In the 2024-2025 school year, a student-hosted podcast called “The Den” published sports-centered episodes throughout the year. With its hosts having graduated, there was a content vacuum for consistent, regular broadcast journalism covering Oviedo High School’s sports programs.

The new podcast is called “Friday Night Lights,” a name playing on the cultural understanding and spirit of American football. The new name highlights its fresh approach.

Prior to the start of the summer, senior Gabriella Decesare had dedicated hours to creating a new sports podcast for Oviedo High. In search of a cohost, she decided on junior and new reporter, Samantha Lebron.

“We’re in tune with each other,” said Decesare, “which makes it more comfortable for our players, because they’re joining in this conversation that we already have going.”

Having grown up in Oviedo and worked with the athletic training program at school, Lebron was already familiar with the community’s high regard for football and other sports. Combined with Decesare’s involvement in Oviedo’s athletic programs and other ones from previous schools attended, the two have uploaded four episodes since the start of the school year.

Scheduled to post every other Wednesday, the podcast shifted their focus from gameday coverage to highlighting players making positive contributions to their teams.

“We put our full potential into who we’re bringing in…looking at what they’re doing to benefit the team,” Lebron said. “[We want players showing] uplifting attitudes…someone who will make it enjoyable, not only for us, but for the people watching.”

Interviewing a minimum of two people for every episode, the girls have hosted juniors Carmari Solomon and Jordan Donahoo discussing the season’s first three games; junior Johnnie Cobbs and senior DaShon Febres regarding the team’s current situation and future outlook; and seniors Laila Saini, Erin Boone, and junior Sophia Prochazka about Mane Attraction, Oviedo’s dance team.

Aside from the featured guests sharing their segments, Decesare and Lebron update the podcast’s Instagram and TikTok accounts weekly, taking advantage of the rapidly growing popularity of short-form content. Between both platforms, the account features podcast clips, player conversations and highlights, trending dances between hosts and athletes, and “get-ready-with-me” style videos.

“Even when we don’t have podcasts that week, we will keep up with [social media] so that people know that we’re not inactive or get drifted,” Lebron said. “Keeping people in that rhythm, they start seeing, watching it more, asking about it.”

Decesare and Lebron introduced the podcast with football players to peak the interest of the majority of those in Oviedo. Now that different sports are being covered, the target audience stretches past football fanatics and parents, applying to a diverse audience.

As the number of listeners grows, so does the reach of the podcast. Past the broader reach and greater impact of their social media presence, the podcast differs from last year’s narration in the expertise shared from two women.

“I’m really glad about us being two female podcasters talking about sports and football,” said Decesare. “You can talk about and be educated on sports and still be successful in the field without being a man.”