UVA alumna and ACC Network reporter Dana Boyle will report from the sideline at Scott Stadium on Saturday night. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
Back when her workplace on gamedays at Scott Stadium was a suite, Dana Boyle could look into her future.
There, down a few levels in University of Virginia’s football venue, she’d spot the television sideline reporter.
“I want to do that,” Boyle said she remembered thinking. “I can do it. I just need my chance.”
Boyle, a two-time UVA alumna and former lacrosse player, who worked the suites when employed in a stewardship role by the Virginia Athletics Foundation from 2016 to 2018 and the School of Engineering and Applied Science from 2018 to 2022, is about to get that chance.
When her alma mater hosts the University of Maryland on Saturday at 8 p.m., Boyle will be on field level, microphone in hand, as the newly minted sideline reporter for ACC Network’s prime-time games.
“It’s full circle,” Boyle said. “And I would be lying if I said I haven’t been thinking about it for years, and it just so happens that now it works out. The stars aligned.”
Boyle was a member of the UVA women’s lacrosse team, earning All-ACC honors in 2013. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
That may be giving destiny too much credit, as sacrifice, talent and commitment earned Boyle this career.
The child who regularly watched ESPN growing up in New Hampshire didn’t necessarily set out to work in sports media. She was a sociology major as an undergrad at UVA who shined on the lacrosse field, earning All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 2013. In the summers, Boyle stayed in Charlottesville and worked in the UVA football office for administrator Gerry Capone, soaking up knowledge from a veteran coaching staff.
“(Special teams coach) Larry Lewis had me write his play and practice scripts,” Boyle said. “(Receivers coach) Marques Hagans let me sit in on some of his receivers meetings.
“It all just gave me an insight to the inner workings of football and, really, just athletics in general, which maybe subconsciously sparked my interest. I’m not sure that I could articulate it at the time. It was fascinating, and that was sort of the first time I noticed this would be an interesting career to do.”
When she wasn't busy earning two degrees from @UVA, @danaboyle_ played in the midfield for @UVAWomensLax and worked as a summer intern for @UVAFootball. Now she's making her mark on @PremierLacrosse and @accnetwork broadcasts.https://t.co/AOSKes8nSR
— Jeff White (@JeffWhiteUVa) August 14, 2024
She stayed involved with sports as an intern with the College Football Playoff. Then in February 2018, while working for the VAF, Boyle was offered her first broadcast gig.
Mike Szlamowicz, then a senior producer in UVA Athletics’ video services department, and Luke Goldstein, UVA’s assistant athletics director for video services, needed an analyst for a digital production of an upcoming UVA-William & Mary women’s lacrosse game at Klöckner Stadium. They turned to Boyle, a former lacrosse player who had previously expressed interest in broadcasting.
She accepted their pitch and went on to call a handful of lacrosse games that spring. That’s all Boyle needed to become hooked on the profession.
Boyle now regularly conducts sideline interviews with ACC football coaches, including Clemson University’s Dabo Swinney. (Contributed photo)
“She would ask for game tape after the games, or she’d go back and watch it on her own and study what she did and want to improve for the next game,” said Szlamowicz, now UVA’s assistant athletics director for sport and broadcast production. “She wanted to have meetings after the season to discuss how she could improve, what the next steps for her were.
“She was interested in working games outside of lacrosse. Anything she could do to get herself reps, to improve, to refine her craft. She was proactive about doing that stuff. And that was unique.”
Boyle’s rise came with the launch of the ACC Network in August 2019. The ESPN-operated channel was seeking on-air talent for live coverage of its Olympic sports; Szlamowicz recommended Boyle.
She reported on lacrosse across a variety of ESPN platforms before adding college hockey and football assignments. Until October 2022, when she left UVA for ESPN, Boyle simultaneously worked as a broadcaster and an assistant director of stewardship and donor relations in the Engineering School; she often used her weekends and vacation days to cover games.
“It was a grind,” Boyle said. “I would drive to (the University of North Carolina) and drive back the same day. That’s six hours roundtrip for $100.
“I owe a ton to UVA and my engineering team. They knew this was my dream and passion and they allowed me to go chase it. If I wasn’t at my alma mater, I’m not so sure that they would have been as flexible with me.”
Boyle, alongside veteran play-by-play announcer Wes Durham and analyst Tom Luginbill, debuted on the ACC Network’s primetime football crew Aug. 29 with the call of the Western Carolina University-North Carolina State University game in Raleigh. The new role has since taken her to Atlanta and Clemson, with a Premier Lacrosse League assignment in Boston in between.
The Jackets have arrived at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. @CoachBrentKeyGT doing his pregame interview with @danaboyle_. Live coverage begins on @accnetwork at 7 pm. #StingEm 🐝 pic.twitter.com/Tk7013qE9b
— Mike Flynn (@MFlynnGT) August 31, 2024
Saturday, she’s back home to see, up close, the undefeated Wahoos (2-0) take on an old rival.
“Charlottesville is special. UVA is special,” said Boyle, who has a master’s degree from the School of Education and Human Development. “I’m sure I’m a little biased, but the people that work at UVA, whether it’s in athletics or outside of athletics, are remarkable. And I will never take that for granted, because I think if I was in a different place, I’m not so sure all of this would have transpired the way it did.”
University News Associate University Communications
fpa5up@virginia.edu (434) 924-6856
November 25, 2024
