With a heritage of hard work, UCLA alumna reports from the front lines of pro football

Lindsey Pallares is not a linebacker, a cheerleader or a referee. Still, hers is one of the most familiar faces of the San Francisco 49ers. As the team reporter, she's on the field, in the action and online. Her skills as an interviewer, honed over the decade since she graduated from UCLA, come into play every day.

"There are heartwarming stories, comeback stories, inspiring stories," Pallares said. "You get so much out of the sports world. I like talking to people. I like being out and about on the field."

One can draw inspiration from her parents' story as well. In 1963, Pallares' father left architecture school in Ecuador to immigrate to the U.S. A decade later, while visiting Mexico, he met Lindsey's mother. The pair were married just a few months after they met.

Pallares' parents worked various jobs, from cleaning to restaurant work, before opening a tax preparation business that endures to this day. Her parents still reside in Long Beach, California, where Lindsey and her brother grew up.

"A lot of it has to do with the American dream and immigrant mentality," Pallares said. "Neither of my parents come from money. The motivation was a better life, which is a common goal for a lot of immigrant families. You hear a lot about that hard-working immigrant mentality, and that's very much the case with my parents: constantly striving for better. That was passed down to my brother and myself."

Known for her laser focus, Pallares excelled at everything from puzzles to gymnastics. Her eyes were on college from an early age. But UCLA wasn't her first choice.

"UCLA originally was not my dream school," she said. "But looking back, I can't imagine going anywhere else."

Pallares thrived at UCLA, majoring in English, joining Hermanas Unidas de UCLA and enjoying Bruin sports.

"I grew up in L.A. in the height of the Kobe and Shaq era, and then I got my first real exposure to football in high school," she said. "I ended up joining the cheer team at St. Joseph High School and then going to UCLA. I very much enjoyed going to football games at the Rose Bowl. That's such a cool experience."

Pallares graduated in 2013 and started the climb from small-market television stations to bigger cities and stronger outlets. She first went to Grand Junction, Colorado, where she met a supportive colleague, Zach Berridge, whom she recently married.

She had very little journalism experience when she started, though she had taken a couple of journalism courses at Santa Monica College.

Later, she worked at WBAY in Green Bay, Fox Sports San Diego and Fox 40 in Sacramento. Her big win was landing the gig as the 49ers team reporter; she's now in her third season with the team.

"I've covered quite a few sports franchises now," she said. "This is my third NFL team, so this is really cool, and I kind of do a little bit of everything. This is probably the most writing I've ever done in my career."

Though sports journalism is still a heavily male-dominated field, Pallares doesn't feel alone working as a female.

"There's actually a good contingent of team reporters who are women," she said. "I'm on a very large text chain of other female team reporters, and we're in constant communication. So I actually do think women have made really big strides."

Pallares, who has always taken pride in her heritage, remembers a passage from her UCLA commencement ceremony.

"The loose translation is 'the accomplishments of the individual are the accomplishments of the community.' That really stuck out to me because that really resonates with Latinos, and it really resonated with me. I'm the product of my community. So my successes are my parents' successes, my successes' are my husband's successes."

Pallares also stresses the importance of representation. "As a Latina and a female media professional, I want to have a positive impact on younger journalists," she said. "I want to inspire them to contribute to my community."

Tags: alumni | race and ethnicity | diversity