TSN personality excited about Kraft Celebration Tour visit

As Barrhead residents are getting excited and prepared for this year’s Kraft Celebration Tour, so is TSN personality Kate Beirness.

Kate Beirness and Darren Dutchyshen, co-hosts of TSN’s SportsCentre, will be in town as part of the Kraft Celebration Tour when they host a live SportsCentre broadcast from Barrhead on Monday, August 18. Beirness explained why she has been a part of the Tour for the last four years.

“After I went the first year, and realized how amazing it was, I wanted to do it again and would have done anything to go back on this tour. The fact that now I just get to go is awesome,” Beirness said.

Beirness and Dutchyshen will travel west to do five shows in ten days while two other TSN anchors, Jennifer Hedger and Nabil Karim will handle the east coast’s top ten finalists’ live broadcasts. Beirness tried to describe what it is like to do that many live broadcasts.

“We do five shows in ten days for each anchor pairing. Very simply, it is a whirlwind. It is indescribable. It is so fast but it is so amazing to spend 48 hours in each one of these towns. I get asked all of the time, but it is so hard to describe unless you see it,” she said. “After we are done a show, we do a meet and greet with everyone that comes out. Then you literally pack your bags and you are off to the next stop that same night. All you are thinking is, I get to do this again in 48 hours. Honestly, to sum it up, it is one of the greatest things we do at TSN.”

Beirness went on to discuss her favourite thing about participating in the Kraft Celebration Tour and the liver broadcasts.

“The fan interaction is the best part (of the whole experience). I grew up in a small town in Ontario and we were a town of 2,000 and that is big compared to some of the towns we go to on the Kraft tour. To put it into perspective, what if TSN came to my town when I was a kid or a teenager, it would have been incredible so I try to think about that every time I am in one of these towns,” said Beirness. “The people are so amazing and they treat us so well and you realize how far SportsCentre reaches. We work in Ontario, but we realize we are a national broadcast and all of these people watch us, which is awesome.”

Beirness addressed the impact the tour has had on the numerous communities across Canada.

“Again, it is so hard to describe, but we do get updates on the towns we visit. There are so many towns because the tour has been going on for six years and everything we have done, whether it was a hockey rink, track or swimming pool, we get these updates and sometimes the $25,000 is just a small portion of what towns really need, but to see these projects completed is the coolest thing ever. We love getting the updates from these places,” she added.

Doing live television in a studio is difficult but Kate said it is an entirely different thing being on location.

“Doing the show, being onstage and just talking to people while onstage, they are so excited. You can’t hear a thing. You are trying to listen to a producer and you are just winging it up there. We have a lineup of the show so we kind of try and go with that lineup,” she said.

Beirness said that the hardest broadcast she ever had to do was during the Kraft Celebration Tour last year in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

“We had weather issues a little bit and the elements are always a huge problem. Our teleprompter was down, so there was no prompter. I couldn’t hear anything because the crowd was so loud. I had two IFB’s in my ear and one of my scripts, right off the bat, blew away. It was like, welcome to Bridgewater, Nova Scotia,” Beirness said, with a laugh. “I am sitting next to Rod Smith and I have nothing. The thing is, thank goodness, I work with some of the best professionals in the industry because I am sitting beside Rod Smith, who is a legend or I am sitting beside Darren Dutchyshen, who could do an entire hour show ad lib. The greatest part about it (moments like these) is I always feel okay because I have these two beside me.”

Beirness then discussed the importance of the Kraft Celebration Tour from TSN’s point of view.

“We love bringing SportsCentre to these towns because we realize how far TSN’s reach is. It is important for residents in these towns to see we are normal people, everyone on the crew, not just Dutch and I. The fact that we had the opportunity to do this, I don’t think this was an opportunity TSN wanted to pass up,” Beirness said.

“On the flip side, Kraft is the one that is putting out the money so for them I think being a Canadian company and wanting to help all these communities is so important. They realize how important communities and sports and everything is across Canada of keeping people active and everyone getting a community sense. I think it is a win-win on both sides and then they put the idea together and honestly, it is one of the best things we do.”

Beirness shared her expectations for Barrhead residents in relation to the TSN broadcast.

“The only thing I want residents to do is show up, that’s all I ask. I want every single person in Barrhead, Alberta at our show. You know what, make it difficult on us; make sure they are so loud during the entire show. I want it to be as loud as it possibly can be,” said Beirness. “It is difficult for us but at the end of the day, that is why we do it. We want to put Barrhead, Alberta on the map nationally and it is a chance of a lifetime for the town so I want them to make my life difficult.”

Beirness said she is very excited for this year’s Kraft Celebration Tour and for the lone stop in Alberta.

“I can’t even tell you how much I love Alberta. I already have my country outfit ready to go. When we were in Cochrane, Alberta two years ago, they were kind enough to give us cowboy boots and the whole wardrobe so, let’s just say I am a massive fan of Alberta and I cannot wait to come back,” concluded Beirness.