Siren 63: Aussie Belles, Rise Up and Reconnect & our new Emerging Sports Writers
A Women in Sport Collective
Lauren Jackson’s status as the greatest Australian basketballer of all time was reiterated yesterday when she became the first Aussie player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
We are sending a giant congratulations to Lauren Jackson on what is a significant milestone and recognition of her remarkable achievements and contribution to the game.
Currently Basketball Australia’s Head of Women in Basketball, Jackson’s record speaks for itself. Words like All-Star, MVP and Championship Winner crowd a CV that also sparkles with gold, silver and bronze medals. Over a career that stretched nearly twenty years, Jackson demonstrated the passion, focus and commitment required to be an elite athlete at the top of their game. While her career was pulled to a stop by a degenerative knee injury in 2015, toughness too was a facet of Jackson’s game.
Toughness has been the word of the week after comments from an NRL coach about the apparent lack of toughness in netball. Some of the sport’s biggest names, including Lisa Alexander and Liz Ellis, hit back at the comments and clubs and sponsors were vocal in their disdain.
While disappointing that sports that are traditionally and historically associated with women and girls are still said to ‘lack toughness’, as Erin Delahunty wrote for The Guardian, what has been encouraging is the ways the Australian sporting landscape has changed.
“...unlike 20 years ago when the majority would have sniggered along with him, the netball world–and the role models who inhabit it–has blown the whistle.”
Language matters. The words we use have an impact—on the court and off it.
In this issue
Kirby Fenwick caught up with the Aussie Belles, the Australian women’s goalball team who are headed to Tokyo for the Paralympics. Gemma Bastiani spoke with Darcy Vescio about the value of reconnecting with the sports we love and we are thrilled to announce our latest Emerging Sports Writers Participants—yes, that’s participants plural!
Did you catch Siren co-founder Gemma Bastiani on ABC TV News talking AFLW?!
Kate O’Halloran will be appearing in this excellent event from the Wheeler Centre as part of their Broadly Speaking series which will unpack questions like ‘What would it mean to approach sporting stories through a truly intersectional and inclusive feminist lens?’ Get your tickets now!
And Kasey Symons will be speaking at the Hawthorn Library as part of their ‘What If?’ series asking ‘What If? When all sports stopped, men's sport still dominated the media?’ Tickets are free but you have to book!
Announcing the successful applicants for the Football Victoria X Siren Emerging Sports Writer Program
With the generous support of Football Victoria, Siren is excited to offer three Emerging Sports Writer Programs for women wanting to work in sports media.
The Aussie Belles are bound for Tokyo
By Kirby Fenwick
Blind Sports Australia’s inaugural ambassadors, the Aussie Belles are an unfunded team playing a minority sport heading to the Paralympics, and they’re ready to play.
Rise Up and Reconnect: why we play sport
By Gemma Bastiani
Georgia Love’s campaign Rise Up and Reconnect wants Australian women to get active. Ambassador Darcy Vescio shares the importance of a community in that process.
Lauren Jackson’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has us jumping out of our seats!
While it wasn’t a fairytale finish for Sam Kerr and Chelsea, going down to Barcelona in the Champions League final, women’s football in Australia received another boost this week with news that the construction of the ‘Home of the Matildas’ at La Trobe University in Bundoora has been given the green light.
Catch up on all the action from round three of Suncorp Super Netball thanks to Netball Scoop plus just who were the round’s gamechangers?
Big Changes are afoot at Netball Australia with the merger of NA and the Super Netball Commission. Liz Ellis details the ‘quiet change that may affect everything you know about netball’.
Still on netball, Erin Delahunty looks at how the controversial super shot is ‘re-writing the book on how the game is played’.
“We make sacrifices now just like the women in our game did before us.” Mary Konstantopoulos spoke with Tiani Penitani about the future of the NRLW.
Congratulations to the The Women’s Quad who are off to Tokyo!
From ‘traitor’ to trailblazer: the rise of NBA bench pioneer Becky Hammon
The AFLW is set for expansion, but there are still plenty of questions. One that has been answered is just how the league will help the teams that struggled in 2021.
The WNBA is back and so is 2020 #1 draft pick Sabrina Ionescu who missed last season due to injury, and talk about a return! Bring on the WNBA action!
Runner Up
See it. Believe it. Be it.