Women in sport

Available for over a year

The Women’s World Cup is underway and global attention is once again on women in sport. Host James Reynolds brings together Preeti Singh, a national and international basketball player for India, lawyer and former England netball player Eboni Usoro-Brown and Jennifer Jones, one of Canada’s most successful female curlers. They compare notes on the progress in their respective professions. We also get into the challenges for a sports woman after having children. Jamaica footballer Cheyna Matthews is currently playing in the World Cup and adds her thoughts to the discussion. “My children have made me a better soccer player because I don’t complain as much when I’m on the pitch,” says the mother of three. “They don’t care if you have a million things going on. They don’t care if you’re sick. They have needs and those needs have to be met and so I adopted that same mentality on the field. I think that helps my mental toughness.” We also hear the view from the commentary box: three female journalists from Russia, Germany and Kenya discuss women’s sports and overcoming professional challenges. “I was never directly told that you can’t do this,” says Kenyan sports broadcaster Carol Radull. “But there were questions of ‘what is she doing? What is a woman doing on air talking about sport?’’ In fact, in Africa, I can’t even say I have a female sports journalist role model because there was none before me.” (Photo: Vivian Bahlmann Credit: Vivian Bahlmann)