Francis Tommasino joined the Christopher Newport Athletic Department in 1996, and serves as the school's Senior Director of Athletic Communications. He is best known for his work as the "Voice of the Captains," calling the play-by-play action of Christopher Newport football and men's basketball on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network and on CNUsports.com/watch.
Tommasino, a native of Olean, New York, has broadcast every fall football game played in CNU program history (229 straight games from 2001 through the 2023Â season). He has also now called the action of 749 Christopher Newport men's basketball games, from 1996 through 2024, including the program's first National Championship in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in March of 2023.
Tommasino graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1986 with a degree in Mass Communications. He began his broadcasting career as a high school student, working weekends as a radio disc jockey and news and sports announcer at WHDL/WEBF Radio in Olean.
In 1988, he was named the play-by-play announcer of St. Bonaventure's men's basketball team. For seven seasons, he called the action for the Division I, Atlantic 10 Conference program on the Bonnies Basketball Network. After moving to Newport News in 1995, he joined the staff of WFOG Radio in Norfolk, working as a disc jockey as well as anchoring live remote broadcasts.
Tommasino was originally hired as Christopher Newport's Assistant Sports Information Director in 1996. He worked closely with Director of Athletics and men's basketball coach C.J. Woollum and Sports Information Director Wayne Block to establish a home for the Captains on the radio. The school came to an agreement with WYCS Radio in Yorktown to begin broadcasting Captains games, and the 1996-97 season marked the first time that every game on the Christopher Newport schedule was aired live. The following season, 1997-98, Captains games moved to WXGM Radio (Xtra 99.1 FM) in Gloucester, their radio home for basketball and football ever since.
In June of 2017, Tommasino was inducted into the Olean High School Athletic Hall of Fame for his contributions as a student statistician, and his lifelong work in athletics.
Tommasino and his wife, Ann, have two grown children, Franco and Christine, and reside in Newport News.
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