Fox League host Yvonne Sampson nonetheless will get the query 20 years into her profession as a sports activities reporter.
The star presenter has partnered up with fellow Fox Sports feminine reporters to make a robust assertion about points on the centre of the Australian sporting media panorama.
Sampson and Fox League colleagues Lara Pitt and Hanna Hollis have change into among the hottest figures in rugby league with their careers blossoming after years of struggling to interrupt by the infamously blokey tradition in some sections of the business.
However, the trio have now revealed there may be nonetheless one query that erodes the entire progress they’ve made as business trailblazers.
Sampson, Hollis and Pitt have informed News Corp’s Insight they’re nonetheless requested in the event that they even like sport.
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“Often the question when I first started was – and it wasn’t from people that I worked with – it was from people that would see me as games and people that I would come across in my real life, they’d be like, ‘Do you really like sports? Do you really like rugby league?’” Pitt stated as a part of the particular report celebrating International Women’s Day.
“And they’d be a bit shocked and you’re like, ‘Yep’ and laugh it off.
“But I think the people that I’ve always worked with have always respected that if you work hard and you know what you’re doing and you hone your craft and you work hard to build up credibility, you gain respect from your peers, as it would be in any organisation.
“So I think naturally people would ask you that silly question and it can come across as sexist, right? Because they’re like, ‘Do you really like sports? What would you know about rugby league?’
“And you know what? Maybe that comes from the fact that not many girls were playing rugby like when I was growing up. Now that’s obviously changing. So the role of women across the board in rugby league has just gone through the roof.”
Hollis additionally shared her frustration on the query that gained’t go away.
“When I first started I used to get asked ‘Do you really like sport?’ Hollis said.
“And it’s so disappointing because I’d sit there and think, ‘I’m finally living my dream but do people not believe me? How can I change that?”
Sampson has revealed she additionally handled the sexist stereotype all through her profession.
“I’ve been fired a bunch of times and told that I wasn’t suited for sport primarily, and not suited for TV,” rugby league host Yvonne Sampson stated.
“And I’ve found myself going back to the drawing board saying, ‘Maybe they’re right, maybe I shouldn’t pursue a career in TV or sport or journalism at all’. And I did leave TV altogether when I was about 25 and went travelling and worked in the thoroughbred industry and thought I’m never going to go back to TV, but I’m so glad that I did.
“So by the time I was about 27, I went straight back into a sports department. And I think the challenges are different. It’s funny, I never saw myself as a female trying to be a sports reporter. I just wanted to be a reporter. I wanted to be a sports reporter.
“I wanted to be able to have access to contacts. I didn’t want to be treated like I didn’t matter, or that my stories were insignificant compared to some of the male journalists.
“And I didn’t want to be scoffed at, at press conferences, you don’t want your questions to be laughed at.
“It’s a huge responsibility when you walk in and you are the only female in the room. But I never felt like I was the only female. It’s only when someone would bring it to my attention or, people say, ‘You know, you do a good job for a woman’.”
She says she confronted one other career-defining second after shifting to Sydney the place she struggled financially and once more practically gave all of it away.
“I arrived here with a suitcase and about $80 in my account. And no friends, no family, nowhere to stay.
“But lucky enough, I just got straight to work. In those early days where you are stretching the budget, you might get takeaway one night and make it last two, it’s all those little struggles that make it worth it.
“That could have been a turning point, but it was really difficult to walk away because I would have been professionally unfulfilled. I always would have wondered what if, and I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about that now because I pushed on and what I found on the outside was incredible.”
— You can learn the complete checklist of essentially the most influential ladies in Aussie sport in News Corp’s Power 100 rankings
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
