Airwave Advances : Woman Announcer for CSUN Station Pursues Sports Broadcasting Career

The baseball game between Cal State Northridge and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday featured some notable achievements, including a school-record eight doubles by the Matadors, Lenn Gilmore’s conference-leading ninth home run and Donna Mobilia’s description of both.

Mobilia, a 22-year-old senior from Granada Hills, is the first woman to do play-by-play and color commentary for campus-based KCSN (88.5 FM)--the station that helped launch the careers of NBC’s Dick Enberg, L. A. Raiders announcer Rich Marotta, Prime Ticket’s Geoff Witcher and KTTV’s Joe Buttitta.

“I don’t want to be a baseball announcer,” Mobilia said between innings Tuesday of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. game. “After two innings, I know that.”

But Mobilia, who was on the softball team at Granada Hills High and played for one year at the University of Oklahoma, does want to pursue a career in sports broadcasting. She wrote, produced and delivered a four-minute sportscast during KCSN’s nightly 6 p.m. broadcast of National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” and she has handled play-by-play and color assignments for Northridge men’s and women’s basketball games.

On April 2, Mobilia will work the first of four scheduled women’s softball games this season.

“She has knowledge about sports and is very enthusiastic,” said Keith Goldstein, news director at KCSN. “She is very good at getting out in the field, getting interviews and putting together sportscasts.”

Mobilia said she has been encouraged by the recent inroads made by women in sports broadcasting. Gayle Sierens’ highly publicized work on a National Football League game this season, Leandra Reilly’s work on a National Basketball Assn. game for the New York-based Sport Channel Network and NBC’s hiring of Gayle Gardner from ESPN has fueled Mobilia’s optimism.

“I used to say I wanted Vin Scully’s job or Bob Costas’ job,” Mobilia said. “Now, I want Gayle Gardner’s job.”

After graduation in May, Mobilia will attempt to find employment with a radio station, “somewhere between here and Timbuktu.” She plans to improve her projection, delivery and timing during her remaining broadcasts for KCSN.

“I think you need to be enthusiastic, but I need to work on controlling the different tones of my voice,” Mobilia said. “It’s just like playing sports, you have to keep practicing and eventually it will all come together.”