New ground was broken last night as Daniella Ponticelli became the first woman to ever announce play-by-play on a USports broadcast when the Regina Rams took on the Manitoba Bisons.
The first-ever female voice of the University of Regina Rams could be considered a pioneer in broadcasting as she is also the first woman to work on a Roughriders’ radio broadcast.
Ponticelli said that she was happy the first broadcast was over.
“I mean that in the best way possible,” she joked. “So many nerves, so many emotions coming into this game. So much just because it’s a dream and it’s a huge responsibility, and it’s one I take very seriously. There’s a lot of doubt placed on you by others and by yourself.”
She said that Friday night’s broadcast was a little extra special, not because she was the first woman to call a USports game, but because she got to call the game in her Canadian hometown of Winnipeg. A place she moved to at the age of 10 when her family moved from South Africa.
“Being on the bus coming into Winnipeg, coming in from the west, you drive through Roblin Boulevard area, through Linden Woods, through a little bit of Fort Richmond area in Winnipeg, those are all old stomping grounds for me.”
“Even getting close to Charleswood area where Oak Park High School is, and a lot of my friends went there,” she added. “It just brings back so many memories, and so being here to start it felt very full circle, even calling some of the players from the Bisons who have since graduated from Vincent Massy High School, which is where I went.”
