It’s our final #SirenSummer Series special issue for y’all for 2023!
We have loved sharing these stories over the past few weeks and giving space for different stories and voices. From community sport to the elite, from today’s fan to yesterday’s heroines, it’s been such a thrill to explore the myriad ways we can think about and write about sport.
As a treat, here’s recap:
We kicked things off in Volume 1 with a double decker story sandwich.
In “A Love Letter to the Community Sport Process”, the talented Georgia Rajic, penned a love letter to volunteers and what it takes to thrive in community sport.
“Is it all worth it?” Georgia asked. The answer? You’ll have to read to find out.
We were also thrilled to welcome Scarlett Harris back to the newsletter with her story “Five years on from WWE Evolution and WWE still needs one” which explored the impact of the all-women’s WWE Evolution in 2018 for women in wrestling today.
In Volume 2 we continued the community sport theme, with a beautiful story from Mrinal Asija – “Cricket, community, confidence: social T20 is empowering women” – who after years of loving cricket from the sidelines stepped up to the crease in 2023.
Will we ever tire of hearing women and non-binary people find their home in sport? No, no we will not.
Mrinal was also a special guest on Triple R’s Breakfasters show discussing the piece and her experience giving cricket a go. If you missed it, take a listen here.
In Volume 3 we hit the archives! Well, the wonderful Kate Kirby did on our behalf. Kate does great work in sport history and is also completing a PhD at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
For us, Kate looked at the interesting history of the Lindy Award that, despite being awarded to the best ‘sportsmen’ of the year, was open to and, at times, won by women. Talk about the importance of inclusive language!
In Volume 4 we unlocked a Siren life goal when we published the work of the awesome Ellen van Neerven!
An award-winning author, editor and educator of Mununjali (Yugambeh language group) and Dutch heritage, Ellen’s latest book, Personal Score: Sport, Culture, Identity weaves history, memoir, journalism and poetry. (It’s also the next book we’ll be reading for the Siren Book Club!)
In this piece, Ellen rides the high and lows of the Matildas matches in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in a beautifully written and poetic fan diary.
Finally, in Volume 5 Siren co-founder Kirby Fenwick shared “Finding the joy again in femorabilia” a poignant reflection on fandom, women's sport and joy. Kirby also spoke with Professor Jean Williams about her and Jacqui McAssey's 'Femorabilia' project and shared her latest women’s sport WIP.
We were also excited in Volume 5 to share a review of “Equal the Contest”, a powerful documentary from filmmaker Mitch Nivalis about rewriting the rules for inclusion in sport, from Siren Sport intern Pyper Denneman.
Phew! What a list and what a #SummerSeries!
Pyper’s top moment’s of 2023
Siren Sport intern, Pyper Denneman reflects on the moments that made 2023 a special year for women in sport and has put together her Top 10 (or maybe 11…) things that put a smile on her dial this year.
Thank you from the Siren team!
It’s been another wonderful year at Siren where we’ve been able to do some great things we’re super proud of. We love continuing to support more diverse voices with publishing opportunities on Siren and through our ABC Sport partnership. We’ve been able to put on events and bring our community together and we’re also proud to advocate for causes close to our hearts and fundraise for organisations like Proud2Play and Sharon Finnan-White’s First Nations Academy of Excellence.
We are still running Siren around other jobs, paid work and general life responsibilities so to do all this has been so rewarding. We also appreciate the support of you, our readers and community.
Every story you share, small donation you make and message of kindness you send gives us life. We always like to be open about our capacities, when we need to take breaks and when we have to say no to opportunities to prioritise paid work. And right now, is one of those times!
We will be taking a break over the holiday period to recover after an amazing (but intense!) year for women’s sport. We will return with updates on Siren in February 2024.
We hope everyone has an incredible summer filled with women’s sports goodness, family, friends and fun! You all deserve it!
See you in 2024!
The Siren team
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working hard to create opportunity and build community demands
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