Suncorp Super Netball returns this weekend and we are very excited to see our faves back on the court. But the start of the 2021 season has not been without some early hurdles. A snap lockdown in Western Australia this past week created some headaches for the West Coast Fever, but it seems their round one grand final rematch with the Melbourne Vixens in Melbourne is thankfully still on the cards.
In more—incredibly thrilling news—Sydney will host the 2027 Netball World Cup!
The 2027 Netball World Cup will be the fourth World Cup Australia has hosted, and the third in Sydney. The announcement comes after news last year that Australia would host the 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup AND would be joint hosts with New Zealand of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
There is a whole lot of excellence coming to our shores and we are here for it!
In the lead up to the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season, make sure you watch #EverythingIsPossible, a brand new docu-series that chronicles the highs and the lows of the 2020 Season. Check it out on Fox Sports or Kayo!
Siren Shirts
In other exciting news—our Siren shirts are still available if you’ve yet to get one!
Every shirt sold—and also every badge and pin—helps us to continue telling the stories you love about the sports you love. Plus they look super snazzy!
In this issue
Megan Maurice gives us the lowdown on the big issues, big names and big action in the lead up to the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season
Kirby Fenwick spoke with Aish Ravi and Julia Hay, the co-founders of the Women’s Coaching Association about their mission to change the culture of coaching. And we have an update from the recent Australian Off-road Championship opening rounds at Golden Beach.
Our inaugural Emerging Sports Writer Program participant, Courtney Hagan, also caught up with Taylor Ling to chat about their journey in finding who they are and their place back in the sport they love—a story they hope will continue to bring more visibility to gender diverse athletes. This is Courtney’s final piece as part of our first Emerging Sports Writer Program! Though we know we’ll see more from Courtney as she is kicking some major goals right now and will always be part of the Siren Family.
Stay tuned for more news about our next Emerging Sports Writer Programs!
Gemma and friend of Siren Rana Hussain launched a new (rebranded) podcast last week called Footy, actually—out every Wednesday.
And don’t miss AFLW grand final review episodes of Gemma’s Play On Review with Rana Hussain and Alison’s This AFL Life. Also perfect to listen to before a grand final re-watch!
The Women’s Coaching Association is smashing the grass ceiling
By Kirby Fenwick
Empowerment. Education. Sustainability. These are some of the goals of the Women’s Coaching Association whose mission is to change the culture of coaching in sport.
Beyond the binary: Taylor Ling on being their true self
By Courtney Hagen
Emerging Sports Writer Program participant Courtney Hagen speaks to Plangermaireener athlete Taylor Ling, on cricket, identity and sport’s role in bringing it all together.
A chance for Super Netball to enter the future
By Megan Maurice
The Suncorp Super Netball season experienced countless disruptions last year, and not all were COVID-related. 2021 is their chance to start anew.
Australian Off-road Championship Updates
Danielle McDonald and Jess Gardiner were strong showings on the track at the recent opening rounds of the Australian Off-road Championship at Golden Beach.
Congrats to Ash Barty who has won the Stuttgart Open final!
There have been some exciting #womeninsport appointments this week! Congratulations to Sarah Styles who has been named the Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation in Victoria and Rana Hussain who was appointed Diversity and Inclusion Manager at Cricket Australia!
The Matildas group for Tokyo is set! We’re in Group G!
We loved this great story! Farmers and football: the Vietnamese women scoring big on the field
This was such an important piece and we’re so proud of Mary Konstantopoulos for writing it and Holly Hazlewood for sharing her story of coming out as trans while working in the NRL industry.
Golf Australia’s MyGolf Girls program is making waves at Royal Hobart. And are you a young, career-seeking woman who is passionate about sport and may one day be interested in working in the golf industry? Sign up for the Careers in Golf Webinar series here.
Read more about how two professional women's hockey players have traveled the world playing hockey in the 3 different countries in 3 years.
Some of our Siren contributors in Fiona Newton and Bobby Macumber will feature on a Pride in women’s footy panel this Sunday in Melbourne alongside Chyloe Kurdas, Emma Kearney and Emily Fox.
In some research updates, The University of Melbourne is hosting a free webinar on Conversations in Transgender Studies - Sport this Friday and Swinburne University is recruiting people working or studying in sport and active recreation in Victoria to participate in a Vic Govt research project investigating job advertisements in the sport sector. Would be great to see strong female representation in that study!
A new research paper has also been published open access on the toll of COVID-19 on women’s sports.
And we all know this, but a new study out of the UK says women's sport has the ability to generate the money, but needs the visibility to succeed. Let’s hope this study now leads to some change and some investment in women’s sport!
You can’t go past this. Bri Davey. Standing ovation.
Runner up
We love to see how much our support as fans means to our heroes. We’ll rep your name any day of the week Liz!