In less than ten days, the FIFA Council will vote on the hosting rights for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. As Samantha Lewis wrote for Siren last week, the #AsOne bid from Australia and New Zealand is not just about bringing the World Cup to the region, the bid ‘embraces the moment that women’s sport is currently experiencing, while also acknowledging the central role women have played in the development of not just sport, but all of modern life.’
And there is a moment happening in Australia.
Earlier this year, the 2020 ICC T20 Women’s World Cup saw 86,174 pack the MCG on International Women’s Day. Only a few weeks after the T20 World Cup, FIBA announced that the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, the world’s largest international women’s basketball competition, was coming to Australia in 2022. To add the FIFA Women’s World Cup to that list, would see three huge tournaments in three years on Australian soil.
These significant competitions propel women’s sport forward but they also reveal how much more work we have to do, from the grassroots to the elite.
And for this reason, as sports look to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 with more restrictions lifting soon across the nation, we must focus keenly on that work. Before the world was hit with the novel coronavirus, we had some wins, made some strides, broke some records, but we still had a lot to do, and now more than ever, we need to keep going, together, as one.
Strong Willed Women
Seeing our Siren Sport badges in the wild, attached to your jackets and scarves and beanies warms our hearts! We love to see these pics, so please tag us on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook and show us how you wear your Siren badges.
And if you haven’t got yourself a badge yet, don’t wait!
The profits from these badges go right back into creating feminist sports content that challenges the status quo of sports media.
Covering the coverage
Monitoring the coverage of women’s sport in mainstream media is an important task and one we’re happy to be continuing to do through June in partnership with Swinburne University of Technology.
We’re collating the numbers and it unfortunately doesn’t make for exhilarating reading.
In this issue
As we wrote in our intro last week, sport has a role to play in dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities. This week, Rana Hussain explores that role and what sport can and should do.
Also this week, Jill Scanlon looks at what the current situation looks like for women’s rugby in Australia and Gemma Bastiani speaks to Tait Mackrill from the GWS Giants.
What is sport’s role in addressing systemic racism?
By Rana Hussain
As the world begins to reckon with systemic racism (something people of colour have long been calling out), our larger institutions capable of doing the heavy lifting that’s required to create change must ask themselves what can they do? And so, sport (its governing bodies, CEOs, and boards) must ask itself – what is our role in dismantling systemic racism in Australia?
Women’s Rugby looks to a post-Covid plan
By Jill Scanlon
Alana Thomas in action for Australia. Image: Melbourne Rebels
With the initial disruption caused by Covid-19 beginning to subside, the primary focus for sport is now on how to move forward. Not unexpectedly most of the chatter has been on the men’s game but what of the future of the women’s competitive sporting landscape in Australia?
Tait Mackrill on the AFLW benchmark rising, the Giants’ midfield depth and persistence
By Gemma Bastiani
Tait Mackrill breaks out of an Anne Hatchard tackle. Image: GWS Giants
Staying with her parents in a rural South Australian town, GWS midfielder Tait Mackrill shared her AFLW journey with us, and her thoughts on the standard of competition going forward.
Halftime Huddle
This week Sarah and Taylor had a chat with professional tennis player Zoe Hives.
Zoe spoke about the highs and lows of playing professional sport and her experience being sidelined from the game last year with glandular fever. She’s now well on the road back to full health and fitness.
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 were thrilled to hear the news that the Australian Rugby League Commission approved the continuation of the NRLW for 2020 with a season set to commence in September! We can’t wait! Mary Konstantopoulos wrote about what it means for women’s sport.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Bid Evaluation Report was published last week with the Australia and New Zealand AsOne bid receiving the highest score. We have everything crossed for June 25!
It’s the WNBL Free Agency period and there is plenty of player movement and key signings! Keep up with what went down in week one.
Westfield Matildas defender Emma Checker has been announced as the newest player of D1 Féminine club FC Fleury 91.
Women Onside are hosting another great webinar on June 22 with former top referee and FIFA’s current Senior Manager of Refereeing Kari Seitz. Register now!
Rana Hussain talks to Yokayi Footy host Bianca Hunt about the show’s fresh look at Aussie Rules from a young, Indigenous perspective in the latest Big Issue magazine. Big Issue street vendors cannot currently sell the magazine due to COVID-19 so please consider purchasing digital copies to support the homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people during this time.
Stacey Allaster has been named the U.S. Open's first female tournament director.
Lindsay Gibbs interviews NWSL player Kaiya McCullough in Power Power Plays about how when NWSL returns, she will be continuing to take a knee after she began protesting in 2017 at UCLA. NWSL players talk to Just Women’s Sports about the upcoming Challenge Cup.
In the latest Take The Field podcast, the team talk to Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, the first NCAA Division I player to wear hijab during a game and who also rewrote FIBA's rules that disallowed Muslim women to wear hijab in competition.
Ferrari and FIA launch female driver search with 'Girls on Track – Rising Stars' initiative.
Congratulations to Sam Squires on the publication of her new book ‘Princesses Wear Sneakers’. And congratulations also to Professor Emma Sherry and Dr Katie Rowe on the successful online book launch event for their new text, ‘Developing Sport for Women and Girls’.
Tiny Turbo!
Congratulations to Kiara and Adele on the safe arrival of baby Nate!
Runner up
Yes it is.
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