ALLIE BAREFOOT
Sideline Reporter & Sports Journalist
About Allie...
A LIFE FILLED WITH SPORTS
Allie has spent the majority of her life on a ball field or in a stadium, for most of the men in the Barefoot family have played and coached sports throughout her life. No matter who the team was or the circumstances, she wanted to be at the game. Being a natural extrovert and a three-sport athlete throughout her life, she fell in love with the game's voices and stories.
At age 17, Allie was known across Southwest, Virginia, as 'Foot' the intern on the Greg Roberts Live Show. On the AP Award-winning sports radio talk show, Allie accompanied the host and co-host every weekday from
5 p.m. - 7 p.m. discussing local, collegiate, and professional sports. Allie was assigned to traveling to high school games and the Washington Football Team training camps to conduct on-air interviews with the content and questions she created. She also served as the online media producer for the show's Facebook live content.
Before she even stepped foot on a college campus, Allie's on-air stories had AP Award Nominations in the Virginia Sports Radio Talk Show category. She also covered a high school basketball team's run to the Semi-Finals in Richmond, Va., where she conducted a live half-time report from the women's bathroom (as it was the quietest spot in the arena). She also attended NFL Training Camps and interviewed numerous Washington Football players, including former Pro Bowl Defensive Back DeAngelo Hall, Ryan Kerrigan, Colt McCoy, and many others.
COLLEGE EXPERIENCES
At JMU, Allie spent her freshman and sophomore year volunteering for JMU athletics and making personal connections with the athletic communications department while still producing on-air content for the Greg Roberts Live Show by interviewing JMU football athletes and coaches.
Junior year, Allie worked as the sideline reporter for the JMU football radio broadcast. She attended practice every week to conduct player spotlight interviews, worked every Saturday roaming the sideline to provide an on-field perspective, and traveled with the team to Frisco, Texas to cover the FCS Football National Championship.
She became a sideline reporter and team journalist covering almost every JMU sport that airs on MadiZONE, FloSports, MASN, & NBC Sports Washington.
Allie grew a love for researching stories, watching and breaking down film, and conducting personal interviews after practice with players and coaches for podcasts, videos, and radio broadcasts.
POST-COLLEGE
Allie was hired by the National Basketball Association as a Broadcast Assistant within one month of graduating college. She signed a 10-month contract with the department and got to view the game behind the scenes. During her time at the NBA, Allie worked courtside independently as a Timeout Coordinator. She constantly communicated with the in-truck producer, guiding him through in-arena events. When Allie was not on the road, she served as a Broadcast Operations Lead in Secaucus, New Jersey. Here she monitored up to 15 NBA games a night, ensuring the ads ran correctly, pointing out best practices, and communicating with the in-truck producer from the office.
However, Allie was itching to get back in front of the camera.
Allie was offered her first job in news for a #56 market in Richmond, Virginia. Her experience going live in sports productions stood out to the News Director. Since being at Channel 8News ABC, Allie has covered extensive breaking news coverage, including the tragic deadly shooting on UVA's campus. She also served as the 'sports' reporter at the station. After COVID, Channel 8 went away with their sports department. However, with her extensive background in sports, she was in charge of covering sports stories when they came our way, including the NASCAR Cup Series at the Richmond Raceway.
