Black Athletes in the Spotlight: HBCU Sports & Local Highlights
- Destiny Hartwell earned a master's in sports management from Georgia Southern University, turning passion into a broadcasting career.
- She views the Savannah Steel role as a crucial step toward her goal of broadcasting in the WNBA.
- Hartwell prepares thoroughly, studying rosters and player backgrounds before each broadcast to learn the team and league.
- Hartwell hopes her on air presence inspires young girls to pursue sports careers beyond playing, encouraging confidence and perseverance.
- Being called the voice of the Steel felt surreal, and she is building her identity behind the mic with each call.
Meet the voice of the Savannah Steel
Destiny Hartwell is the franchise’s first-ever broadcast announcer, and the first woman to hold the role.
SAVANNAH, Ga. —
For most Savannah Steel fans, game night starts in the stands. For Destiny Hartwell, it starts with preparation, notes and a headset.
The Savannah Steel are the city’s first professional women’s basketball team, and Hartwell is helping make history alongside them. She is the franchise’s first-ever broadcast announcer, and the first woman to hold the role.
“It means a lot to me. The first voice of the Steel,” Hartwell said. “Just hearing ‘the voice of the Steel’ was honestly surreal.”
Hartwell recently earned her master’s degree in sports management from Georgia Southern University and is now turning her passion for sports into a career. She says the opportunity with the Steel is an important first step toward a bigger goal.
“It’s cool to just be able to have this experience and get my foot in the door,” Hartwell said. “I want to be doing this job for the WNBA, and so this is just step one.”
Before each broadcast, Hartwell puts in the work, studying rosters, learning player backgrounds and getting more familiar with both the team and the league.
“It’s been very interesting just to go through that prep,” Hartwell said. “Also, besides me preparing for games, just learning more about myself. It’s been very cool to learn so much and get to know these players and just be in this space of firsts.”
While the Steel are inspiring female athletes on the court in Savannah, Hartwell hopes her role can inspire young girls to see opportunities for themselves in sports beyond playing.
“I hope they see that they can do it,” Hartwell said. “I hope they see that they don’t have to be scared. God did not give you the spirit of fear but of a sound mind. So just telling yourself over and over again that you can do it. No doubt, no fear.”
She said hearing herself described as the “voice of the Savannah Steel” still feels surreal.
“Isaac called me the voice of the Savannah Steel for the first time today and I was like, ‘Is that me? I’m the voice of the Savannah Steel?’” Hartwell said.
As the Savannah Steel build their identity on the court, Hartwell is building hers behind the mic, one call at a time.
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