The on-field reporter shares what inspired her sports broadcasting career and how to escape a Gatorade Shower.
By Stephan Petar
As Hazel Mae walked the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards (CSA) red carpet in an elegant black gown, I couldn’t help but scan the room. After years of watching the sportscaster interview the Toronto Blue Jays post-game, I knew she was often a second-hand, unintentional victim of the infamous ‘Gatorade Shower’ – a moment when teams dump a cooler of Gatorade over a player after a victory.
“I was assured this is a Gatorade free zone. I’m going to hold them [Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television] to that,” she said with a laugh.
She went on to share her escape strategy, something she has mastered over the years.
“I try to keep one eye over the shoulder of the player I’m interviewing. I try to time it so that I don’t leave too early because it would be really awkward leaving and the Gatorade hasn’t splashed yet,” she explained. ”I try to leave as late as I can. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t, but I’ve gotten better at taking off.”
Yet, if there was ever a night when the Sportsnet on-air talent deserved to be drenched in a colourful, electrolyte-filled sports drink, it was that night. Though we’re not sure whether Rogers Sports & Media would have covered that cleaning bill.
Mae was the recipient of one the CSAs highest journalism honours, the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism. The award, open to radio and television journalists, is presented to a Canadian broadcast journalist for their exceptional body of work. Past recipients have included Lisa LaFlamme, Lloyd Roberston and Peter Mansbridge.
Mae has become a fixture of the Sportsnet family, best known for her on-field reporting at Toronto Blue Jays games where she co-hosts the pre- and post-game show, Blue Jays Central. She started at the network in 2001, but moved around the United States appearing on New England Sports Network and MLB Network, before returning in 2011 and taking her current job four years later.
Her passion for sports started at a young age, but it wasn’t baseball specifically that led her down the career path.
“It was sports in general. I’ll be talking about how for my family our love language was sports,” she shared. “We watched everything, and I thought what if I could make a living doing something that I would be doing anyways? Just sitting on the couch and watching baseball, football and basketball.”
While that initially drove her, she grew to love every aspect of the job.
“I enjoyed the long hours, the competition, the writing aspect of it, and all the different things about covering a sporting event.”
While the award honoured her achievements, she admitted it was a team effort and that accepting it solo felt a little strange.
“It really is a collaborative effort. I’m only as good as all the hard-working people behind the scenes,” she said, noting the people who help with stats and the producers who help formulate what she needs for story angles. “I’m going to be getting an award, but by recognizing me, I hope I’m able to kind of uplift the entire network.”
She also dedicated the award to her parents, while accepting the trophy on stage.
“By recognizing me tonight, you really are honoring them, their sacrifice, their courage, and their belief that, with faith, hard work and perseverance, eventually, you might just get called up to the show,” she told a room of Canadian performers. “Sports has always been my family’s love language, no matter what life threw at us, sports gave us connection, community and a sense of belonging in this new country…”
As someone usually asking the questions, I was curious which Toronto Blue Jay she’d most like to interview.
“Probably George [Springer] because I think he has that really nice combination of entertainment, knowledge and just being a fan favorite,” she admitted. “I feel like he’s a magnetic presence, and if he was interviewing me, he would just kind of catapult me to another level.”
As she was whisked away by a red carpet publicist, I took a final look along the red carpet to make sure her beloved Toronto Blue Jay players hadn’t made a surprise appearance with a cooler of Gatorade. Though I wouldn’t have objected a cameo by Ernie Clement or Davis Schneider.
