SAANICH -- Tyson was hoping to compete in the Canadian Little League Championships until the pandemic hit.
“It was really sad,” the 12-year-old says. “It was definitely not the best day.”
Baseball was cancelled indefinitely and boredom flourished incessantly.
“Then I kind of accepted it,” Tyson says. “And decided to make the best out of a worse situation.”
Tyson decided to revisit a shoe review video he’d posted online a few months before. He watched it and decided he could do better.
“I’ve always thought about starting a YouTube channel,” he explains. “Why not start it now with all this free time?”
So, he set up his smart phone and started recording a series of videos on his Tyson Hockley channel—from tidying his room really fast to smashing things really slow.
“He works day and night on this,” Derek says about his son. “He’s always trying to come up with new ideas.”
Derek was enlisted to help with one of the videos.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m in a car right now,” Tyson asks in one of his videos.
He eventually shows that they drove to a nearby park before setting up a couple of cameras and one speaker that’s playing owl sounds.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Derek says. “It was five minutes in and we thought, 'He’s not going to show up today.'”
But then a barred owl flies down from a tree and over Tyson's head. If the boy hadn’t ducked, the bird would have hit him.
After a few more flybys, the bird lands on the table beside Tyson. The owl, it seems, is ready for its close-up.
“Tyson had never seen an owl before,” Derek says. “It was really quite interesting to watch the reactions that he was having.”
Derek wasn’t the only one who found the exchange interesting.
“I love this kid!” says one of the hosts of Right This Minute. “That’s cute!”
“I love this kid too!” says another.
Tyson’s owl video was profiled on the American viral video show.
“Once they picked it up it started snowballing my views,” Tyson smiles. “I’m now sitting at nine thousand!”
No matter how many views the videos get, Derek is one proud dad.
“Just seeing his focus and dedication, he’s really matured,” Derek smiles. “I’m really amazed by how driven he is.”
Although he hasn’t given up on practising baseball, Tyson says his focus is now producing entertainment during the pandemic.
“I like bringing joy to people’s lives,” the boys says. “When they enjoy my videos, it makes me feel good as well.”