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Boosting Media Coverage for Women's Sports

posted by MarieS, a Women Talk Sports blogger
Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 8:30am PST

About MarieS:

Marie Spano, MS, RD/LD, FISSN, CSCS is one of the leading sports nutrition and nutrition communications experts in North America. Currently serving as Vice President of the International Society of S...more

How do we boost coverage for women's sports? I played sports in college and love it when women's softball is on TV in May yet the rest of the year I watch and follow men's sports (don't boo me just yet). Why you ask? Well for one, that's what's on TV and espn.com and, all of my clients who are athletes are men. In fact, women don't even contact me unless it's for weight loss or physique changes (come to think of it, I'm a little baffled by this). So, it makes sense that I'm going to tune in closely to how the athletes and teams I work with are doing. I'm an advocate of women's sports (hence my blogging here) but I too need to hear more women speak up about what they are doing and tune into websites where sports journalism experts are covering female athletes, teams and their stories (Sports Illustrated writers do a superb job at this).

>My friend and colleague Staci Wilson also piped in about this and here's what she suggested would help pave the path for increased coverage of women's soccer and women's sports in general:

Expansion of possibilities as to what a woman can achieve - ie FIFA expanding number of competing teams in the 2015 Women's World Cup from 16 to 24 is great news!! We need women's soccer to expand in the world for it to expand in America - we already have a relatively progressive attitudes.
Equal opportunities and funding of female youth programs
Better television coverage of female pro leagues
Visible female athletes who are also "personalities"(players who are themselves the way David Beckham revved up men's soccer).

So if you are reading this or any post on this site that you like, I encourage you to spread the word. Tweet, use facebook, blog, ask for better local coverage and get involved.

View MarieS's Profile

Filed Under:
SportsPLUS, OpEd, Media/Marketing

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