What qualifies a woman as influential in the sports world? Is it her athletic ability, verbal skills, looks or her ability to lead into new frontiers? Does influence require years of training, bold new ideas or both? Below you will find our opinion of the top ten most influential women in sports.
Brennan is a best-selling author, renowned columnist and commentator. She was the first female sports reporter for the Miami Herald before another first as the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins. Her figure skating book, Inside Edge, was named one of the top 100 sports books of all-time by Sports Illustrated. Brennan also broke the story of the pairs figure skating scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Almost 20 years into a TV sports reporting career, Cohn excels at versatility. Whether it’s baseball, basketball, hockey, racing or golf, Cohn covers the sport with ease. In 1987, Cohn became the first full-time female sports anchor on a national radio network (ABC.) She is the author of Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys’ Club. Cohn’s Twitter profile exhorts her followers to “Go after dreams.” It’s not uncommon for Cohn to make a fan’s dream with a retweet or mention.
Sam Miller is the founder of SamsDreamBlog.com. A graduate of the University of Illinois, he worked with various teams in sports information and received the Freedom Forum – NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship for his achievements. At the University of Illinois, Miller regularly wrote feature stories about the football team. He has also served as communications intern for the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. Prior to that, he worked as a communications intern for USA Basketball and as an associate reporter for MLB.com.
After moving from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, Oregon to pursue my MBA at the University of Oregon’s prestigious Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, I was invited to attend the 2011 Women + Sports Summit held Sept.26-28 in Tucson, Arizona. The purpose of the summit was to provide a forum for working together on the future of women’s sports. My intentions for attending were two-fold; to learn more about this new initiative from ESPN and how it can propel the women’s sports industry forward and to create connections with prominent leaders in the US sports business industry, particularly the female leaders.
Connecting With Influential Women In Sports
espnW is ESPN’s first business dedicated to serving female athletes and fans. The espnW mantra is “One Letter Says A Lot.” The website was launched in December 2010 and was created by the ladies of ESPN, with Laura Gentile (VP, espnW) and Christine Driessen (CFO, ESPN) leading the way, gaining support from ESPN/ABC President, George Bodenheimer. The tipping point in espnW’s initiation was recognizing that this is not just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do and makes good business sense. Thus, espnW was born and is growing quickly everyday.
I was fortunate enough to connect with many great women in sports at the Summit, all with lots of wisdom on how to start your career or build on your career in the sports industry. I’ve pulled together some of their advice in this video and added some of my own thoughts that I gathered from my new friends at the Summit, in this article.
“Proximity is power.” (Robin Roberts, Good Morning America)
You gotta show up. And don’t stop there – show up with intention. Do your research, know who’s in the room, seek out key women in sports that could help you in your quest and…drumroll please…talk to them! Be yourself and gently share your story with hopes it will spark some interest in their mind and lead into a friendly conversation. Networking is like training for a big competition – it’s about putting yourself in the optimal position to make things happen for yourself – just showing up automatically creates opportunity. In this case, it’s being amongst the industry leaders you aspire to be a part of. Like Steve Jobs’ said so eloquently, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” By just showing up, you are creating dots for yourself that are connectable later, somewhere, somehow.
“Think about why you win.” (Billie Jean King, Women’s Sports Foundation)
Too often we are taught to focus on what went wrong, or how we can improve our performance. Knowing what went well and why it was positive is just as important. Taking these key wins forward provide the confidence needed to succeed and create stories to talk about when at events like espnW. These stories are memorable and help others retain information about who you are. Be proactive, reach out to other women in sports, tell your story, and your chances of wining will increase exponentially.
“A hero is a hero not because of how they play the game but what they do with it.” (Richard Lapchick, Center for the Study of Sport in Society)
Everyone has the opportunity to be the captain of a team. However, only some step up, lead by example and project an appetite for success that the coaches and their teammates can’t ignore. Similar to landing a job in the sports industry, timing is everything. Yes, the captain role needs to be available when you are a member of that particular team, but other roles will often surface for the right person. Heros, as defined in the quote above, are hard to come by. If your story resonates strongly, you will be top of mind when the right thing becomes available. By being a hero everyday you are welcoming success for yourself and for all your teammates.
