with WATD, passion for high school sports, and the broadcasting relationship he has built with Quinn over the years allowed him to slot in comfortably as a co-host when Quinn assumed the role of host of the Sports Exchange. Alongside Quinn, Johnny looks forward to the opportunity to continue Bill Wilhelm’s mission and bring great coverage to the exciting world of South Shore high school sports.
Brendan Connelly:
Brendan Connelly, a lifetime native of Scituate, comes to WATD via the University of Massachusetts, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications. During his time in Amherst, Brendan worked extensively with the University’s Radio Station WMUA 91.1 FM, in their sports department as a broadcaster and reporter. He also wrote for the Northampton-based periodical, the Daily Hampshire Gazette in their sports department. Following his graduation in May 2014, Brendan walked into WATD and was hired as a sales executive, then worked his way into the sports department, becoming a weekly host on the Sports Exchange with Bill Wilhelm. One year later, Brendan officially took over the Morning Sports with Rob & Lisa, giving updates on Local High School Sports News Tuesdays through Fridays. Brendan still consistently sells advertising space as well for WATD, and is best known for his colorful commentary during local hockey games.
Over the course of his tenure at WATD, he has had the chance to interview stars including Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Brad Marchand and of course, the best student athletes from the local community.
Outside the station, Brendan also works as a sports writer for the Boston Herald. He also interned as a broadcaster for the Brockton Rox which he did during the summer of 2012.
Weekly Commentary with Former Sports Exchange Host Bill Wilhelm
Bill Wilhelm was born in Uniontown, PA and grew up in Southern New Jersey. He graduated from Kent State in Ohio in 1968 and after a brief stint as an infielder with the US team in the Global Baseball League, he came to Duxbury and in 1969 entered the life insurance business.
More about Bill
When WATD-fm was formed in 1977 he joined the staff as the Sports Director, and has remained in that position ever since. As such his focus has been on local amateur and high school athletes.
In addition to focusing on area student athletes, he covers all of the local major league franchises (and minor, the PawSox) including Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, Revolution, and Breakers (the Boston team in the new WUSA). On Sunday evenings he gives local high school athlete standouts their due by interviewing them either in studio or over the phone.
Bill has interviewed many famous sports figures over the years beginning with Red Auerbach and John Havlicek back in the first days of the radio station, continuing with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova during the Virginia Slims tour. There were legendary broadcasters, Mel Allen, Ned Martin, Curt Gowdy and Sean McDonough among others. And, of course, there was Larry Bird, Kevin McHale (who dropped in during a show one Sunday) and Robert Parrish.
Most recently he had the opportunity to interview some of the legends of baseball including Bob Feller, Brooks Robinson, Tug McGraw, Bill Lee and Bert Campaneris, as well as the current crop of Red Sox players.