A group of Pacific women mentored and trained by the ABC will take centre stage commentating on two international sporting events in Fiji next week.
Over the past six months the group has worked closely with respected former Director of ABC Sport and senior sports commentator Peter Longman.
Across the next two weeks Mr Longman will work with the sports journalists in Fiji to strengthen their live commentary skills and knowledge with hands-on training at the 2022 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Women’s Nations Cup and Oceania Netball World Cup Qualifiers.
The training is delivered by the Women In News and Sports initiative (WINS) run by ABC International Development to promote gender balance in sports broadcasting.
“This is an incredibly exciting project for WINS,” Mr Longman said. “It comes at a time when women’s sport is undergoing enormous growth in the Pacific.
“Broadcasters in the region want female sports commentators to work on local and international events. This training is helping to produce female commentators who can commentate at the highest level. We are so impressed by the female commentary talent in the Pacific countries.”
The WINS initiative is a training and mentoring program that provides female journalists in the Pacific and Asia with the tools to carve out a career in sports media.
“As a trusted partner of the Pacific media community, we are committed to improving opportunities for women in sports journalism and commentary roles and increasing representation for women in sports and news coverage,” said Jo Elsom, ABC International Development Lead.
“This is such a fantastic opportunity. Thanks to our partners, women in the commentary box will keep avid sports fans across these important competitions.”
The OFC Women’s Nations Cup will be held in Fiji from 13-20 July 2022. The Oceania Regional Netball World Cup Qualifiers will also take place in Fiji and run from 16-23 July 2022.
About ABC International Development
ABC International Development (ABCID) is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s media development unit. The role of ABCID is to support storytellers through training, sharing media expertise and providing technical and program support to partners in three areas: skills and abilities, content creation and broadcast and research.
About Women in News and Sport
The Women in News and Sport (WINS) initiative is a training and mentoring program that provides female journalists in the Pacific and Asia with the skills, knowledge and experience to build a career in sports media.
The initiative has three areas: providing skills training and industry knowledge, improving multi-platform content creation, with a focus on women’s sport, and networking with other women in media and sport.
WINS is run by the ABC’s International Development Unit and is supported by the Australian Government through the Team Up program.
