Broadcaster Melanie Newman made history in April as part of the first all-female broadcast booth in professional baseball. On Saturday, Newman will be part of broadcasting history again, this time at the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl between Liberty and Georgia Southern.
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Jamie Seh, Dani Welniak and Newman are calling the game for BowlDayRadio, becoming the first all-female radio broadcast crew to call a college football game at the FBS level. Newman will be the sideline reporter while Seh and Welniak serve as play-by-play and color analyst, respectively.
🚨 More History to be Made at @ExploriaStadium 🚨
The #CureBowl National @BowlDayRadio Broadcast will feature the first all-female crew – @jamieseh, @KCTVDani, @MelanieLynneN – to call a FBS 🏈game
👉 https://t.co/GPWli99Q1Y#WeCanTackleThis #OrlandoGoesPink pic.twitter.com/zH0Q3Fysf3
— FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl (@CureBowl) December 12, 2019
In addition to her work as a sideline reporter for Liberty football games on ESPN+, Newman is the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the Salem Red Sox, the high-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. She has learned to lean on her relationship with Christ when facing the challenges that come with being in the sports broadcasting industry.
“Having faith doesn’t mean that everything’s perfect 24/7; we go through tough stuff and that’s not because we’re being punished,” Newman said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in October. “That’s not because He doesn’t love us. It’s so that we grow and that we learn. Having faith doesn’t mean your life is going to be perfect. It just means that you have something that’s going to get you through those moments that are tough.”
One of the things Newman said she prioritizes is loving everyone she interacts with in her career unconditionally and wholeheartedly.
“With social media, everything can blow up so quickly, and people can really misjudge people,” she said. “It just makes it all the more crucial to live into that love culture and to act on it without the need of receiving anything in return, but to do it just because that’s what we’re called to do.”
Kickoff of the Cure Bowl from Orlando is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET.
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