NEW YORK (AP) — Lesley Visser, the pioneering female sports reporter will become the first woman to receive the Sports Lifetime Achievement Award.
She will be honored at the 41st Annual Sports Emmy Awards on April 28th.
“To be a pioneer at nearly every juncture of sports reporting isn’t easy despite how Lesley Visser makes it look,” said Justine Gubar, executive director of the Sports Emmy Awards. “Lesley has spent her career serving as an unparalleled role model and mentor to countless up-and-coming journalists, including myself. Her generous spirit, breadth and depth of knowledge, and professionalism shine in our industry and The National Academy could not be more thrilled to honor Lesley with our Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports.”
Visser has been a leading sports reporter for 45 years and was the first woman to work on “Monday Night Football. She also has been honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Very few people have had the word `first’ attached to them throughout their career as much as Lesley, and even fewer have created a place in an industry that never existed,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said. “From first working in press boxes with a credential that read, ‘No women or children,’ to becoming the first woman assigned to work ‘Monday Night Football’ … there is no one more deserving to be honored as the first woman to receive the Sports Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement.”