Frank DeLuca: For the Love of Sports

Story and photo by Ashley Burroughs

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Frank DeLuca, a New Jersey native, did not find his love for sports broadcasting until he was in high school.

At a young age, DeLuca liked to draw and play with Legos but as he got older everything changed.

“It kind of just picked up as I got older and realized that there is a lot to enjoy about sports and even just beyond the score," DeLuca said. 

As he began to enjoy sports on a deeper level he could not help but have great appreciation and love for it.

During his undergrad at Hofstra University, he was heavily involved on campus as a sports director and producer.

DeLuca got an internship as an assistant producer at News 12 Long Island.

His internship allowed him to gain valuable skills about covering sports events and editing highlights to be put on air.

“I feel like it helped me learn more of what I needed to do to create a good sportscast or anything like that, " DeLuca said. "Just watching professionals and being in that environment its something you can really learn from day to day.”

Now DeLuca is a master's student at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University looking to expand his expertise and achieve goals that will launch a successful career in the sports industry.

DeLuca's ultimate goal is to be an intermission host for an NHL team preferably the New Jersey Devils.

The transcription of my interview with Frank DeLuca is below.  Click here for my audio version as well.

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Q & A with Frank DeLuca

Q: Why did you choose to attend Newhouse for your master’s degree instead of going straight into the workforce to gain more experience?

A: I feel like Newhouse is almost a right of passage for successful journalists. I- even interning at News 12 Long Island in my undergrad it seems like three out of five people working are Newhouse grads. So I just thought that you know it’s a one-year program it’s not crazy expensive, it’s I felt like it-it was going to be a very rewarding experience and something that I can look back on and say this really help propel a successful career.

Q: So what have you learned so far being here for the past two weeks?

A: I so far in the grad program I’ve learned that it’s like super hands on which is awesome even when we had orientation they said that it was very project driven for BDJ students and that’s something that I feel like is really really helpful in kind of creating a pseudo work environment where you have deadlines and you have to get something done and I feel like that is something people are going to have to learn sooner or later and they are getting it you know right off the bat so that is definitely a coursework I don’t know whatever it’s a good chance to learn how to do something like that.

Q: So tell more more about your experience working for News 12 Long Island.

A: Day one at News 12 they throw you into almost like in an assistant producer position.  I worked in the sports department and they will say like a lot of days it will be slow and you will just have to log clips of you know watch the Knicks game or whatever game it might be and basically take game notes which is fine. I am not going to complain about watching sports but they really give you a lot of opportunity to contribute to the newscast. It’s not just you know getting coffee or any of that you get to go out in the field and cover a high school game or you get to watch an Islanders’ game or a Rangers’ game and sit down and edit the highlights together for the VO. So it is really cool that they put you in a role to really help out and not just feel like you are doing busy work.

Q: So do you think that experience helped you in your producing as sports anchor and producer at Hofstra Today?

A: Yes, I think it definitely helped. I was the sports anchor and producer in my fall semester and I interned in the spring so I feel like it helped me learn more of what I needed to do to create a good sportscast or anything like that. Just watching professionals and being in that environment its something you can really learn from day to day. 

Q: So where or even how did you like find your love for sports?

A: When I grew up I really was not a big sports guy. I was very I wouldn’t say dorky but I liked to draw and I was super into Legos, video games. But it kind of just picked up as I got older and realized that there is a lot to enjoy about sports and even just beyond just the score. There is so many different areas where you can go with storytelling whether its individual players and their backstories because almost no player is like the other and they all have somewhat interesting backstories when you get into it and like team rivalries and history there is so much to love about it past just play by play so I would say probably in high school I really started enjoying sports like on a deep level. It kind of just grew from there. I wasn’t a big baseball fan and I started watching baseball and that developed a love for that. So I don’t know I feel like it’s just my personality that I can find some amount of passion in whatever so I just like learning about new sports and further developing my love for the ones I already know about.

Q: So what’s your ultimate dream job?

A: I would love to just be a sports anchor in a medium market. I don’t have any like lofty goals at the moment. I am kind of just- I just want to be able to you know have a sportscast in some form. The ultimate dream job really is to be an intermission host for a NHL team ideally it would be the New Jersey Devils so I have grown up a fan of but it really doesn’t matter because it’s a very limited job market. It’s just something I feel like would be awesome to be able to host intermission, interview players, interview team personal, and really be immersed in the game.

Q: If you could interview one person like who would it be?

A: It’s not going to be a sports one but I think I would probably sit down and want to interview Jack Black. I feel like he is probably or Will Farrell. One of those guys. I feel like they are just super as cartoonish as their personalities are. I also feel like there are so many elements about those people that are super down to earth. They’re not trying to be a celebrity. They’re kind of just being a goof ball and had tremendous success about it. So I feel like even pass being able to sit down with them it’s just the experience that it would be to talk to them and hangout with them. I feel like it would be an awesome experience.

Q: Well thank you so much!