[tvp2003]

Good article in the Athletic about what Leah Hextall has been up to and her efforts to break into hockey as a female PBP voice:

https://theathletic.com/1652343/2020...oadcast-booth/

Hextall, 40, currently works full-time for the Premier of Manitoba as a communications staffer. That’s what she calls her “real job.” Meanwhile, on the side, she is “banging on doors” to get reps in play-by-play, which she says is “almost impossible.”

When she first set her sights on play-by-play, Emrick suggested she take a page from his book. When he started broadcasting in 1968, there was nowhere to practice, so he would take a recorder and sit alone at hockey games in Fort Wayne, Ind., and call the game to himself.

Based in Winnipeg, Hextall started showing up at AHL Manitoba Moose games and doing the same. Eventually, the Moose gave her a booth to sit in to call the games to herself. And this year, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League invited her to call their games live on a streaming service.

“It’s not a lot of bells and whistles,” Hextall said. “Getting reps is banging on doors and saying, ‘I’m doing this and I would love an opportunity’ and honestly, doing it for free. I just go do this. It costs me money, I’m driving an hour out of Winnipeg to go do this and it’s my own time and it’s not glamorous in any way, but if you want to get better, it’s the only way to get better.”