Skyview Networks Pays Tribute To Staffer, Taken By COVID-19

0

He was a close friend to many at Skyview Networks. There, he worked with his son, Kade, a board operator.


Now, Skyview staff and many across the Arizona sports sphere are paying tribute to Andy Luberda, who died Tuesday of complications directly tied to the COVID-19 virus.

Luberda had been associated with Skyview since May 2012, and served as a play-by-play board operator responsible for operating F.A.S.T. Web Automation and tracking live reads during sporting events, including MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA broadcasts.

Concurrently, Luberda was a sports writer for Copper Basin News Publishers, covering high school sports.

This work came after a career pivot a decade ago.

I am passionate about sports and motivated to work in sports media,” Luberda wrote on his LinkedIn profile. “After almost 16 years in the Medical Financial Management industry, I returned to school in 2010 to finish my college education. I expect to work as a writer/reporter, sports media relations, or in a sports information department.”

That goal came to fruition at Skyview and at Copper Basin.

According to AZPreps365, a high school sports blog in Arizona, Luberda was a fixture on the sidelines of Friday night high school football games in the Grand Canyon State.

“Andy’s love of sports and media attracted him to work full-time at Skyview Networks, and he quickly became a valued member of the operations department, running many professional play-by-play radio broadcasts, including his beloved Chicago Cubs,” Luberda’s longtime manager at Scottsdale-based Skyview Networks, Aaron Mellis, told the publication. “Andy’s warm heart and genuine care for his colleagues will continue to be a part of the Skyview Networks culture.”

The AZPreps365 blog also reports that Luberda was about to move to Kentucky to be with his wife, Kelli, who is need of a kidney transplant.

Skyview Networks had granted Luberda the go-ahead to work from Kentucky while the Luberdas waited for a kidney donor.

To help the family, Skyview Networks has organized a GoFundMe fundraiser “to help cover medical and memorial costs and to provide financial support for Kade during this difficult time.”

With a $5,000 goal, some $4,450 had been raised by 12:30pm Arizona Time on Wednesday (12/30).