It's practically a holiday here in Minnesota; the boy's state high school hockey tournament begins Wednesday in St. Paul
In addition to marking the MSHSL tournament's 75th year, history is being made involving a member of the WCCO Radio on-air staff.
Reporter Sloane Martin becomes the first woman to broadcast play-by-play for the hockey tournament on the statewide television broadcast.
The games air on KSTC, channel 45.
"I don't particularly look for this kind of attention or want to be any kind of talking point with the boys tournament—it's about the players, even the past players celebrating 75 years," Martin said. "It's really about being visible because I want there to be more (women broadcasters) after me."
She'll be calling the first two Class A quarterfinals from the Xcel Energy Center, the first matching St. Cloud Cathedral against North Branch, and then East Grand Forks versus Minnesota River.
"Representation is really important and if someone sees me in this role and is visible and it's watching this tournament that a lot of people watch, uh, and it inspires some other girl who wants to do this," Martin said. "That's how it was for me with Michele Tafoya and Andrea Kremer. They were the ones who I was really inspired by and wanting to go into sports broadcasting."
Martin wants to see a time when women broadcasters are the norm.
"If that happens for even one person who says this is just normal and that's no big deal and it's not newsworthy at some point. That's really the ultimate goal."
This isn't the first time Sloane has made Minnesota state tournament broadcast history. She was the first woman play-by-play announcer for the Prep Bowl.