Manchester Student-Athlete Receives Sports Media Scholarship

MANCHESTER, CT — Annabelle Watson, a recent graduate of Manchester High School who grew up a New York Yankees fan, will soon be moving to the Bronx to study journalism at Fordham University. She will aided in her initial year by a $1,000 Bo Kolinsky Memorial Sports Journalism Scholarship, presented to her Tuesday by the Connecticut Sports Writers' Alliance.

Watson has participated in The Pulse Student News Program at Manchester for three years, and been a director of the program for two years.

She received her award from CSWA President Tim Jensen of Patch Media.

"I grew up watching the Yankees with my dad, and I always noticed not much female representation," she said. "The booth was all men; the only female representation was the sideline reporter. From a young age, I thought it was bad there weren't many females in sports media. As I've grown up and the world has changed, there are a lot more females, and those women in sports media have become role models to me."

Watson cited several examples of women she admires in sports broadcasting, including Meredith Marakovits, clubhouse reporter for the YES Network, and Suzyn Waldman, radio color commentator for Yankees games. She also noted her admiration for ESPN baseball reporter Marly Rivera.

"She is really special to me because she speaks Spanish with the players," she said. "She is highly respected for that."

Watson plans to minor in sports journalism as part of her Bachelor's studies at Fordham.