Toni Street’s sporty new role
For Toni Street, covering the America’s Cup is like coming back home.
She began her broadcasting career as a sports reporter, a role she filled for nearly 10 years. But when TVNZ lost the rights to many sports events, that aspect of her career ended too.
‘‘Now, TVNZ’s getting it back and I’m just so happy about that,’’ says Street. ‘‘I feel like I’ve come full circle. That’s where I began. I feel so lucky to be able to be part of live sport again. It is my absolute first love.
‘‘And the America’s Cup is the pinnacle because New Zealanders punch so far above their weight when it comes to this international sport.’’
Street, who co-hosts the breakfast show on Coast radio and also fills in on Seven Sharp, last reported on the America’s Cup for Breakfast in 2013 from San Francisco.
She says the team was expecting to stay only a short time after New Zealand took an early and decisive lead. But, as we know, those plans shifted quickly as Oracle’s fortunes turned overnight.
‘‘It all turned to custard and we ended up losing quite terribly in the end. And we were there for three and a half weeks instead of three and a half days.’’
This time around, Street will be leading the television coverage from a waterfront studio on Auckland’s Waitemata¯ Harbour. The TVNZ 1 team will be right in the beating heart of the competition.
‘‘It’s amazing. It’s right next to Emirates Team New Zealand’s base.
‘‘I was watching as they were building. They’re halfway through the big glass studio that has a backdrop of all of the yachts, of the water and of the Sky Tower and Auckland city. And at the same time as I was looking at that, Grant Dalton wanders out from Team New Zealand and came over and had a chat, so we’re really absolutely in the thick of it, which I love. We’re going to be in amongst the team and the fans and all the action.’’
Yachting has been viewed as an elite sport but Street says this year’s coverage has been designed with all New Zealanders in mind, led by Melodie Robinson, TVNZ’s general manager of sport and vents.
‘‘She’s got a really fresh approach and I love it. She’s really focused on making sure that the America’s Cup is accessible to all New Zealanders, and even if you’re not 100 per cent into yachting you are going to get excited by this because we’re going to show you
everything that goes with it.
‘‘It’s an entertainment event as much as it is a sporting event.’’
Although Street belonged to her local surf lifesaving club growing up in New Plymouth, she describes herself as ‘‘not a particularly great sailor’’.
‘‘One of my finest moments out on the water was when the Volvo Ocean Race was here and I actually went on board with Dean Barker.
‘‘It’s tradition in the Volvo Ocean Race that you have one or two
Although Street belonged to her local surf lifesaving club growing up in New Plymouth, she describes herself as ‘‘not a particularly great sailor’’.
people on the boat as they leave New Zealand and you have to jump off as they’re leaving.
‘‘I remember at the time I was in my early stages of pregnancy and so I got really seasick ... so I wouldn’t say I’m the best on the water.’’
Street’s three children with husband Matt France – Juliette, Mackenzie and Lachie – are all fans of the water. And with their home in close proximity to the local yacht club, it has got her thinking she might have some yachties in the making.
‘‘They would live every day in the water. They ask to go to the beach almost every single day, all three of them. We spend our entire summer at the beach and we love it.’’
With summer and Christmas on the horizon and the stress of living through a pandemic mostly behind us (hopefully), Street hopes that the arrival of the America’s Cup – with the first races landing just before Christmas – will add some much-needed cheer to people’s lives.
‘‘I just think the America’s Cup is going to be such a beacon of hope at the end of the year, and a chance for Kiwis to celebrate and to come together in a sport that we’re really good at, and to celebrate how amazing New Zealand is.’’