Darby hired as sports editor for Gannett newsrooms in Gainesville, Ocala and Leesburg
Shelly Darby has joined the Gainesville Sun as sports editor, and leads coverage of sports also for the Ocala Star-Banner and the Daily Commercial in Leesburg.
Darby, the first woman to hold the top editing role for sports in any of those newsrooms in recent history, comes to north central Florida from West Palm Beach, where she has held several editing roles and previously was assistant sports editor at the Detroit Free Press, all part of Gannett's USA TODAY network.
Darby, 50, fills the role left by Arnold Feliciano, who retired last month. Along with directing sports coverage for print editions, she will manage sports for the newspapers' websites, including gatorsports.com.
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She grew up in Wheeling, Illinois, and is a graduate of the University of Kansas.
"I'm excited about boosting high school coverage in north central Florida and working with the Sun's team in such a passionate sports market. Not only are we in SEC football country, but UF has a nationally ranked gymnastics program and so many top-notch programs," Darby said.
"Playing sports, loving sports and watching sports — that wasn't something for just the men in my family. Sports was a part of life growing up in the Chicago area so my interest in sports journalism was not out of character," she said. "I have spent most of my 30 years in journalism working in sports and I'm proud of that. ... Women are UF athletes, UF fans and now UF has a woman sports editor at its hometown paper."
The Gainesville Sun has had women full-time on staff in the sports department as reporters and columnist, and last year hired Ainslie Lee, who now reports to Darby, to cover high school sports.
"Shelly Darby has worked in sports departments for most of her career, overseeing college and high school athletics, but, more importantly, she understands the interest and passion of fans," said Nick Pugliese, Florida sports editor for Gannett.
"She especially gets the intensity of college sports, being a proud graduate of the University of Kansas and having left Phog Allen Fieldhouse with ringing in her ears on many occasions," he said.
Gannett has women in top roles in sports departments in other newsrooms across the nation, including Monica Holland, group sports editor for the southeast region and a regional vice chair for Associated Press Sports Editors.
"Anyone is going to draw from personal and professional experiences in their job and when it comes to women in sports, those experiences might lead us to another angle or element of a story that no one else would consider," Holland said. "That’s why diversity is important, particularly in newsrooms where we want to serve our audience with stories that reflect who they are and what is really happening in their communities."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Shelly Darby hired as sports editor for Gainesville Sun, Ocala, Leesburg