Blues vs. Blackhawks Game Celebrates International Women’s Day
March 8, 2020 is a day where women around the world are celebrated. Sports is a consistent realm in which women have always had a tough time advancing in the field. But, the Chicago Blackhawks, the St. Louis Blues and NBC took this day as a chance to celebrate women in a unique way. They had had an all-female crew call and produce their Sunday evening game.
Producer, Kaitlin Urka, expressed this idea to NBC earlier in the NHL season. The executives at NBC approved it and it was announced in February. Urka believed that it would not be hard to find women who were very good at their jobs that could fill the necessary roles for producing and calling an NHL game.
The team that was brought together to execute this historical broadcast is filled with women who have made their mark on hockey throughout the years.
Kate Scott, who called the play-by-play, partnered with U.S Olympic gold medalists AJ Mleczko and Kendall Coyne-Schofield who were analysts for the game. These three were up close to the action inside United Center in Chicago. Inside the studio, Kathryn Tappen worked with Canadian gold medalist Jen Botterill. Behind the scenes, Rene Hatlelid was the producer with Lisa Seltzer as the director.
While this game allowed for an amazing opportunity for this team of qualified women, it also exposed the issues that women face within sport every day. It was not hard to find women who could do quality work at these positions. If this is the case, then why is it so rare for us to see teams of women broadcasting these types of games on a regular basis? They should get these opportunities on more than just one day of the year. With that being said, NBC, the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues did a respectable thing in presenting this opportunity for these women to be the first all-female crew to broadcast and produce a professional hockey game in the United States.
As Urka mentioned, “International Women’s Day gives us the unique platform to celebrate the great work of these women”.
Sports by Katie 