Siren 86: WNBL season preview, women's sport gift guide, a new podcast episode & more
A Women in Sport Collective
The sporting world moves at a dizzying pace sometimes, and while we love that and all the excitement it brings, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate some phenomenal women who were inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women and the Sports Australia Hall of Fame over the weekend.
CEO of Netball Victoria, Rosie King OAM (who we spoke with last year) and Dr Bridie O’Donnell were among the 23 women inducted to the Victorian Honour Roll of Women over the weekend. King for her remarkable efforts leading netball in Victoria through the pandemic and O’Donnell for her extensive work championing equality in sport and her role as the inaugural Director of the Victorian Government’s Office for Women in Sport and Recreation.
Also over the weekend, Sports Australia announced their Class of 2021 Hall of Fame inductees. Of the eight people inducted, four are women. They include former captain of the Australian cricket team, Karen Rolton; World Champion and Olympic gold medallist, Anna Meares; Paralympic gold medalist Libby Kosmala OAM, who did not miss a Summer Paralympics between 1976 and 2016; and Jana Pittman, the first Australian woman to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. What a list!
While we celebrate these pioneers and champions we also want to give a shout out to the future of sports broadcasting! Yesterday, Change Our Game announced the participants in the inaugural round of the Change Our Game Women in Sports Broadcasting Program delivered in partnership with our very excellent friends at Making The Call.
Among the participants are Siren co-founder Gemma Bastiani and friends of Siren including Erin Delahunty, Laura Jolley, Amy McCann, Marnie Vinall and Lucy Watkin, but we’re sending a huge congratulations to all the participants. We’re excited to see what comes next not only from the incredible women selected from this inaugural round of the Women in Sports Broadcasting Program but also from the excellent Change Our Game and Making The Call.
ICYMI
Our podcast episode this week is a chat with co-founders Kirby Fenwick and Alison Smirnoff about their experience meeting trailblazing Australian cricketer Anne Gordon.
In this issue
Hayley Wildes takes us through the state of each team ahead of the WNBL season, which kicks off on December 2nd. We’ve put together a handy women’s sports gift guide as we head into the holiday season. And we’re looking back at Kirby Fenwick and Alison Smirnoff’s chat with the incredible Anne Gordon after the piece was the topic of our most recent podcast.
Gemma’s Player Focus series continues over at Play On Radio, with this week’s look at Richmond’s Gabby Seymour.
Also, did you spot Gemma on the news on Sunday?? If you missed it, you can watch the segment here that highlights the great work Emma and Lucy Race are doing through the Making the Call program. Well done Gemma!
Loaded up and ready to go: WNBL 2021/22 season preview
By Hayley Wildes
WNBL expert Hayley Wildes gets us up to date with the 2021/22 competition, and where each team stands ahead of the competition’s December 2 start.
Women’s Sports Gift Guide
With the holiday season fast approaching, make every women’s sports loving friend and family member happy with a gift that also supports women in sport!
From the archives
History makers: Anne Gordon, the 1976 Australian women’s cricket team, and Lords
By Kirby Fenwick and Alison Smirnoff
This week we’re looking back at our chat with the incredible Anne Gordon after it was the topic of our most recent podcast episode. Anne Gordon is the former captain of the Australian Women’s Cricket Team, leading the side in their historic match at Lords.
Presented by Game Legal
Ellia Green has announced her retirement from Sevens. Congratulations on an incredible career Ellia!
The world’s best women’s tennis players are moving to prime time at the Australian Open in 2022.
Who remembers this moment? And who is going to be there to watch the next instalment of the Ashes?? We certainly are!
Para-swimmer world record holder and gold medallist Rachael Watson has been announced as an 2021 International Day of People with Disabilities Ambassador! Congrats Rachael!
Samantha Lewis looks at how the Matildas are making their mark in the Champions League group stage for ABC Sport.
Learn more about Dani Stevens—From Little Athletics to the Olympics, with every life moment in between.
The QRL announced that Queensland's male and female State of Origin players will get equal pay under a new plan which is a welcome move for the sport.
But, as usual, there was a lot of talk off the back of this announcement about what women ‘deserve’ in sport when it comes to remuneration. This great thread by Kasey Badger sums up our feelings perfectly.
Jacqui Dover, the first indigenous female referee in the NBL and first Aussie women to join the NBA referee development program joined the Shooting the Breeze podcast to talk about her journey.
Richmond President Peggy O’Neal has received the honor of The City of Melbourne’s 2021 ‘Melburnian of the Year’! Well earned Peggy!
Presented by Graphcad Consultants
Can you even??
Runner up
Instant. Impact.