Event celebrates women working in Northamptonshire’s sports media industry

An event will be shining the spotlight on Northamptonshire’s reputation for being a leader when it comes to women working in sports media.

The University of Northampton’s Changing Futures For Women In Sports Media conference will see a host of county sport media professionals reveal the secrets of working in the industry.

They will be joined by a raft of national top female sports media professionals, including Sky Sports presenter Hayley McQueen, sports writer Vikki Orvice, BBC commentator Robyn Cowen, broadcaster Lynsey Hooper and Women’s Super League journalist Kait Borsay.

Conference organiser, Senior Journalism Lecturer Marc Webber, said: “While there are still far too few women working in sports media and marketing, it’s pleasing to see Northamptonshire as something of a leader in this respect.

“We have female sports marketers at Northampton Town FC, Northampton Saints, Northants County Cricket Club and the Silverstone and Rockingham Speedway motorsport circuits.

“The BBC’s Northampton Town reporter is also female, as is the local newspaper’s sports photographer.

“As a University, we are also helping to give the next generation every chance of making it in the industry, through our new Multimedia Sports Journalism course. One of our female students has already completed a work placement at Aston Villa and regularly attends Saints press conferences.

“We have also noticed a big increase in female applicants to the course for next year.”

Marc added: “We’ve also had in leading names from the industry to come and inspire our students, including TV sports reporter, Faye Carruthers, and former England Lioness-turned pundit, Sue Smith.

“But, not content with that, we wanted to hold a conference which celebrates those in the industry, while highlighting to existing professionals in the trade, and students looking to break into it, the opportunities that are there for them.”

The event is aimed at two audiences:  female sports media employees wishing to hear from the speakers and network, plus female students aged 16 to 18 who want to try their hand at sports journalism, marketing and content creation at a series of workshops led by professionals.

Local sports media professionals appearing at the event, which takes place on Thursday 8 February, include:

• Caroline Lucy, commercial and marketing manager, Northampton Town FC
• Northampton graduate Charlotte Hyams, marketing and events coordinator, Northampton Town
• Liz Tyler, communications executive, Northampton Saints
• Laura Tringham, marketing manager, Northampton Saints
• Ellie Emerson, marketing and communications manager, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
• Caroline Densley, sports presenter, BBC Radio Northampton

Female sports marketers and sports media practitioners can register their attendance for the free event by visiting the Eventbrite page.

Teachers of females aged 16 to 18 who are studying English or PE and want to be involved in sports media and marketing can register students for the free workshops, by emailing nina.gandy@northampton.ac.uk.