Building the Next Generation: Kevin Danna on Mentorship, Women’s Basketball, and Sports Media

The Golden State Valkyries and Santa Cruz Warriors broadcaster shares how Women's Premier Basketball Association (WPBA) is creating hands-on opportunities for aspiring sports broadcasters and storytellers.

Breaking into sports broadcasting can feel impossible without experience, but getting that experience is often the hardest part.

That’s exactly the gap Kevin Danna, play-by-play broadcaster for the Golden State Valkyries and Santa Cruz Warriors, wanted to help solve through the WPBA Broadcast Internship Program.

As WPBA’s new season tips off this June, the league is recruiting its next class of interns for hands-on opportunities in broadcasting, sports media, marketing, and game day operations.

We sat down with Kevin to talk about his career journey, the importance of mentorship, and why creating meaningful opportunities for emerging talent matters now more than ever.

Your path into sports broadcasting started long before the Valkyries or Santa Cruz Warriors. What first made you fall in love with storytelling and calling games?

Kevin Danna:
“I think it’s just always been something in me. I grew up listening to morning radio and sports talk all the time. I’d listen in the car with my dad, and even when I was six or seven years  old, I’d fall asleep listening to it. I’m an only child, so when I’d go outside and play basketball or baseball by myself, I would literally commentate what I was doing.

I’ve just always known at some level this is what I wanted to do.”

Early in your career, you got a firsthand look at the realities of the industry. How did those experiences shape the way you now approach mentorship and helping young broadcasters break in?

Kevin Danna:
“There were two moments early on that really stuck with me. One was right after grad school. A classmate introduced me to her boyfriend who worked in sports broadcasting, and he kind of went on this five-minute rant about how tough the industry was and how hard it would be to make it. Then a few months later, I overheard a couple of broadcasters in a press box talking about how the industry ‘screws you over and over again.’ I just remember hearing how bitter the people were. This was all before I had really gotten my footing in the business, and I remember thinking, ‘I hope I’m never that person.’ I always felt like the message to younger broadcasters was, ‘This industry is tough. Are you sure you really want to do this?’ But honestly, anything is going to be tough. You might as well go for something you actually like doing.

That definitely shaped how I think about mentorship now. I’d rather encourage people to join the industry than discourage them from it.”

You never had a traditional sports broadcasting internship yourself. What experiences helped you get your start, and how did that shape the internship program you eventually created with WPBA?

Kevin Danna:
“Honestly, I never had an internship in the industry. Right after undergrad, I started doing web streams for my university while they were building out coverage for different sports. But women’s basketball really became a huge part of my journey. My first-ever live broadcast was Stanford women’s basketball versus UC Santa Barbara on February 9, 2006. Later, I worked on a women’s basketball show with Ros Gold-Onwude called Pink Room, and that eventually led to work with the Pac-12 — first writing, then broadcasting. So when I started working with WPBA, I already had this idea in the back of my head: ‘I eventually want to broadcast in the WNBA. 

Once I got there, I wanted to give back and invest more into helping other people get opportunities, too.”

How did you first get connected to WPBA?

Kevin Danna:
“I remember exactly how it happened. An agent approached me during Summer League in 2022 and told me about this new women’s basketball league. Honestly, at first I was reluctant. It was my last free weekend before four straight months of work without a day off. But then I started looking through the rosters and saw Aquira DaCosta’s name. I remember thinking, ‘Wait… they have McDonald’s All-Americans in this league?’ That’s when I started taking it seriously.

I started preparing for the games, learning the players’ stories, and after the first day I told them, ‘Yeah, I’ll be back Sunday. I want to do this.’”

Tell us a little more about what the WPBA Broadcast Internship Program actually looks like. What kind of experience do interns get?

Kevin Danna:
“This isn’t a shadowing program. Interns are actually calling games. The league is expanding to a 70-game regular season, and about half of those games are opportunities for interns. Everybody gets reps doing both play-by-play and color commentary. Ideally, each intern gets the chance to work around eight games throughout the season. And beyond the broadcasts themselves, I sit down with each intern twice during the year, once after their first broadcast and once after their final broadcast.

We go through what worked, where they improved, and where they can continue growing.”

Do applicants need previous broadcasting experience to apply?

Kevin Danna:
“No. This is really for people who are just getting started. That could be:

• College students
• Recent graduates
• Anyone wanting a career change

Last year, we had an intern who had spent ten years playing professional basketball and wanted to try broadcasting for the first time.

So while a lot of interns are college-aged, this opportunity is really for anyone who wants to learn. You do not need previous broadcasting experience.”

What do you hope interns walk away with at the end of the season?

Kevin Danna:
“A heightened desire to be a broadcaster. Hopefully they walk away feeling like: ‘I’m better than when I started.’ We’ve already had interns move into professional opportunities. Jacob Van Roekel, from our first internship class, is now the voice of Nevada women’s basketball at the Division I level. Another former intern is now doing minor league baseball.

That’s really the goal. To help people grow, improve, and get opportunities.”

What kinds of skills and experience can someone expect to gain through the WPBA Broadcast Internship Program?

Kevin Danna:
“This is really a hands-on opportunity to learn by doing. Interns get real reps calling games, developing both play-by-play and color commentary skills, and figuring out if broadcasting is something they really want to pursue. You don’t have to come in knowing everything. We’re looking for people who are excited to learn and want real experience. Right now, we have four interns confirmed and are looking for four more before the season starts, ideally sometime around Memorial Day weekend.”

Interested in sports broadcasting, storytelling, or breaking into the world of live sports media?

WPBA and Kevin Danna are currently looking to fill four remaining internship spots before the season tips off. Learn more and apply at:

broadcasting@womenspba.org