User:Sportswriter77/Lara Baldesarra

Lara Baldesarra is an Italian-Canadian sports broadcaster currently with the Fox Soccer Report on the Fox Soccer Channel. She was hired as the Anchor for the show in January 2010.

Lara was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 2, 1985 to a very athletic family. Her parents both played soccer and basketball at the University level. Lara started playing soccer when she was three years old and was very active as a child participating in many sports leagues and sports summer camps. She attended Appleby College, an elite preparatory private boarding school in Oakville, Ontario and graduated in 2003. She then enrolled at the University of Toronto and graduated with honors, earning a Specialist Degree in Urban and Economic Geography in 2008. Lara is also an alumni of the University of Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico and the |     Institut de Touraine in Tours, France. Lara continued her student life with post-graduate studies of Broadcast Journalism.

Lara began her sports broadcasting career with TSN on Off The Record with Michael Landsberg and assisted with program development and research. She credits Michael Landsberg as one of her favorite television personalities and mentors.

Lara was the co-host on an AM sports radio show in Toronto before being hired by Rogers TV in Toronto for the show Game Day where she was the host and colour commentator for soccer, rugby and football matches. Lara was then assigned as the hockey rink-side reporter and interviewer for the CCHL / Ontario Hockey Association. She also hosted the sports news and magazine show Sportszone. In May 2009, Lara was hired as the colour commentator and analyst for Rogers TV's coverage of the 2009 Canadian Soccer League season. The final game was broadcast from BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario. In December 2009, Lara accepted an offer from the Fox Soccer Report to become the new anchor.