Sky high with Laura McGoldrick
Christchurch-born and bred, Sky Sports presenter Laura McGoldrick’s bubbly personality beams at us from thousands of television screens. Metropol writer Neville Idour chats with her about sport, growing up, and life. 
L aura McGoldrick views herself as a good Canterbury girl and also as a good sport.
She’s always been involved in sport, whether playing it herself, following it, or supporting her family.
“My brothers played sport, and my dad used to run Jade Stadium, while my mother is a sports player agent. So we have always been around sports growing up,” she says.
“Cricket was particularly popular in our household, I have always loved it.”
Laura “sort of fell into the TV side of it”. Hosting a children’s TV show, she interviewed Shane Bond. “Someone from Sky Sport saw it and rang Shane Bond and asked ‘who is that girl’. He said it’s my manager’s daughter.
Do you want her phone number?
“So it started from there. I never saw myself doing this, but loving sport it has been easy to talk about it. I’m pretty lucky, there’s no doubt about it. Now I cover League, Super Rugby, and have been doing golf for a long time, which I love. I still love my cricket and enjoyed working on the Women’s World Cup when it was in South Africa. That was an awesome experience.”
So how did Laura actually get into TV? “When I came out of school I went to Drama School because I wanted to be an actress. A friend of mine was auditioning for a kids sports show called Push Play. The job was hosting it, and it was a good way to learn about being in front of the camera, so I auditioned and got the job.”
She was a 20 year old at the time. “I started on that and everything sort of flowed on from there,” she recalls.
Involvement with radio also followed, and Laura has her own afternoon entertainment music show Monday to Friday from 3pm till 7pm called Hits Drive. “I’m still that drama girl at heart, singing and dancing, my poor husband!” she laughs.
Tennis was her sport, although, she confesses, not to a very high level. “I really liked it. I tried cricket but wasn’t very good.” Now she plays golf, and loves it. “My daughter is five and we have just started playing together. She comes with me to the driving range and has her own clubs. We take our golf seriously and are the epitome of all the gear. I am a member at Remuera.”
So the Canterbury girl lives in Auckland now? “Yes, terrible isn’t it?” she laughs. “Auckland has become home now, but Christchurch will always have a special place in my heart.”
Getting back to golf, Laura says she’s working on her handicap. “I’ll be playing in the NZ Open in a couple of years once I figure out this game,” she laughs again. “I try to play at least once a month. It is not a lot because I just don’t have the time.
“A lot of my women friends have started getting into it as well, so we try to nip off
for about nine holes in the morning before my radio show.
“It’s good for your mental health being outside as well, unless there is a bad hole. (laughs….again). I try and play a full round at least once a month, plus a couple of nine holes when I can, and I love the driving range because I can do it with my daughter.
“I have a setup where you can order some chippies and have a pizza while you are hitting some balls. We love doing that. I also have a son who is two and likes hitting things, bats, clubs, whatever he can find, so it’s
good fun.”
Golf aside, Laura recently enjoyed hosting a TV show called ‘The Women’s Game’, featuring New Zealand sportswomen, including cricketing great Susie Bates, Ruby Tui, Ruahei Demant, Kendra Cocksedge, and Kristina Sue. “It was pretty cool being able to highlight some of our female athletes.”
Looking further ahead? “My ultimate goal is when I retire to travel the world playing beautiful golf courses. That’s my game plan and why I am working so hard now,” Laura concludes, her laughter ringing out again.
