Tamar Sher has been named the Missouri Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association (NSMA), becoming the first woman to receive the honor. Sher, a member of Congregation Shaare Emeth, is a co-winner with Art Haines of Missouri State Radio in Springfield. The award is determined by votes from peers in the industry.
“I thought, ‘Wow, I am so grateful that I am even in company with these iconic names,” said Sher, 27. “NSMA membership votes on our own state and national sportscaster and sportswriter of the year awards, as well as Hall of Famers. That’s what made me so excited. I really haven’t in my professional career won an award like this, where I didn’t submit anything. It’s just based on what I’ve been able to do in the platforms I’ve been given here in St. Louis, through KMOV, through our sports and entertainment networks, Matrix Midwest, and also being able to be on the Billikens sidelines for the men’s basketball team.”
Sher learned she won the award on Sunday, Jan. 4. She will officially receive the honor at the NSMA awards weekend June 28-29 in Greensboro, N.C. Previous Missouri Sportscaster of the Year honorees include Joe Buck, Jack Buck and Chip Carey. Sher said she was humbled to be included among those sports broadcasting legends.
“It’s just been an incredible year and something that I’m just so thankful to everyone who brought me home and allowed me to do what I love in my hometown,” she said.
Growing up in St. Louis, Sher attended Cardinals and Blues games with her family. Her first experience as a journalist was at Clayton High School, where she was editor-in-chief of the yearbook. Sher is a graduate of Indiana University, where she was a beat reporter for the IU student television station and a sideline reporter for Big Ten Network Student U.
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She went on to become the first woman to join the Hoosier Network, a student-driven sports website. An internship at WISH-TV in Indianapolis followed where she covered the Pacers, Colts, Indy Car, IU, Purdue and Butler universities. In March 2023, Sher joined the KMOV sports department. From the outset, she made a concerted effort to prepare for interviews.
“I learned at an early age to study and to make sure that I was over-prepared for anything that I was going to cover, any situation I was going to be in,” she said. “I think what helped in this market is preparing for going into situations like the Cardinals clubhouse or the Blues locker room and meeting Mike Claiborne and Frank Cusumano and Martin Kilcoyne, people who have been in this industry for so long, who’ve accepted me as a peer. I’ve been able to learn a lot from those around me who’ve been in the industry for so long and are so respected.”
