Naoko Funayama is a Japanese American

Japanese American

are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...

 sportscaster who currently serves as a rinkside reporter for Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...

 games on NESN.

A graduate of Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

 and the Boston University College of Communication

Boston University College of Communication

Boston University's College of Communication was founded on May 27, 1947, then called the School of Public Relations. Since 1947, the college has gone through many changes in both name and location Boston University's College of Communication was founded on May 27, 1947, then called the School of...

, Funayama got her start at Adelphia Cable 10 in Frederick, Maryland

Frederick, Maryland

Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...

. In August 2004 she joined WMUR-TV

WMUR-TV

WMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...

 as a sports reporter, producer and anchor.

Funayama joined NESN as a freelance feature reporter in April 2007. In her first year with NESN, she covered Red Sox pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka

Daisuke Matsuzaka

is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball in the United States. He previously played for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League. He was selected the MVP of the inaugural and the second World Baseball Classic, and is an Olympic bronze...

 and Hideki Okajima

Hideki Okajima

is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox organization in the United States, currently with their AAA affiliate, the Pawtucket Red Sox. He played with the Yomiuri Giants and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league from 1994-2006...

. Funayama captured the attention of NESN after she helped Matsuzaka's struggling translator during Matsuzaka's introductory press conference.

Funayama joined NESN full-time in August 2008 as the Bruins in-game reporter and host of "The Buzz", a Bruins countdown show formerly hosted by Hazel Mae

Hazel Mae

Hazel Mae is a sportscaster in Canada. She was the former lead anchor for the New England Sports Network's SportsDesk news program and most recently the anchor on MLB Network. She is the current anchor for Rogers Sportsnet's 6PM broadcast of Sportsnet Connected. Mae worked for Sportsnet until...

.