Siren 36: Rising Phoenix, Kelly Defina, grassroots data with Alyssa Longmuir & more
A Women in Sport Collective
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."
These are the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who died last week.
As a woman in a traditionally very masculine space, Bader Ginsburg became a symbol for a kind of progressive feminism that championed bringing women’s voices to the fore.
Change requires more than just symbols. We saw this in action over the weekend in Super Netball’s Indigenous Round. Prior to the weekend, Liz Ellis, the most-capped Australian netball player in history wrote that “it's time to have an honest conversation about why the league has only one Indigenous player across eight teams”.
That one player is Queensland Firebird Jemma Mi Mi, who was front and centre for Indigenous round but noticeably absent from the court.
“I’d say my Aboriginality made me invisible.”—that’s what Marcia Ella-Duncan, the first Indigenous woman to represent the Diamonds, said over the weekend when reflecting on her netball career. Ella-Duncan said that while she had a wonderful career, there hasn’t been enough support given to Indigenous athletes.
Only one other Indigenous woman has played for the Diamonds since Ella-Duncan—Sharon Finnan-White who retired two decades ago. Two in 179. It’s hard to understand those numbers given netball has one of the highest participation rates in the country.
The Queensland Firebirds released a statement following Sunday’s game but for many, it missed the mark.
Encouragingly, Netball Australia’s response to the criticism has been positive. Chief executive Marne Fechner said they had to ‘own it’.
"We've made a commitment to Sharon [Finnan-White] and Marcia [Ella-Duncan] that we are not comfortable with the fact we haven't seen Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Diamonds for a while ... we want it to be better," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Notorious RBG, as she became affectionately known, also said that "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception”.
Crucially, when women are in the room and have a seat at the table, we see change. What we need now is all kinds of women in all the places to break down barriers to inclusion and equity. We win when we all have a voice in those places
Despite the ways in which netball hasn’t loved her, Ella-Duncan believes that “the solutions have to come from within the great game itself. The one I love”.
We hope that the sports we love continue to bring more women and more voices together to make meaningful changes.
In this issue
Gemma Bastiani caught up with Alyssa Longmuir to discuss her work with the AWIHL and the beauty of statistics. We’re also super excited to bring you the first pieces from Brielle Quigley, our Deakin intern! Brielle reviewed the documentary Rising Phoenix, which celebrates the Paralympics and explores the story of the games and the athletes who compete. Brielle also spoke with sports photographer Kelly Defina, continuing our series profiling our favourite women working in this space. Stay tuned for more from Brielle!
Profiling Kelly Defina
By Brielle Quigley
Image: Kelly Defina
Continuing our profiles of women in sports photography, Siren’s Deakin University intern Brielle Quigley introduces us to photographer Kelly Defina.
Grumpily forcing grassroots data to exist: Alyssa Longmuir’s impact on Australian ice hockey
By Gemma Bastiani
In a world where statistics in sport are an assumed asset, ice hockey analyst Alyssa Longmuir is grumpily forcing grassroots data to exist in Australia.
Rising Phoenix: redefining superhero
By Brielle Quigley
Recently Netflix released a documentary focused on Paralympians and their stories. Rising Phoenix documents some powerful athletes and for Brielle Quigley, redefined the word superhero.
Cricket is coming to you this weekend and we’re so excited to see our national team back in action when they take on New Zealand in front of a sold out crowd! The series kicks off September 26.
We haven’t stopped thinking about the epic music video released last week by Wheelchair NSW for their new anthem ‘How I Roll’. With an appearance from Paralympian Eliza Ault-Connell and vocals from Casey Donovan, have the hairbrush microphone on standby for when you’ve watched it ten times and it inevitably gets stuck in your head. Thank us later.
For all sports documentary lovers out there (read: all of us), feast your eyes on this teaser released by Sandra ML Mesrine on upcoming doco ‘Women In Golf: Breaking With Tradition’.
Mary Konstantopolous interviewed Jillaroos pioneer Katrina Fanning on her early love for rugby league and the passion that has kept her hooked on the game. This wonderful piece needs to go to the top of your reading list, stat.
The Matildas have unveiled their new Nike home and away kits for the 2020 season, and plastic bottles have never looked so good! Made from 100% recycled polyester, the new green and gold gets a tick for sustainability.
Of course we were disappointed to learn that the equally beautiful away kits were not made available for sale in women’s sizes, but #womeninsport twitter did what it does best and rallied. We’re a powerful collective, we can drive change when we all come together and hopefully we have those kits on the shelves soon!
Our long-reigning tennis queen Billie Jean King is being celebrated in the most fitting way with the Federation Cup set to be renamed in her honour. She discusses her ongoing fight for equality and what it means to be the first woman ever to have a global team competition named after her in a brilliant interview with the Telegraph.
Yikes. Still huge amounts of progress needed in this space, and why we do what we do at Siren. Women’s sport deserves so much better.
If you’re feeling a little lost after watching (and rewatching) ABC’s Cathy Freeman doco, this one’s for you. New doco ‘Bam Bam’ follows the journey of Australian flyweight champion Bianca Elmir who “smashes the stereotypes of her family, society and her sport, to prove she is the best in the world.” BRB, grabbing the popcorn and creating a Prime Video account as we speak.
Incredible news! Fitzroy Football Club are making history after appointing Bronte Ryan as their new Senior Women’s Coach - the first ever woman to hold a senior coaching position in the club’s 137 years. Congratulations Bronte, and here’s to women in coaching!
We loved seeing this story on Deidre Rae, Australia’s first ever qualified female rugby league referee. There is something wonderfully full-circle about learning she was told high-level rugby was “no place for females” and then watching her meet Belinda Sharpe. Progress.
In the world of CrossFit, Australian powerhouse Tia-Clair Toomey became the first person in the competition’s history to win all three opening events, beating men’s champion Mat Fraser’s time by 16 seconds.
Is there anything Ash Barty can’t do?! The tennis world number one swapped her racket for a golf club and won her local club championship, proving yet again why she is peak athlete goals.
A massive congratulations to Inge Visser who was announced as the Coaching Intern for the Wallaroos in the lead up to the 2021 Rugby World Cup!
A'ja Wilson telling her parents she’s the 2020 WNBA MVP is all kinds of joy.
Runner up
Aussie Hannah Green might not have gone back to back in Portland but we’re here for her amazing good sport spirit in celebrating her competitor and friend, Georgia Hall’s victory. Women supporting women, we love to see it. And what a great photo!
Support us
We really appreciate your support in signing up to our newsletter. If you’d like to further support us in our mission to build Siren we have a few options. For $5 a month, you can become a Siren Supporter where you’ll receive access to our exclusive AFLW stats database and our Australian women’s sport calendar. We’ve recently added the option to pay a full year’s subscription up front if that works better for you!