(August 16, 2018) Maura Sheridan long aspired to be a TV sports anchor/reporter. However, the recent success of women in play-by-play encouraged her to reconsider her goals. Now, Sheridan is the new voice of women’s basketball for the University of Vermont.
Sheridan has broadcast play-by-play and reported for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League since early 2017
“A lot of my male friends in the industry decided on play-by-play when they were just little kids. For me that was not the case at all. I think if you rarely/never see someone like you in a certain role you subconsciously cross that out as an option for yourself. That’s what happened to me until my junior year of college. I had pretty much decided I wanted to work as a TV sports reporter,” says Sheridan.
Her thinking changed when Sheridan attended Beth Mowins’ Syracuse University/WAER Hall of Fame induction. “It clicked with me that a woman could not only do play-by-play, but be very successful at it. I only had two years left at Syracuse, but I decided to give play-by-play a try. I made so many tapes at college lacrosse games and finally called SU lacrosse’s last regular season game. I was so nervous and very green so I won’t be using that game for any of my demo reels. However, that was the first time I realized that I could someday be a woman making a career out of play-by-play.”
It is Mowins’ work ethic that first grabbed Sheridan’s attention. “I also think its especially impressive how she’s broken the glass ceiling in football. That’s probably the easiest sport for men to claim as ‘their own.’ This clearly doesn’t phase Beth at all. She approaches every game with such an immense amount of knowledge, preparation, and energy that nobody can honestly claim her voice doesn’t belong.”
In addition to the experience, Vermont women’s basketball provides an opportunity for Sheridan to broadcast the team she watched growing up. “I went to all the Catamounts’ summer camps. I even played in a state championship at Patrick Gym,” Sheridan recalls. “It’s a little surreal to think I’ll be calling games for the Cats.
“This is also just an incredible opportunity to call an entire college basketball season and really improve on my broadcasting skills. A lot of SU alums that held this job before me reached out and had only good things to say about Vermont. All the pieces just fit together and it was clear this was a great situation for me.”
Sheridan says her goal is “to call an NBA game someday. That is the ultimate dream.” She took a big step forward in play-by-play by joining the University of Vermont.
(Visit Maura’s website).