FEED: How do we encourage more women to consider a career in sports broadcast?
CAROLINE RAMSAY: This is something I’m passionate about. Until we have more women in senior positions within sports broadcasting, it’s hard for younger women to clearly identify a career path. Plenty of girls are crazy about sport, but careers guidance doesn’t include options in the sports broadcast production world because there is a vast lack of information about the roles available. Recruiters needs to work harder to find the right talent, too. Those currently working in the industry need to actively seek out and support the next generation of women coming through. MARY KAY DONOVAN: One of my favourite things about working large events is the chance given to university students studying broadcasting to work (and get paid) for tournaments and multi-sport events via the host broadcaster
has continued to push for more women in the industry to step forward and make themselves available for roles. ERIN LASTÉ: Promoting the industry in schools and colleges so that young people are aware of the numerous opportunities available in the sector, and more importantly advertising opportunities in places that women and girls will see them. Creating partnerships with women’s sports clubs where there will already be a deep understanding of the sports that are broadcast. HELEN CAMPBELL: Dream big, be persistent in achieving your ambition and do not let others discourage you. You will require resilience and patience. You will need to be self-driven, to push yourself to be better at every opportunity, and with that also learn from every experience you are given. If you can see it, you can be it.
student training programme. It’s a great training ground.
TEAM PLAYER Caroline Ramsay and her team delivering the broadcast tech solution for the WWC (above)
SARAH BUTLER: There have been moments when I have felt that being a woman was a hindrance, an example being when I was told at one Premiership rugby ground by one of the staff that: “You can’t be the floor manager, we always have a man,” and that I couldn’t go into the referees’ room. I went straight in and asked the referee if he and his team were happy, to which the referee replied [in front of said man], “You are the floor manager; you run this game; if you are happy, then we are happy.” Such men, who are prepared to ‘step out of line’, are increasing in number. A great example is one of my clients, AE Live’s Stuart Coles, who, after seeing the positive impact on the company made by hiring two female MDs in APAC, one in Australia and one in New Zealand,
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