On Monday, Aug. 26, 2024, the University of Central Florida’s Sports news network Hitting the Field added a new segment titled “Girls Got Game” to their YouTube channel. Hitting the Field is a media organization and sports talk show produced and broadcasted by UCF students, featuring sports-related content.
Franki Noble, a member of this club, is the producer, creator, and host of “Girls Got Game.” She was born and raised in South Florida by her mom who taught her to love sports, especially hockey. “So, once I got to college, I knew I wanted to try and do everything in my power to work in professional hockey or another sport,” and that she did.
Noble started as a social media manager for UCF’s club ice hockey team and interned with UCF Athletics in the Strategic Communications department. Then, she moved on to be a game night intern, focusing on social media for the Solar Bears. She eventually made her way to be an intern for the PR department at the Florida Panthers stadium back in her hometown, being a small part of the Panthers winning the Stanley Cup.
In her two years as a student at UCF, she has shown the dedication of her love for sports along with building credibility to have control over a show like this. With a major in Visual Communications and an anticipation to graduate in the Fall of 2025, she found Hitting the Field through people in her line of education.
The channel had previous female-oriented segments like “Girl Talk” and “Girls on Deck.” However, none of them stuck. When a previous show called “The Combine” was being moved to a podcast style, Noble decided it was time for her to jump in.
As the producer and host, she is responsible for coming up with segment ideas and assigning graphics and highlights for guests to make on air. She works alongside the behind-the-scenes producer Mason Myers along with 50 other students.
Witnessing this passionate, fun, tight-knit group in person is truly inspiring. Students from all different backgrounds who have worked on various jobs work together, making it feel like each project is the most important one.
They combine on-air news and a welcoming environment to create segments, highlighting females in sports on all levels. The biggest news in sports, inspirational talks from athletes, sports comedy, and even game day outfit inspiration are all showcased.
The episodes start off by highlighting women in sports whether it is a league, team, or individual. Then, they discuss the breaking news in sports from the past week. The last segment is about eight to 10 minutes of open conversation with a guest member of the program pitched prior. In total, the episodes are about 30-40 minutes in length.
“Working in sports myself, I think it is so important to uplift women in sports.” – Franki Noble
Through the program, Noble and other members were recently able to run their own UCF Football show, sponsored by ESPN+ completely on their own. They had the privilege of meeting former UCF and NFL running back, UCF’s Football Head Coach Gus Malzahn.
“I never would’ve imagined I could get the opportunity to be a part of and I owe it all to Hitting the Field,” Noble said.
Noble, along with every member of Hitting the Field and “Girls Got Game,” focus on women in sports, while also working together to inspire anyone who wants to be a professional athlete, work in media or producing, or simply just has a passion for sports. So, if you want to see these students in action, then go check out “Girls Got Game” on Hitting the Field’s YouTube channel.