Pursuit Magazine
Fall 2002
By MICHAEL DOJC

Whoever is still of the opinion that sports banter should be delivered on television by square-jawed men in suits ought to check out Sportscentral Early Evening Edition weeknights on Sportsnet for a dose of Jody Vance—the first woman in North America to solo-anchor a sports desk in primetime, just one among a myriad of unique distinctions the Vancouver native holds including being listed alongside Britney Spears and Mandy Moore on an ESPN radio hot list.

Brainy and bursting with way more than just the score, Jody Vance is the undisputed queen of all that is jock reportage in Canada. She writes all her own material, knows sports inside out and evinces an infectious passion for the action that can be seen glimmering behind her trademark sexy specs. Whatever the news, it’s a real treat to see Jody Vance tell it.

Despite being a must-see sports T.V. fixture for well over two years since first injecting life into Sportsnet’s AM desk, Vance is still pestered by questions about her gender. “Some people really believe that sports knowledge or interest is genetic, where guys are born with it and women are not,” says Jody theorizing why the “woman’ question never ceases to pop up.

Nature versus nurture advocates and XX chromosome bashers alike should know that Jody’s biological father was a conditioning coach for the B.C. Lions and the head of the phys-ed department at the biggest high school in Vancouver. Seems Jody’s genes were pretty much hardwired for sports fanaticism and an athletic inclination.

“I run every other day three miles. I can play baseball, I can play soccer, I can do all of them but I’m not hitting home runs and I’m certainly not doing the bicycle kick into the net,” says Jody who also counts horseback riding, golf, and swimming among her sportier hobbies.

And to fulfill every guy’s dream girl checklist, Jody happens to be trained in classic French culinary arts as a graduate of the prestigious Pierre De Brulle cooking school. Of course gourmet munchies don’t always go with the game. “My training aside—the World Series menu is hot dogs, peanuts, chips, and beer,” says Vance.

Jody does have a little bit of a girly girl strut to complement her tomboy sensibilities. She is a proud member of a Ya Ya Sisterhood type group of gal pals who go by the name of Divas—though don’t let the name fool you, this crew is hardcore!

“The first diva date that we had was a Charlie’s Angels day. It started in the morning at a gun range and we learned to shoot 22s and 38s both the Smith & Wesson and the automatics. Then we went for a sushi lunch and in the afternoon got our nails done. I like to do wack stuff like that,” explains Vance.