She's become a fixture on Sportsnet and is now the author of her own memoir. But sideline reporter Hazel Mae is certain she would never have even considered the career she has now if it wasn't for her father.

When the family immigrated here from the Philippines, he couldn't speak a word of English. 

“So he would watch sports to pick up the language and learn English so that when he would show up [to] this water cooler conversation, he would have something to contribute,” said Mae, who added that all they ever did was watch sports on that 33-centimetre television."

The rest, as the old cliché goes, is her history. 

She’s a sportscaster and a trailblazer. But Hazel Mae’s career has been no walk in the ballpark