Changing the game
MRU alumna makes history as the AHL’s first female play-by-play announcer
— Mount Royal University | Posted: April 13, 2023
Sandra Prusina started at Rogers Media shortly after graduating from what was, at the time, Mount Royal College.
Anyone who regularly listens to Calgary radio would likely be familiar with Sandra Prusina’s voice. She has been a staple on CityNews 660 for 15 years, which is no small feat in the sometimes volatile radio industry.
In her time there she’s worn just about every hat, stepping in as a producer, reporter, anchor and occasional weather expert, and has most recently been doing afternoon sportscasts for multiple CityNews radio stations across the country.
Prusina started at Rogers Media shortly after graduating from what was, at the time, Mount Royal College.
She had just wrapped up her Bachelor of Arts — English from the University of Calgary when she saw an ad for a (now cancelled) one-year post degree journalism program offered by Mount Royal.
She applied and got in, recalling that the program consisted of a very small class of under a dozen students.
“It was one year, labour intensive and it covered absolutely everything from photography to print, to TV, and, ironically enough, no radio,” she says with a laugh.
Prusina credits much of her success to her time in that program. Despite the fact that it was only one year, it has had a long-lasting impact on her professional and personal development.
“It was a lot of hard work but the instructors and professors, many of whom are there to this day, gave me the confidence to be the person I am today in my field. I don’t know who this version of me would be without Mount Royal.”
Sally Haney, chair of broadcasting and journalism at MRU, recalls Prusina as a student, saying her passion for sport was evident even then.
“She was so focused on upping her journalism skills so that she could enter the industry and begin doing work in sports.”
Eyes on the net
Haney says it’s been thrilling to watch Prusina over the last 15 years and seeing her achieve the goals she had set for herself.
“When I think back to her as a student it was amazing to see how focused she was even then. She knew what she wanted, she was actively going for it then, so it doesn’t surprise me to see how much she’s accomplished.”
Prusina has always loved sports. Growing up, she watched and played both soccer and hockey and was especially inspired by the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, despite being very young at the time.
She reminisces about being the kid who took out stats books from the library, collected hockey cards and religiously tuned into every edition of Hockey Night in Canada.
“It was just everything to me. I loved hockey and soccer and growing up I had the opportunity to watch and play both.”
The born-and-raised Calgarian says working in the sports broadcasting industry was always something in the back of her head, but Prusina also knew she couldn’t be hyperfocused on only working in that field, noting that her professors at MRU encouraged everyone to be open to a variety of roles.
That changed in 2010 when she had the opportunity to work with the Olympic Broadcasting Service covering the winter Olympics in Vancouver, a first for Prusina.
Prusina has always loved sports. Growing up, she watched and played both soccer and hockey and was especially inspired by the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
She says that experience solidified her love and drive to continue working in sports, specifically women’s sports, after seeing the Canadian women’s hockey team win their third-consecutive gold medal.
“Seeing the debut of Marie-Philip Poulin on the international stage and what this kid was able to do really drove me to say ‘okay, this is what I am going to do.’ ”
Prusina went on to cover two more Olympic Games after that: 2012 in London and 2014 in Sochi.
“When the women’s soccer team ended up winning the bronze in 2012 … the semifinal game against the Americans was my true pivotal moment in my career when I realized I wanted to do sports and nothing else.”
And with that, Prusina continued to build her resumé, taking on every opportunity she could. She’s been doing play-by-play for nearly a decade and was most notably the voice of the Calgary Inferno, the women’s pro team in Calgary that was part of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, which no longer exists.
Prusina was able to call two championship campaigns in addition to regular season games. “The gift that the league gave me was reps doing play-by-play. It gave me access to players and the sport.”
She says from there the ball started rolling as she called hockey games in other leagues and levels in addition to soccer and basketball games.
All of this led her to her current role as the play-by-play announcer for the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL), the affiliate team of the Calgary Flames.
It’s worth noting that Prusina is the first female play-by-play announcer for the AHL.
A pandemic positive
Calling it a “silver lining” of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prusina says due to travel restrictions the Flames affiliate team (at the time called the Heat), which had been in Stockton, California, had come to play games in Calgary as part of a shortened season.
“My friend Rob Kerr asked me to join him in the broadcast booth and I called some games with him. I think that’s what put me on the radar for the Calgary Flames and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation.”
So when the team ended up moving to Calgary permanently, her phone rang and she was asked by the Flames to apply for the job.
She says it’s been an absolute blast to call the Wranglers, which currently sits at the top of the Pacific Division.
“As a broadcaster there is no greater joy than being able to call a team that’s successful and is scoring goals and growing players jumping to the NHL,” Prusina says, as she lists off a number of players and statistics highlighting just how successful the team has been in its first year in Calgary.
She also gives credit to her radio colleagues and managers at City News who have allowed her to take on both roles. “They could have easily said ‘no, you have obligations and responsibilities here,’ but they have encouraged and supported me,” she says, admitting that there are some occasions where she needs to leave early to get to the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The female backlash
Although as amazing as the season has been so far, it hasn’t been without mental hurdles for Prusina.
“Like it or not, some people just don’t enjoy listening to a woman.”
She admits to having to tune out of some of the online commentary as there has been some backlash to her doing the play-by-play.
“People don’t know you, but they judge you because you are a woman doing sport and they say really nasty things.”
The vitriol she and the team received, especially in the first month, was intense. Everything from people saying she was too emotional or not emotional enough to using expletives to describe her.
However, her dedication and professionalism has never wavered despite the negative comments. Nor has her humbleness as she remarks on what others in the industry have had to endure.
Anyone who regularly listens to Calgary radio would likely be familiar with Prusina’s voice. She has been a staple on CityNews 660 for 15 years.
“I can’t even imagine the things that Cassie Campbell-Pascall or Leah Hextall have to deal with. They took it in the teeth and I realize that I, too, have to sometimes take it in the teeth.”
Still, Prusina reflects on the joy she feels being at the ‘Dome and the pride she takes in being a woman in this profession.
“If I can maybe make it easier for the next woman who wants to do this, then it’s really all worth it, I think.”
Haney also commends Prusina’s dedication to women’s sports through both her professional and volunteer time.
“It is so obvious that she is an ambassador for women, she’s an ambassador for kids, she speaks up and acts and she leans into every opportunity that creates more space for women in an industry that is still underrepresented by women,” says Haney.
As she continues to blaze a trail, Prusina hopes that one day women’s sports is as mainstream as men’s sports.
“Other women opened the door for me so I want to continue to open the door for them, whether they are athletes or broadcasters, because I know that even though we’re getting there, it’s still not good enough,” she says.