Josh Leatherman: The voice of NSU Athletics

By Brielle Aguayo •

Josh Leatherman, sophomore communication major, has always had a passion for sports.

He hoped to play baseball for Saint Thomas University.

But a shoulder injury got in his way. It prevented him from pursing sports as a career, though not his dream of working in sports.

Leatherman is a member of NSU Athletics’ broadcast team.

“I headed toward the broadcast booth where I originally started as a camera operator, and then I moved towards the microphone, which has been my home ever since,” Leatherman said. “I found it to be a very enjoyable experience and it keeps me close enough to the field where I get my kick of athletics every week.”

As the broadcasting coordinator for NSU’s Athletics department, he attends all home-games, both indoor and outdoor, and is in charge of set-up. Leatherman is also the on-air voice during the games.

He said that he works hard and can’t afford to make any mistakes in this position.

“Our sports do gain a lot of attention, and we get a lot of national publicity as well. So, our broadcast has to be up the par,” Leatherman said. “We have plenty of people viewing our events wanting to keep track of our athletes. One of our broadcasts even had a clip put on Sports Center as a top 10 play two years ago.”

Leatherman and the rest of the coverage team fact check and take extensive notes.

He said it’s a fast-paced environment he had to adapt to, and it wasn’t always simple.

After getting his start in broadcasting at a small high school  in Miami Gardens, Leatherman faced some challenges as a broadcaster at NSU. He said he was thrown into the fire of collegiate sports without extensive experience in the field.

He didn’t know how to do many of the key aspects of his job, like giving play-by-play, researching different teams and interviewing players.

“Experience and growth is not something that you usually get at the same time, and I think I’ve had a pretty unique run through the Athletic Departments with that,” Leatherman said.

He said he’s thankful to be able to grow within his position and grateful to have someone to lean on, like his big brother Jon.

Jon Leatherman, manager of Athletic Communications, said he is proud of his younger brother.

“He’s extremely dependable in everything that we do,” Jon Leatherman said. “I know I can count on him.”

Jon Leatherman has seen Josh’s growth firsthand.

“He’s been with us now for three years, so just the steps he’s taken as a broadcaster, as a producer, seeing him gain experience while he’s getting his degree is great,” Jon Leatherman said.

Josh Leatherman’s goal for this year is to gain more viewers and have NSU athletes be more recognized.

“I’d love for our viewership to double. We get about 250 to 300 viewers for all of our basketball games. I would love, personally, to upgrade our live stream capabilities to get that number to double and potentially grow even farther in the future,” said Josh Leatherman, who sees college athletics as part of his future.

“I, personally, have fallen in love with the college realm,” he said.

His brother agrees Josh has a bright future ahead of him.

“Every sport that we have here, I know he can cover anything on the fly. So just seeing his growth as a person and as a broadcaster just makes me incredibly proud to be his brother,” Jon Leatherman said. “I know he’s extremely smart, whether it’s in producing or as a broadcaster for any sport.”