From the Mississauga Steelheads to the Barrie Baycats, this Brock University student takes every opportunity to get one step closer to her dream.
By Nicole Soroka
Doyle inside the Paramount Fine Foods Centre during a Mississauga Steelheads game. (Courtesy of @_kendradoyle/X)
The television lit up in a sea of gold and black as the Boston Bruins won the coveted Stanley Cup in 2011 — the first time in 39 years. While Kendra Doyle’s father was busy celebrating his favourite team’s victory, seven-year-old Doyle was paying close attention to the interviews on her screen. She watched in amazement as the female reporter spoke to Bruins players about their big win, unknowingly lighting a spark inside of her. As she proudly stood up and began posing her own set of questions to the players, as if she were the reporter on the ice in Rogers Arena, Doyle’s passion was born. From that day on, she set her sights on a career in sports media, and nothing has stopped her since.
The now 19-year-old is a second-year sports management student at Brock University. Doyle spends her days immersing herself in the field, making a difference in the lives of those around her and doing what she loves.
Doyle has been involved with sports from a young age. A passion for equestrianism would keep her competing in the sport from ages six to 17. “It’s [my] comfort sport,” Doyle confessed. She also played rugby, flag football and volleyball during her high school years.
To many people’s surprise, Doyle never played hockey at a competitive level. While her career aspirations align with the sport, she spent her time familiarizing herself with it by watching games with her father or playing ball hockey with friends.
“I think there’s a big thing where people in the sports industry [believe] you have to play hockey [\to report on it]...” Doyle said. “No, you don’t. I played for fun, I just didn't play AA.”
Throughout her senior year, Doyle began building upon her writing skills by taking part in a journalism class that required her to report on her school’s sports teams. She happily attended games, took notes for her recaps and interviewed players for her stories.
As she began applying to universities, Doyle was contemplating which school would offer her the best education and opportunities for her career. While debating between Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and Brock, Doyle received advice from one of her teachers that influenced her decision.
“Don’t close doors before you open them because you really don’t know what could happen,” Doyle’s teacher told her.
At the same time, Doyle continued looking for sports media opportunities that would allow her to gain experience in the field. While she had already obtained an impressive amount of experience for a 17-year-old, Doyle said , “I still felt like I was missing something, so I applied to the Barrie Colts as a volunteer for player operations.”
She explained that while it was not necessarily what she aimed to be doing, the Colts allowed her to broaden her horizons. Not only did this role offer Doyle beneficial insight into how an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) game is set up, run and closed down following the game, but it also gave her a better understanding of how each role within the club works together to create a full experience for both the fans and the players.
“It’s really important for people in the sports industry to experience [different roles] because you never know what you’re going to do because there’s so many different things that you have to be able to do… other than your main focus,” Doyle said.
However, this was not her last run working with a Barrie-based sports team. Following her departure from the Barrie Colts in May 2022, Doyle joined the Barrie Baycats, a semi-pro Intercounty Baseball League, as a social media and field reporting volunteer. She helped with everything from injury updates and bullpen activity, as well as post-game interviews.
Doyle described how this experience allowed her to gain confidence in both her reporting and interviewing skills, especially as she made her way into her first year at Brock.
“[The team] knows my intentions for my career and they have such a big respect for me,” Doyle expressed. “I have such big respect for them because they're doing what they love and I'm doing what I love.”
She enjoyed this job so much that she returned as a volunteer for the 2023 season; this time, taking every single opportunity she could to stay at the top of her game.
Doyle before throwing the first pitch at a Barrie Baycats game. (Courtesy of @_kendradoyle/X)
Doyle would travel with the team to away games to cover their social media pages, embracing the full volunteer experience that was being offered to her.
“From last year to this year, [Kendra] really took her job by the horns and has grown really quickly,” said Josh Matlow, president of the Barrie Baycats. “It’s impressive to see and I’m very happy for her.”
Already having filled her resume with notable experiences, Doyle decided to take on an event that truly fulfilled her childhood dreams.
When Hockey Canada announced that the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship was slated to take place throughout April in Brampton, Ont., Doyle jumped at the chance to apply for the chair of event promotions and in-arena host jobs.
After a whirlwind interview, Doyle was offered both positions and spent time leading up to the event by scheduling staff and volunteer shifts, as well as organizing jobs behind the scenes. Doyle said that, “My boss was incredible, as well as all of the people that I worked with.”
Doyle also believes that this event boosted her self-assurance and allowed her to come into her own while hosting each-and-every game throughout the tournament.
“I had little girls asking to take pictures with me [saying], ‘I want to be just like you,’” Doyle shared. “That's a crazy concept for me at 18 at the time [to think] people are saying they want to be like me and I'm still not even grown up yet.”
Presently, throughout her third semester, Doyle has taken on the positions of co-hosting Brock’s Sport Management Council Podcast and running their social media accounts.
Outside of school, Doyle is currently the in-arena host for the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads. After applying for the position during the summer, she prepared to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor, Celine Trimarchi. Doyle said she loves the job and is appreciative of the culture that the team creates within the arena.
Doyle interviewing Steelhead players following a regular season win. (Courtesy of @_kendradoyle/X)
Doyle interviewing Steelhead players following a regular season win. (Courtesy of @_kendradoyle/X)
“It's so professional,” Doyle said. “I do pregame hits on the bench… post-game interviews for wins… I’m up on the jumbotron speaking between every other whistle… It's so well run and so interactive.”
Doyle is not the only person to have good things to say about her co-workers.
Andrea Bougiouklis, a current communications, digital and social media employee for the Steelheads, shared that she and Doyle have a blast while working together on the ice.
“We’ve gotten along right from the start,” Bougiouklis said. “I just appreciate her professionalism, how much she cares about her work and putting the best version of herself out there.”
As her past and present experiences have shaped the reporter and host that Doyle is becoming, she gives credit to both her parents, but especially to the person whom she calls her “biggest supporter.” Just as she and her father watched the Bruins defeat the Vancouver Canucks all those years ago, Doyle is now creating the future she always envisioned for herself with her father still by her side every step of the way.
“He’s my best friend,” Doyle said. “We go to Bruins games together. We talk hockey together almost every day. He wants to go to almost every Steelheads game… We've done almost everything sports-related we could ever do… and he's always been there for me.”
Whether it’s on the ice, the field or even a classroom, Doyle has begun paving the way for a bright future in the sports media industry. She shared that if she had to tell her seven-year-old self anything, it would be to follow through on your goals.
“You're not going to get your dream unless you follow through and chase it,” Doyle said.
