Pacific women get historic opportunity | Oceania Football Confederation

The OFC Women’s Nations Cup will provide the setting for an historic occasion in Pacific broadcasting history as four women take up the opportunity to commentate this major regional regional sporting event in their local languages.

The broadcasters from Vanuatu and Fiji will be calling the matches in Bislama, Fijian and English thanks to the Women in News and Sport Initiative (WINS) run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s International Development Unit to promote gender balance in sports broadcasting.

One of the participants is Lavenia Yalovi from Fiji said she is excited to be calling in the local language.

“I will be able to ‘reach the unreached’ and get them to understand and enjoy the game in the comfort of their homes or wherever they will be listening or watching from,” she said.

“Who knows, one of them may be a future female commentator in years to come.”

Joining Yalovi is fellow Fijian Josephine Navula and Ni-Vanuatu women Adele Willie and Jennesa Hinge Moli.

The women took part in intense commentary training in August with ABC commentator and broadcaster Aaron Kearney in Fiji – now they have the chance to put the learning into action. They will be offering an alternative service calling the semi-finals of the competition in Bislama and Fijian.

The group will be based in the OFC headquarters in New Zealand where the commentary team for the competition is based and OFC Head of Media and Communications Jacqueline Tran Van said it’s an exciting moment in history.

“We are excited to be part of this initiative and to be able to provide a platform for these women to develop new skills under Aaron’s tutelage. There is a lack of opportunities for female football commentators in the Pacific and therefore we are delighted to be able to assist by offering an environment for these women to showcase their developing commentary talent and knowledge of football, and in their own languages too.”

The overall aim of WINS is to increase the opportunities for women in sports journalism and thereby create more representation for women in sports in news stories.

WINS is an ABCID initiative and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian aid program.

The OFC Women’s Nations Cup Finals will be held in New Caledonia from 18^thNovember to 1^stDecember 2018. The winner earns a place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France next year, and at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in 2020.