The global Emerging Women Writers competition launched last September to encourage aspiring women football writers has today named the 17 winners from 11 countries.
The 17 selected entries in the initiative will appear in an anthology entitled Hear Us Roar – an anthology of emerging women football writers, to be published ahead of the 2023 Women’s World Cup and launched at the 2023 Football Writers’ Festival to be held in Sydney from July 15 to 17.
As part of the prize, three of the writers will also travel to Australia to attend the festival.
The three top contributions assessed by an international judging panel of seven judges are:
- Olga Bagatini (Brazil) who wrote a profile of Sissi, one of the greats of Brazilian women’s football who was the joint Golden Boot winner at the Women’s World Cup in 1999. Sissi is all but forgotten in her own country’s football establishment and Bagatini wants to give women of Sissi’s generation the recognition they deserve.
- Steffany Wangari Ndei (Kenya and LEAD IMAGE) who wrote a personal story of her relationship with football, from a child who fell in love with the game watching the 2002 World Cup, to a promising player on a college scholarship in the US, to becoming disaffected with the game until she returned to Kenya to coach a boys’ team.
- Alina Ruprecht (Germany) who wrote a football business piece by profiling FC Viktoria Berlin and how a group of women investors are changing football administration and management in a lower level women’s club, and their ambition to make it to the top level.
Bagatini, age 29, is a journalist from São Paulo who is currently with UN Women working on a project which uses sport to empower women and girls, particularly from the favelas.
“I am absolutely delighted with this opportunity. I can’t wait to represent Latin America at the 2023 Football Writers’ Festival, exchange with writers from all over the world and be able to bring Sissi’s story to a wider audience through the anthology.”
Ndei, also 29, is a journalism graduate from Nairobi currently studying for a Masters in Sports Integrity and Ethics and wants to be a sports investigative journalist.
“Bar the disbelief, I am stoked to meet and learn from the heavyweights in the industry of sports journalism as well as the upcoming heavy hitters.”
Ruprecht, age 23, is a political science graduate from Munich who is now enrolled in a Masters degree in European Studies, and hopes to work in football.
“When I received the invitation to attend the Football Writers’ Festival in Sydney, I was completely speechless. This is an incredible opportunity to meet the other emerging women’s writers, and read all the stories that are to be published in the anthology and I am thrilled that the judges appreciated my work.”
The judging panel featured journalists and writers from Australia, the UK, Nigeria, Egypt, and Argentina, including Laura Williamson, Marcela Mora y Araujo, Inas Mazhar, Osasus Obayiuwana
The fourth iteration of the Football Writers Festival will be held in Tar-Ra and Tullagalla, the cultural precincts of Sydney also known as Walsh Bay, from July 15-17th 2023, days ahead of the opening of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The event will feature presentations from Australian and international speakers including Craig Foster AM, Dr Karen Menzies, Brendan Schwab, Ciara McCormack, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Emeritus Professor John Maynard, Dr Greg Downes, Jade North, Steve Darby, Clare Shine, and numerous award-winning authors and journalists.
The Football Writers Festival is an initiative of Fair Play Publishing, supported by the Johnny Warren Football Foundation. The Emerging Women Writers’ initiative is supported by eo.
The complete list of Emerging Women Writers entrants whose articles have been selected for publication include:
|
Article Title
|
Author |
Country |
|
Boardroom to Bleachers |
Rebecca Ngoie
|
Congo |
|
Coconut Football – A bitter sweet relationship |
Adi Arieta Tinai
|
Fiji |
|
Football Bloody Hell
|
Steffany Wangari Ndei |
Kenya |
|
Football Fandom
|
Luca Marie Wodtke |
Germany |
|
From Rejection to Stardom
|
Cassandra Kimaka |
Cameroon |
|
Game Changers: How Viktoria Berlin is revolutionisng women’s football
|
Alina Ruprecht |
Germany |
|
Izzy’s Magical Soccer Adventure
|
Emma Larkin |
Ireland |
|
Keeping the hope alive
|
Natasha Raheel |
Pakistan |
|
Menstrual Cycle – a real headache for women in football
|
Neilley Ebessa
|
Cameroon |
|
My Love is for the Red, Red Rose
|
Amy Canavan |
Scotland |
|
Racism in women’s football: why is it still happening?
|
Francesca Lever |
England |
|
Sidelines
|
Olivia Barber |
England |
|
Sissi, the unsung hero of Brazilian women’s football
|
Olga Bagatini |
Brazil |
|
The development of women’s football in Cameroon
|
Chansiline Nanze
|
Cameroon |
|
The shine of girls and women in Brazilian soccer. An illustrated story
|
Nathalia Servadio
|
Brazil |
|
Three goals that changed me
|
Flora Snelson |
England |
|
Virtual Turnstiles
|
Caroline Stefko |
USA |
A list of articles will appear in the anthology Hear Us Roar with the name of the author and their country.
About the Football Writers Festival
Launched in 2019, the Football Writers Festival is more than football, and more than writing and reading. It helps put the ‘game of opinions’ into action in a fun, relaxed and stimulating environment with other people who know and love football.
It aims to bring together a melting pot of authors, writers, readers, and interested voices in a Festival that encourages and inspires meaningful debate and discussion.
The 2023 Festival will be held from 15th-17th July in Tar-Ra (the Indigenous name for Walsh Bay), in the cultural precinct of Sydney, days ahead of the opening match in Australia of the co-hosted 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The Football Writers Festival is an initiative of Fair Play Publishing with the support of founding partner, the Johnny Warren Football Foundation. For more information about the Football Writers Festival, visit https://www.footballwritersfestival.com.au/
