ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Whether it has been television, writing, or radio, Ashley Chase has done it all. Chase currently is the director of operations, media relations and play-by-play for the St. Cloud Norsemen of the North American Hockey League, but it wasn’t an easy path to get to this point.
Chase decided to pursue broadcast journalism after a professor in college heard her voice and asked her if she ever thought about sports broadcasting.
“In that moment for me, it was like an original idea,” Chase said.
“I had never actually considered that, but that makes a ton of sense, let’s do that. After that moment with him he put me on sideline for football that Saturday and in some way, shape or form I’ve basically been on the air ever since.” she said.
Upon graduation from Morningside University, Chase entered the world of television, a territory she hadn’t stepped into before. Although she didn’t have experience in this medium, she learned quickly and relied on the confidence she had from knowing the sports as well as the teams in that market.
After leaving television, Chase returned to the Fox Sports affiliate that she interned at in college to work for Curtis Anderson, which also allowed her to gain more experience on the call.
“Every day, every night of the week I’m like ‘OK, what’s my game today? What games do I have this week? What games can you put me on?” Chase said.
“I wanted to do as much as possible. Staying hungry like that is definitely part of what was able to bring me here (her current play-by-play role). When I started doing play-by-play I didn’t know what I was doing at all, but I really wanted to,” she said.
Prior to the start of the 2021-2022 season, Chase headed to St. Cloud to pursue a job she had dreamed of doing since her days in college, play-by-play.
When asked, Chase shared the best piece of advice she has been given in this industry that she is now offering to others aspiring to acquire the job she has.
“Don’t be the best female broadcaster, be the best broadcaster,” she said.
“If that’s your goal, then it won’t matter who you are, what your gender is, what you look like, none of that will matter if you do the job well.”
Each week during Women’s History Month, The Rink Live reporter Kirsten Krull is taking a look at women in hockey who are making a large impact on the sport. This week, Kirsten spoke to Ashley Chase who is the director of operations, media relations and play-by-play for the St. Cloud Norsemen of the North American Hockey League. You can watch the full feature below.