For Lauren Helmbrecht `14, sports journalism is less about the final score and more about the people inside the game. Formed at Gonzaga Prep as a teammate, contributor, and careful observer, she now brings that same attention and care to telling stories from the sidelines of Seattle’s professional sports scene.
For Lauren Helmbrecht `14, every team she covers—no matter the level—has individuals with a story worth telling. It is an instinct that guides her work as a sports journalist in Seattle, where she now covers the teams she grew up rooting for. She was drenched in champagne in the Mariners locker room last fall and will be on the sidelines when the Seahawks take on San Francisco in the NFL playoffs. What draws her in is not just the game itself, but the people inside it—and the quiet moments that reveal who they are.
That way of seeing did not begin in a press box or on the sidelines.
At Gonzaga Prep, Helmbrecht learned to pay attention, to step into community, to try new things, and to understand how individuals shape a team. As a Bullpup, she was involved in Ancilla, class council, soccer, and cheer, while choir became a spiritual touchstone. Lessons and Carols still evokes powerful emotion for her, a reminder of how music, reflection, and shared experience shaped her sense of belonging.
Though she was a multi-sport athlete, Helmbrecht was not the star. Instead, she embraced a supporting role—one her soccer coach, Christian Birrer, recognized and affirmed. Coming off the bench, she brought energy, encouragement, and steadiness to the team, modeling how presence and preparation matter just as much as minutes played. It was an early lesson that leadership does not always come with the spotlight.
Prep gave her both range and confidence, forming her as someone willing to raise her hand, step forward, and contribute wherever she was needed.
That confidence followed her to the University of Southern California, where she was willing to do whatever was needed to be part of the action. Before she ever held a microphone, she ran the video board at USC baseball games, operated the T-shirt cannon, and took on whatever behind-the-scenes jobs came her way. There was no task too small, no role insignificant—an outlook built through years of learning that teams work best when everyone contributes.
Though a lifelong athlete and sports fan, Helmbrecht’s path into sports journalism was not a straight line. She changed majors, worked with NFL Films, navigated the disruption of COVID, pursued a master’s degree, and landed an internship in Green Bay. Each step brought its own uncertainty, but also affirmed a sense of purpose. Eventually, those winding turns led her where she hoped to be: on the turf, microphone in hand, telling stories that might otherwise go unnoticed. “I went from not having any interviewing experience, any real work experience, to a year later working in Market 68 as a beat reporter covering the Green Bay Packers. Within six days of starting the full-time job, I hosted my own 30-minute show called 'Green Bay Nation' that I ended up hosting for three seasons.”
Today, she calls her work in Seattle her “dream job.” That role expanded when she got her foot in the door at FOX13 and was hired as the in-arena host for the Seattle Torrent, the city’s new professional women’s hockey team. The opportunity placed her at the center of a growing women’s sports landscape—one shaped by perseverance, visibility, and long-delayed access.
One story she was especially proud to bring to life was that of Marah Wagner, a professional hockey player whose journey mirrored so many others. A Seattle native, Wagner grew up playing on rinks across the West Side before realizing, around age 13, that opportunities in Washington were limited. She moved away from home for a decade to chase her dream, playing wherever she could. After college, she was not invited to join the Professional Women’s Hockey League, yet her dream persisted. She moved to Sweden to play professionally and was there when the Torrent was announced as an expansion team in the league. Wagner returned to Seattle, trained locally, coached young girls, and became the only player on the roster from the area—her long-held dream finally realized.
Another story that has stayed with Helmbrecht came while covering High A baseball in Wisconsin. Teams at that level do not hire translators, and players often rely on one another to bridge the gap. Journeymen athletes stepped in to translate for teammates with major league aspirations, quietly helping one another navigate interviews and daily life. “It was truly an example of those guys being persons for others,” Helmbrecht says—witnessing firsthand how care and solidarity make a team better.
Fifty years after Gonzaga Prep first opened its doors to women, and decades after that decision reshaped what opportunity looks like on campus, Helmbrecht’s story shows the enduring impact of coeducation. Formed in classrooms, rehearsal spaces, and on fields where young women were encouraged to lead and belong, she now carries those lessons into every arena she enters. By telling stories with care and attention, she continues the work she began as a Bullpup—making space for others to be seen.