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Wednesday, June 20, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B5 Arts & Entertainment Oakville Reaver A&E Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Ext. 254); Fax: 337-5567: E-mail: baldwin@haltonsearch.com Oakville woman heads up new digital women' s sports network team at the world champi onships, girls now know that stars like Cassie Campbell "Just watch us!" was the and Hayley W ickenheiser parting rem ark o f Sue exist. Because they've had Prestedge on a recent the media exposure. We've Saturday morning. It seen them in action." W T S N seemed to res promises profiles onate with a cer on women Halltain Nike catch of-Famers and phrase ("Just do past Olympic it!") and a champions, as famous Trudeau well as women quip ("Just o f influence in watch me!"). sport, both past The woman is and present. pumped. One item already Prestedge, a planned is a fea seasoned radio ture on the and television r e c e n t l y broadcaster, was Sue Prestedge deceased Carol appointed earlier this spring to head up Anne Letheren, CEO of the Olympic WTSN, a newly licenced Canadian and digital TV channel devoted Association, International Olympic exclusively to the coverage Committee member. of female sports. "I think it is important to A first cousin to TSN, under the CTV umbrella, the create role models for young world's first 24-hour, all women. They need to see women, all-sports network themselves reflected posi will launch in September tively. Ultimately that may with, amongst other things, mean they stay with their live coverage of the sport longer, maintain their women's tennis final at the physical fitness, and feel bet US Open in Flushing ter about themselves gener Meadows, New York. Not ally." Prestedge, as the top bad for an opening gambit. at WTSN, While the executive with executive the girl-next-door enthusi described her management asm admits the venture has style as democratic with a challenges to overcome, she strong emphasis on team insisted the potential is enor work. She says this is more than a job for her. Married to mous and the time is right. "I really think this net Toronto newspaper photog work. if we do our job prop rapher. Tim McKenna, with erly, could influence the way three athletic daughters, aged 14 to 9, the Oakville resident people live their lives," she works 12-hour days and said. By properly, she does not many weekends. She has mean by em ulating TSN about half the staff in place that she will need for the (The Sports Network). "TSN put our proposal September launch. "You have to have a pas forward to the CRTC (Canadian Radio and sion for this network to make Television Commission). that kind of commitment," We would be remiss not to she said. "Fortunately, my tie into the strength o f the family is very supportive." Prestedge came to WTSN TSN brand," said the broad M ohawk College casting executive, "but from WTSN will have a different where she spent six years as co-ordinator of Broadcast look." She says TSN is driven Journalism, coincidentally, by event coverage and pro the program from which she sports, like baseball, hockey graduated in the 1970s. Part and football. The reality is of her mandate at her new there is not that much in the television network will be to way of women's profession develop a pool of female al sports, apart from tennis broadcasters - colour com and golf, the WNBA (basket mentators - from a host of ball) and the fledgling former, high-performance, WUSA (soccer). There is, female athletes with exper however, a huge grassroots tise in their respective sports. "There are learned tech component in such sports as soccer and hockey. Women niques in television broad are competitive, she added, casting," she pointed out, but they are also interested in "mainly techniques for not becoming the best they can describing everything that be in whatever activities they happens. It is TV, after all, it tackle, whether it's tai chi or makes sense to let the pic tures tell the story." squash. When Prestedge broke According to Prestedge, WTSN will concentrate on into broadcasting in 1976 as magazine type programs, a co-anchor of the news in interviews, documentaries Windsor, Ontario, she was and instructional shows on one of very few women on Much has fitness and other lifestyle the scene. activities. The network is changed since then. With planning a regular weekly WTSN as both a training show on what is novel in ground and venue for show sporting related gadgets and casing women in sport, can the heyday of the female paraphernalia. "We are doing a lot of sportscaster be far behind? In the meantime, as one brainstorming these days," she laughed, "Basically our of the new wave of `digital' motto is, `No idea is too silly, channels, WTSN has some no idea is too expensive, and technical hurdles to clear. "We're talking set-top I don't want to hear we can't boxes or satellite dishes to do it." The new channel will be receive the signal," said focussing on women in sport Prestedge, a winner of the with the hope that more Foster Hewitt Award for Sports heroes of the female persua Outstanding Broadcasting. sion will emerge. "But some of that is out of "Ten years ago a young girl playing ice hockey our hands. Our job is to pro would have a hard time visu vide good programming, alizing a hero o f her own intelligent and entertaining. gender in her sport. Sure We have to create a buzz there was Wayne Gretzky with a product so dam good, and Mario Lemieux. But people will want to go out of today with the success of the their way to get it - and pay Canadian women's hockey for it." SPECIAL T O T H E BEAVER Talented Student Artists The end of the school year marks the beginning of OAC student art shows in Oakville high schools. Patty Szeto (left), of W hite Oaks Secondary School (WOSS) tries on her artistic creation "labels" which shows what people would look like if they wore food labels on their clothes. Blakelock student Barb Ceislak (right) is actual ly pictured looking into her mirrored portrait of her sister "Anna" while holding a portrait of her brother "Peter." The Blakelock show, Illusions o f A gnosia, runs until June 26, with an official opening on Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. By Karen Alton Photo by Peter C. McCusker Photo by Barrie Erskine I T ' LL BE LO V E A T FIRST D O W N L O A D W ITH COG ECO @ H O M E. Hook up with C0GEC0@Home this summer and you'll be gushing. 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