The Australian women’s cricket team returned to the field on Saturday afternoon and didn’t we love it! While we may have been lamenting that we couldn’t meet in a delightfully sunny beer garden somewhere and watch together, there was plenty of joy to be had watching Ash Gardner and Alyssa Healy and Sophie Molineux do their thing.
It’s an incredibly exciting time for women’s sport in Australia. Cricket is back and the WBBL isn’t far away. The Suncorp Super Netball finals are kicking off this weekend, as is the NRLW. And a week from today, the 2020 AFLW draft is happening.
The AFLW draft holds a special place in our hearts as it was the 2019 draft event where the early plans for Siren were hatched, one year ago this week.
After seeing each other at various AFLW events since the league’s inception, this time last year a few Siren co-founders decided that after years of talk, it was time to finally band together and try to build something special.
We could not have imagined the journey we would go on together over the next twelve months. The amazing athletes and administrators and academics we would have the opportunity to interview. The new sports we would learn about and cover. The incredible and passionate community we would find. The level of support we would receive. And the fun we would have delivering our weekly newsletter, always trying our best to elevate and celebrate the wonderful women in sport who deserve our attention. We also could not have imagined the new and scary world we would be living in.
We can’t meet at the AFLW draft this year to celebrate the next group of young women who can chase their footy dreams in the league’s fifth season. We can’t grab the post event coffee and chat through our master plans to change the women in sport media landscape. We can’t even meet to get a coffee!
But where we come together now is here, in this special place we built for ourselves, and for you, so we always have a space to continue the women in sport chats over a cuppa, no matter where in the world we are.
In this issue
Erin Delahunty previews the Super Netball finals, with a rundown of where every team is placed. In NRLW news, Mary Konstantopoulos has a season preview—required reading before the season kicks off on Saturday. And Kasey Symons caught up with Belinda Clark to discuss The Next Innings, Cricket Australia’s strategy for accelerating female participation.
Belinda Clark on advancing gender equality in Cricket’s Next Innings
By Kasey Symons
Image: Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia has recently released its ‘The Next Innings: Accelerating Female Participation’ strategy. Australian cricket legend Belinda Clark guides us through it.
2020 NRLW Season Preview
By Mary Konstantopoulos
Botille Vette-Welsh has signed with the Sydney Roosters. Image: NRLW
The 2020 NRLW season kicks off this weekend and expert Mary Konstantopoulos previews each team as we enter the third season of this exciting competition.
Super Netball finals preview
By Erin Delahunty
Image: Eyes Wide Open Images Barry Alsop Photographer
And just like that the Super Netball finals are upon us. Netball expert Erin Delahunty previews the finals series for us all, team by team.
History was made in the NFL yesterday when, for the first time, a game featured a female referee and female coach on each sideline - safe to say we will never get enough of this kind of news!
Howzat?! Our women’s cricket team has secured the series win with one game to play - an excellent result for those of us who were glued to our screens over the weekend!
The Constellation Cup has been officially postponed until 2021 in line with the decision to give our netball stars some much-needed recovery time. Get ready for double the action next year when the Diamonds make up for lost time and battle it out for the Cup - twice!
Speaking of the Diamonds, the 2020/21 squad has been announced! Feast your eyes on the stellar line up featuring both fresh and familiar names.
Just like the Australian Women’s Hockey League, we are loving this video from Women’s Hockey Life on the importance of #DiversityAtTheRink.
YES! As recently promised, FFA and Nike have listened to the demand for women’s silhouettes in the Matildas Away kit and have announced they will be available as of early 2021. The fans have spoken!
Episode three of The Far Post podcast has been released and it covers all the latest women’s football news, including the ongoing hunt for the new Matildas coach and the aforementioned situation with the Away kit.
Lia Ditton became the fastest woman to row from San Francisco to Hawaii. Yep, that’s 2700 kilometres in just 86 days. An absolute powerhouse with one extreme journey to the finish line, this is a story you don’t want to skip.
This piece from The Undefeated explores the emotional fatigue of WNBA players living in a bubble amidst not only a global pandemic but a political movement intrinsically connected to many of their lives.
We are loving all of the #MySydney2000 stories popping up right now, and this piece featuring recollections from the current Hockeyroos players is no exception!
This highlight reel of Dragons player Elsie Albert has us very excited for this Saturday’s NRLW season kick off (and also a little afraid for the opposition - girl can tackle!).
This short clip from ESPN on the 50th anniversary of the ‘Original 9’ is a timely reminder of how far women’s tennis has come thanks to female athletes banding together and using their collective voice. These women are the definition of trailblazers and deserve to be celebrated every day.
The Guardian published this pertinent and powerful piece on racism in netball by former player Celeste Carnegie. A must-read.
We also wish a tearful farewell to some netball superheroes. The Vixens will be saying goodbye to both Caitlin Thwaites and Tegan Philip after both players announced their retirements from netball. Two incredibly talented players with a lot of heart, we wish them all the best for their futures off the court.
This is so, so great. Cricket Australia shared this brilliant message to our women’s team on International Day of Sign Languages last week and if you were waiting to learn a new language or chant, this is absolutely a sign!
Runner up
We can never underestimate the power of visible women athletes. Imagine how many young girls now want to be the next Chloe Dalton. We love this.
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!