TEMPLE UNIVERSITY NEWS
Woman in a man's world

Female Broadcasts Sports

November 12, 1964

Although no byline was given, this article was written by Kenn Venit

What is it like to be the only girl on the sports staff of the campus radio station? Jane Lessner, ‘67, said, it's "marvelous, different, challenging and lots of fun!" Miss Lessner has her own sports show on WRTI-AM, Tuesdays from 3:30 to 3:35 pm. Her show highlights the week's varsity games and other University sports happenings.

Her show is expanded to 10 minutes and features interviews with University athletes and coaches on Fridays.

Miss Lessner began her sports casting last semester. "The WRTI sports director had an idea for a show which would feature the female sports news such as girls' basketball and W.A.A. activities, she said.

"He told me I was interested in the show. Then he gave me the air-time and told me I was a member of the sports staff, she said. It all happened so fast, and of course I was a bit surprised! But I took the job and I'm still doing it," added Miss Lessner.

One of her most interesting interviews, she said, was when she discussed how a track team trains for a meet with a girl who actually trained with the team.

Miss Lessner plans to interview hockey team members, cheerleaders, and members of W.A.A. varsity teams. She is "looking for the girls who are above-average in athletics," to appear on her show, she said.

"When a girl participates in physical exercise, she becomes a more complete person both mentally and physically," she said. "This is because the two conditions are interdependent."

Last semester, Miss Lessner worked alone. But this semester, she occasionally is joined by Ardell Creely, ‘68, a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles football team.

"All the guys at ‘RTI kid me about my show. They call me "Sport" instead of "Jane" but it's all in fun and I don't mind it," she said.

In an e-mail, Kenn Venit says...I had tremendous admiration for Jane Lessner, who wanted to be a sportscaster, despite the sexist odds. She had a lot of talent, knew her stuff, and would have been a terrific anchor on ESPN --but ESPN hadn't even been dreamed of back then! Writing the story about her was easy for me --and it was actually "news" back then that a woman was a sportscaster on the radio! Jane was a pioneer, of sorts, way ahead of her time. Perhaps after her law career, she will turn to sports (as Howard Cosell did!) for her final career!