The Dalliday Call Gets a New Voice: Noah Set to Join His Dad in the Petes Booth

By Scott Arnold

For three generations, the Dalliday name has been part of the soundtrack of Peterborough sports. Tonight, Noah Dalliday takes his place behind the microphone for his first Peterborough Petes game, sitting beside his dad, Pete, in a moment that brings the family’s broadcasting legacy full circle.

Noah Dalliday is set to make his OHL broadcasting debut Thursday night alongside his dad, Pete, in the Peterborough Petes booth. (photo by SCott Arnold)

There are some seats at the Peterborough Memorial Centre that carry a little more history than others.

The one Noah Dalliday will occupy Thursday night is certainly one of them.

When the Peterborough Petes host the Sarnia Sting in their first home exhibition game of the preseason on YouTube, Noah will make his OHL broadcasting debut on colour commentary alongside his father, Pete Dalliday, who will handle the play-by-play.

For Noah, it is a new opportunity. For the Dalliday family, it is another chapter in a story that has been unfolding inside the Memorial Centre for decades.

Noah grew up watching his father and grandfather, the legendary Gary Dalliday, work games from the booth. As a young boy, he would sometimes sit between them during Petes games, unknowingly taking in the sights, sounds and rhythms of broadcasting, not realizing at the time that one day he would be the one behind the microphone.

As he got older, he found other ways to be around the action.

During sold-out Peterborough Lakers games, Noah recalls standing at the back of the booth for the first period before finding an empty seat.

Now, he has his own seat.

And his own microphone.

"It's definitely special and an honour for sure," Noah said.

The significance of the moment isn't lost on him. The Gary Dalliday Media Room is visible from the booth, a permanent reminder of the man whose voice became synonymous with Peterborough sports.

Gary and Pete spent nearly 15 years calling Petes games together, working more than 1,000 broadcasts side by side. Pete eventually stepped into the role his father had occupied, carrying the family name forward while building a broadcasting career of his own.

Now, Noah is stepping into that same world.

But he isn't trying to be his grandfather. And he isn't trying to be his father.

He's finding his own voice.

That process really began last summer, when Pete asked Noah if he wanted to call a Junior A Lakers playoff game between Peterborough and Orangeville. It was Noah's first game, and the nerves were there.

Noah Dalliday joined his dad, Pete, behind the microphone for a Peterborough Junior A Lakers playoff game last summer, his first experience calling a game. (photo by Scott Arnold)

A year later, he's coming into his first Petes broadcast with a full season of Senior A Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) under his belt, doing colour commentary for the home game streams on FloSports.

The nerves haven't disappeared.

"I still get a little nervous before every game," Noah said.

What has changed is the confidence.

Noah said it took him until roughly halfway through his first season to really start finding that confidence, and even now, he views broadcasting as a work in progress.

"Trying to get better and learn and get 1% better every game," he said.

That mindset has been helped by the people around him, including Jack Moore and Pat Gregoire, who Noah said were a tremendous help throughout the lacrosse season.

But perhaps his most valuable resource has been sitting across from him at home.

Pete has become more than Noah's father in this new pursuit. He's also his coach.

After Thursday night Lakers games, Noah said, the two would often get home and, despite Pete having just spent the night calling the game himself on YourTV, he would fire up the FloSports stream to hear how his son was doing.

It gave Pete a chance to listen, offer advice and help his son understand the little things that come with being behind a microphone, from knowing when to jump into a call to being more articulate when breaking down a goal.

"He's definitely great to have a coach like that at home," Noah said.

That same dynamic will continue Thursday night, only this time they'll be doing it together in the Petes booth.

Pete and Noah Dalliday have shared plenty of moments around Peterborough sports, but Thursday night marks the first time they’ll call a Petes game together. (photo by Scott Arnold)

And while the history surrounding the Dalliday name is impossible to ignore, Noah isn't approaching the opportunity as though he has to fill someone else's shoes.

He's bringing something of his own to the broadcast.

Youth.

Energy.

A different perspective.

"Having fun is the big part of it," Noah said. "I just want to bring some youthfulness and some energy."

That approach fits the path that brought him here.

For years, when people asked Noah whether broadcasting was something he wanted to pursue, his answer was usually no.

"I don't think this is my lane," he would tell them.

Then he became a big fan of the Toronto Raptors again and started paying closer attention to their public-address announcer, Herbie Kuhn. The style of PA announcing caught his attention, and Noah casually mentioned his interest to his dad.

A few weeks later, Pete asked him about doing that Junior A playoff game.

Noah ran with it.

It was around this time last year that he realized perhaps broadcasting was his lane after all.

Now, less than a year later, he'll be sitting beside his dad in the Petes booth.

And there is something particularly fitting about it happening here.

Noah has never really wanted to leave Peterborough. He grew up in the same tight-knit sports community that shaped his father and grandfather, watching the Petes and Lakers become part of the fabric of his life.

He knows how fortunate he is to have the opportunity to watch the Petes play here, and to watch some of the best lacrosse players in the world take the floor at the Memorial Centre. It’s something he says he appreciates every time he walks through the doors.

And he understands the significance of carrying the Dalliday name.

“My grandpa was super highly thought of around the community,” Noah said. “It’s something I don’t take for granted.”

He carries that pride with him every time he picks up a microphone.

Tonight, that microphone will be in a rink where his grandfather once sat, alongside the man who learned the craft from him.

For Pete Dalliday, it’s a chance to share the Petes booth with his son.

For Noah Dalliday, it’s a chance to step into it.

And for the Dalliday family, it’s another chapter in a story that began with Gary.

Scott Arnold is a Journalist and Content Creator at PTBOCanada Media Inc

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