Siren 21: Ash Gardner, Women in Boots, Australia's World Cup bid & more
A Women in Sport Collective
We stand in solidarity with Australia’s First Nations people, Black Americans and People of Colour all over the world in the fight against systemic, oppressive and life-threatening racism.
We all have a part to play in ending racism that has been entrenched in our societies for far too long.
Our mission at Siren is to elevate women’s voices, alongside other diverse and marginalised voices to deliver feminist content that challenges the status quo of sport media.
Media has a role to play in ending racism. Sport has a role to play in ending racism. We have a role to play in ending racism.
We’re a small platform, but we can and will do more. We will take more action and continue to put our energy and resources towards ensuring more voices are heard on Siren.
If you want to help us elevate more voices, consider becoming a paid supporter for $5 a month, buying a badge set or making a donation. All profits we make will go into commissioning more diverse women’s sports coverage from diverse women.
We’ll continue to work, learn and listen. We’re in this. We will not give up.
Thank you!
Thank you to everyone who has purchased our badges after we launched them last week! The profits from these sales go directly back into Siren so we can keep working on our mission to elevate women’s voices, alongside other diverse and marginalised voices to deliver feminist content that challenges the status quo of sport media.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to these wonderful women who received Queen’s Birthday honours this year for their contribution to sports, athletics, active recreation and dance.
Among these women are Olympians, athletes, coaches, administrators, volunteers and community leaders who work tirelessly in their field. We thank them for their contribution and for being outstanding role models for women in sport.
Covering the coverage
Yes, we’re still working on the numbers.
After another month of analysis throughout May, the monthly average dropped 0.8% from 8.4% to 7.6%.
In the last week of May, we saw announcements about the return dates for Suncorp Super Netball and WNBL as well as the tournament dates for the Australian women’s cricket team.
As more women’s sports plan their return, we’re going to continue to monitor the coverage through our partnership with Swinburne University of Technology until the end of June to see how or if this impacts the mainstream media reporting.
Here are this week’s numbers:
Women’s sport is back—almost!
Co-founder Danielle Warby has you covered with this list on all the dates you need to know for when women’s sports are back!
Siren supporters have access to our women’s sport calendar app that has all these dates in one place for you so if you’ve got a spare $5 a month, sign up!
In this issue
Kasey Symons spoke with Australian cricketer, Ash Gardner about cricket and life and the intersection of the two. In her debut for Siren, Samantha Lewis explains just why Australia and New Zealand’s joint bid to host the 2023 World Cup bid matters.
And Jean Williams, a Professor of Sport at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK reviews Women in Boots: Football and Feminism in the 1970s by Marion Stell and Heather Reid. Stay tuned for more on that book!
Feature interview: Ash Gardner
By Kasey Symons & Alison Smirnoff
After finishing the summer of cricket on a high with another T20 World Cup win in front of a record breaking crowd, Kasey Symons caught up with allrounder Ashleigh Gardner to talk all things cricket.
As One: why Australia and New Zealand’s 2023 World Cup bid matters
By Samantha Lewis
“For us, women’s football is much more than a game,” says the introduction to Australia and New Zealand’s historic joint bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup. “It is a game-changer for women in our countries, where we celebrate our proud history of advancing women’s leadership, promoting women’s sport and striving to make gender equality a reality.”
Book Review: Women in Boots – Football and Feminism in the 1970s
By Professor Jean Williams
Women in Boots – Football and Feminism in the 1970s by Marion Stell and Heather Reid is a fantastically detailed account of the history of women footballers in Australia and New Zealand, in the 1970s, a pivotal time for the internationalisation of the women’s game.
Halftime Huddle
This week Sarah and Taylor spoke to Neroli Meadows who talked about the highs and lows of being a sports broadcaster and how she learned to define herself beyond what she did for a living.
The Halftime Huddle is now available on iTunes, make sure you like and subscribe to stay up to date with all their episodes as they drop!
We stand in solidarity with everyone who participated in protests against systemic racism, in Australia and around the world. For those who did protest, we hope the message is clear that while we need to continually raise our voices against racism, we also need to do our part in the midst of this pandemic and self-isolate.
Indigenous Australians are in a high risk category when it comes to the virus and we need to be mindful of that while fighting to resolve the reasons why that is the case. Be strong and safe everyone.
The Outer Sanctum produced another excellent episode with Rana Hussain and Shelley Ware so eloquently articulating the emotions, fears, hopes and reality of racism in Australia and what needs to change.
It’s been a year since The Final Quarter film was released and we recommend watching if you’ve not yet seen it. It’s a great resource to learn from.
In a special episode from the incredible team at Burn It All Down, they have highlighted 11 black women athletes who share their thoughts navigating this time. It is a must listen.
Coco Gauff delivered a powerful speech at a Black Lives Matter protest in South Florida.
WNBA legends Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley and current Washington Mystics player Natasha Cloud pen powerful pieces for The Players’ Tribune on their experiences of racism and position as athletes.
The latest Just Women’s Sports newsletter details how we can ‘Walk the Talk’ with many resources from a US perspective. Be sure to sign up for their great newsletter.
Chiney Ogwumike was outstanding on ESPN’s The Jump and Get Up! sharing her thoughts. Take a look at what she had to say.
Chiney’s contributions to the conversation, as well as so many others, also allows us to consider the emotional labour it takes people of colour to speak on these issues again and again. We must always be mindful of the toll this takes, and never put people in positions where this labour is exploited.
This thread from our friend Shireen Ahmed expresses the feelings of many who are called upon in these moments, but are expected to work ‘for the cause’. It’s not okay to ask for diversity and inclusion work to be done for free.
If you’re looking for women to assist your organisation or sporting club to navigate some of these issues or to write for your publications, and need help finding them, email us and we’ll put you in touch with people who are excellent at what they do and worth the money.
From California to Indonesia, Australia and Senegal, black girls and supporters floated on surfboards on Friday to pay tribute to George Floyd.
We’re incredibly disappointed to see the ‘Colour of Your Jumper’ show no longer broadcasting on the AFL website. It seems a particularly devastating time for a show highlighting Indigenous voices in football to be removed. We hope it finds another home to continue to change the media landscape.