The thought of becoming a high school sports writer never crossed Andrew “Andy” Luberda’s mind until he read a sports journalism book.

In it, he read a quote from a Chicago journalist that changed Luberda’s career path and led him to become an endearing member of Arizona’s high school sports community and beyond.

“Don’t discount being a high school sports writer,” the Chicago writer wrote. “It can be the greatest experience of your life.”

Despite a late start in sports journalism, Luberda made a huge impact before planning to leave Arizona recently and his passing.

Arizona's high school sports fans learned early Tuesday morning that Luberda passed away of COVID-19.

He accomplished a lot during his eight years in journalism. Radio board operator and reporter. Radio operations manager. Writer. Sports website owner.

His caring touch made it easy to root for and befriend him.

“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,” said Luberda’s longtime manager at Scottsdale’s Skyview Networks, Aaron Mellis. “Andy’s warm heart and genuine care for his colleagues will continue to be a part of the Skyview Networks culture.”

Luberda was about to move to Kentucky to be with his wife, Kelli, a native of the Bluegrass State.

Kelli is need of a kidney transplant, Andy told the AZPreps365 Saturday Morning Show during a phone interview on Dec. 5. Skyview Networks gave Luberda the go-ahead to work from Kentucky while the Luberdas waited for a kidney donor.

Luberda’s son, Kade, is a board operator at Skyview Networks.

“Together, (Luberda and Kade) shared a passion for sports, and Andy was proud to have the experience working alongside his son,” Mellis said. “Andy will be deeply missed by the Skyview family.”

Luberda and his wife were often spotted together at high school games.

Kelli took photos of the athletes and teams Andy covered for the website he owned, County Line Preps. Luberda moved to Arizona in his early 20s and attended Mesa Community College before enrolling at Arizona State and working for Skyview Networks beginning in 2012.

He also worked in medical billing before giving his dream job a shot. Luberda’s first sports writing gig came with the Southeast Valley Ledger, where he wrote the popular Four Corners of Sports blog on the schools he covered, Poston Butte, Queen Creek, Combs and San Tan Foothills.

“I’ve enjoyed the relationships I’ve had with these guys off the field just as much as when they were playing,” said Luberda on Dec. 5. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

One of Luberda’s most recent writing jobs was with CopperArea.com, which honored him Tuesday morning.

Luberda also had a great radio voice. On Friday nights for the past couple seasons he was a weekly contributor for the High School Football Wrap Up Show on 1580 The Fanatic.

“Although I never met Andy in person, I considered him a friend,” said Mike Grose, the host of the Friday Night Wrap Up Show. “I looked forward to his weekly visits with us and appreciated the passion that he had for the games and kids he covered. This is a big loss for our community.”

Luberda never stopped finding ways to contribute to his community as a writer and was hired by arizonavarsity.com this season.

Arizonavarsity.com’s Ralph Amsden posted a moving tribute about his friend Tuesday morning.

“(Luberda) genuinely cared about the people in the area he covered,” Amsden said. “He celebrated when they celebrated. He mourned when they mourned. I brought him on at ArizonaVarsity because I wanted this website to reflect his vision for being passionate about the community, and caring about the people who create content for the community. We wanted to make ArizonaVarsity a family atmosphere, and it didn’t make sense to do that without a man who always treated everyone he encountered like family.”

Gofundme page for Luberda: https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-andy-luberda?qid=16fe662b3c8b1da3b94608b624b6383c

https://twitter.com/JordyHamm/status/1343961655340748801

https://twitter.com/QCHS_Athletics/status/1343992787721601024

https://twitter.com/RsmithYWV/status/1343989463664377856