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Kate gives Scugog a voice on Port Perry’s Kate Beirness says there’s only one word to describe her experience as she stepped onto the set at the TSN SportsCentre for the first time and watched the lights go on; “Surreal.” After setting her sights on the ultimate goal of working as a sports an- chor for TSN, this small-town girl from Port Perry says it was “absolutely thrilling” to finally get the opportunity to sit behind that famous lesk. “People may have bigger dreams, like ESPN,” she says, “but I’ve always dreamed of TSN. I wanted to be at the highest level in Canada.” Always involved in sports throughout school, namely basketball at S.A Cawker and Port Perry High School, Kate set her sights on sports broad- casting after a torn ACL left her looking for a new career path. “T always say it was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she explains. “It led me straight to broadcasting - something I might never have done if I continued playing basketball.” After high school, Kate headed off to study at the Univer- sity of Ontario and, eager to gain some experience in the field, plains, before adding that she was able to get involved with campus radio in addition to game announcing, which helped to establish her passion for sports broadcasting. During her third year of university, a friend sug- gested Kate volunteer with Rogers TV after he saw her obvious talent for sports announcing. She decided to give it a try and, almost immediately after starting her volunteer work with Rogers, she was handed a microphone and put in front of the camera. “Tt was a dream come true,” she says. “I looked at the whole experience as a learning process. I wanted to absorb everything I could.” Kate says her work as a volunteer allowed her to reach the level of success she has now. “It was everything I needed. I always tell students that volunteering is the best thing you can do, it makes a world of difference,” she adds. After two years with Rogers TV Durham, she was hired on as a sports anchor and worked “on desk” for six months. She continued her climb up the ‘corporate ladder’ by heading to Barrie to fulfill a position with A Channel as an anchor and videographer. Kate Please turn to page 4 FOCUS - JULY 2010 5