BEAVER TOWNSHIP – Reflecting on his high school football days at East Allegheny High School, Josh Frketic can look back and thank three knee surgeries for his sportscasting career. A tape recorder given to him as a Christmas gift by his parents at age 12 was what kick-started those dreams.

A graduate of Point Park University, Frketic has served as a sportscaster at WKBN-TV, Channel 27 for the past eight years, and notes the many similarities between his upbringing outside Pittsburgh and the time he has spent in the Mahoning Valley.

“The people of Pittsburgh and Youngstown are very much the same,” Frketic told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “Both are blue collar towns with hard workers, the people are deep-rooted and they are passionate about family and their sports teams, every single team from high school to the professional level.

“I was raised in Pittsburgh but Youngstown is home to me now. This is where I met my wife, bought my first home and have set up roots. I grew up in District 7 of the WPIAL and can tell you firsthand that sports in the Mahoning Valley are every bit as competitive. The biggest difference is that Pittsburgh has rivers and Youngstown has lakes.”

While in college – he earned his undergraduate degree in telecommunications from PPU in 2011 – Frketic cut his teeth calling play-by-play for the Pioneers’ men’s and women’s basketball teams where he won a national award for best sports play-by-play from the IBS (Intercollegiate Broadcasting Systems), also earning the coveted Myron Cope scholarship as a senior.

He came to the area from Bluefield, West Virginia where he was weekend anchor at WVVA-TV for nearly two years.

When he arrived at WKBN-TV in 2013, he began as a videographer, became the weekend weatherman for several months then moved over to sports in 2014 where he has been a fixture as both anchor and reporter ever since.

“I’ve been in our sports department for the past eight years and have proudly covered numerous state high school championships, all of which remain very special to me,” Frketic added. “Being there when Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a special moment, while covering the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup, YSU in the FCS national semi-finals and national championship in 2016 and the Pirates’ wild card appearance were equally fun and important for me.”

An avid Pittsburgh Penguins, Steelers and Pirates fan, Frketic has had multiple memorable moments that he says he will treasure for years to come.

“Back in 2008 while still in college, I interviewed both Bart Starr and Mel Blount and both left lasting impressions on me,” Frketic stated. “Both exuded a class that you expected and wished for in professional athletes so needless to say I wasn’t disappointed at all. Also, I was lucky enough to travel with the Pittsburgh Tribune Review to cover the Steelers leading up to their Super Bowl XLII championship at Tampa Bay and that is certainly something I will never forget.

“I got a great sound bite from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger after the AFC Championship game that year when they played the New York Jets and his response to my question was the cold open on ESPN’s Sportscenter that night so as I am getting ready to graduate and start my career with a microphone, those events remain a very special memory.”

He said YSU’s sports teams have also provided some memorable moments.

“Covering YSU’s football team through their national championship game appearance in 2016 is something that I still look back on quite fondly,” Frketic noted. “Watching Sunday’s Super Bowl and the catches MVP Cooper Kupp made was reminiscent of the catches he hauled in against us when we played at Eastern Washington in the semi-finals that season. I was in the endzone and able to capture Kevin Rader’s game-winning catch against EWU, which sent us to the title game against James Madison.

“I have watched YSU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams grow and develop the past several years and hope they both can stay healthy to make a deep postseason run this year. Our women’s team under John Barnes has become ‘Shooter U.’ and it is going to be a dogfight for both squads through the end of the season.

“Since coming to Youngstown I have had some changes in my life goals, simply because my wife and I really love this area. It has become very special to both of us and we hope to be here for a long, long time.”

Next Monday, President Jim Tressel of Youngstown State University will serve as guest speaker.