She Loves Telling the Sports Story

Aug 31, 2018 | Passions

Whitney Harding ascribes to one theme: when in doubt, know that you will find a way.

Her passion for sports started as a child growing up in a family with boys and in a neighborhood full of kids that would play basketball together. She was a gymnast and dancer until age 8, when she had to make the decision to focus on one or the other. She chose gymnastics, and it led her to a full scholarship to attend North Carolina State University, but she had to retire after a year due to a back injury.

Whitney went on to receive both her undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and her master’s degree from Northwestern University in journalism. Now, Whitney is a news and sports reporter for WHAS11. Before moving to Louisville in 2014, Whitney was the sports director at KOSA-TV in Midland/Odessa, Texas.

Why does she love covering sports? “There’s always a narrative that is much like any other story we’re intrigued by — the underdog, the hero, and the character no one likes,” Whitney says. “What’s not to love about college athletics?”

While this avid sports lover is fascinated by the various directions a story can take her, she has relaxed as she’s found her groove in the city. “Living in a place you love, around solid people, everything else will come together as it should. We (Whitney and her husband) never know what the future holds so we’re just relaxed and enjoying it.”

What would she tell her younger self?

“It’s all going to be OK,” Whitney says. “I struggled with my weight when I was younger because I was a gymnast and there were expectations of how I should look. I wasn’t the smartest in the class because I was training 30 to 40 hours a week. I just wish I could tell the young me that you’re going to get to where you need go and it will be OK. You will find a way.”

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