Women In Sports Share Their Tips On How To Land A Job In The Sports Industry
Trusted leader. Creative jedi. Multi-tasking wizard. Play-maker. Dedicated team player. Recognizes and nourishes opportunities. Passionate sports fan. Multi-sport athlete. Olympic enthusiast. Connector extraordinaire. Katrina is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Centre focusing on sport partnerships and sport for social change. A business professional with 7 years of marketing, sponsorship and brand activation experience at top tier companies in the sport industry including Nike, MolsonCoors and VANOC. An integrative thinker who believes in connecting people and ideas to create positive change.
http://twitter.com/katrinagalas
http://linkedin.com/in/katrinagalas
When you think of racecar drivers, what comes to mind? Men, mostly. And then along comes a female…but not just any female. Tia Norfleet is the first and only African-American female racecar driver to be licensed with NASCAR. That sets her apart as does her stunning beauty and racy figure which brings racecar driving apparel to higher ground.
Tia tells the world, “I’m all about empowerment and, at the same time, I want to grow into the woman that I want to be.” Tia not only embraces that philosophy on and off the track, she passionately communicates her message to young girls across the country. Tia was kind enough to answer some probing questions I posed to her recently.
Michelle: Since NASCAR is a virgin market for people of color, what is your overall plan to break the barrier and blaze a trail for others?
Tia: My plan is to do my best, be myself, and hope that someone somewhere is inspired by what I am doing. It is true that NASCAR is a virgin market for people of color. My goal is to educate and inspire people of color through this platform that I have been given. There are many jobs within motorsports. One could be an engineer, race car driver or marketing professional – whatever it is; there are plenty of opportunities within this sport. [click to continue…]
Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com
Every once in awhile, I come across a sports resource so innovative and dynamic, I just have to share it with the sportsnetworker readers. Katrina was referred to me by Jacinta Fisher, wife of retired NFL linebacker Levar Fisher, and when I saw Katrina’s website, Tomboi, I had to let you know about it.
Katrina was gracious enough to allow me to interview her on short notice and you will definitely be the benefactor of our conversation.
Michelle: What inspired you to start a sports website exclusively for women?
Katrina: All my life I have been involved in sports, both as an athlete and as a spectator.It’s something I’m very passionate about.And, as I thought about my close circle of girl friends, I realized that some of the best times we’ve had have involved sports – Superbowl parties, little league games, NBA All Star Weekend(s) and the list goes on.I knew there were more women like us and as I looked for the group(s) online, I didn’t find them.I only found sites about women who played sports…nothing for the spectator.Nothing for my 72-year old grandmother who’s been a NASCAR fan for decades.Nothing for my next door neighbor who’s been a fan of Texas A&M football since she graduated from there almost 20 years ago – and I knew there were more…that was my inspiration! [click to continue…]
Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com
I’ve previously written about women’s pro football but thanks to social media, I got the chance to interview Carley Pesente, owner of Northeastern Nitro Women’s Professional Football Team in the Women’s Football Alliance. Carley is also a linebacker for the Nitro and has been playing women’s tackle football for 13 years. She is also a professional boxer.
Nitro players come from all walks of life and from every profession, including lawyers, homemakers, students, personal trainers, and teachers. In addition to highlighting their talent on the field, Nitro players are connected to their community through supporting various organizations. [click to continue…]
Michelle Hill, the Strong Copy Quarterback for Winning Proof, is a sports and fitness copywriter. My mission is to help pro athletes, coaches, and sports agents increase their success score in their entrepreneurial endeavors with my writing expertise and creative turn of mind.I write website content, client letters, media pitch letters, sponsorship proposals, and brochures for sports-related companies. www.winningproof.com
As toddlers, A few of us were dressed up in cheerleader outfits of our dad’s favorite team. As we got a few years older, we wore the youth-sized jerseys which weren’t so bad when we were young girls. As we grew into young women however, we just had to make the youth-sized jerseys or boxy men’s jerseys do (if we bothered to wear a jersey at all) because we really didn’t have much of a choice.
The major leagues seemed to finally take notice only a few short years ago when a few teams introduced pink jerseys but I – and not so surprisingly – many other women do NOT like the color pink so I continued to wear my ill fitting youth XL jersey until FINALLY – the major leagues made available, licensed jerseys in our favorite team’s colors with a woman’s fit.
It might be that more women are working at the offices of some of these major league teams now and they helped the old brass notice the increasing numbers of women filling up the stadiums and arenas. I’m not quite sure what it was that caused the leagues to finally have this epiphany that women are a viable, strong and growing segment of their fan base but I am very happy to be recognized. [click to continue…]
As the old Virginia Slims tagline for the Women’s Tennis Tour said in the 1970s, “WOW!” Oh, wait … that line was,
“You’ve come a long way, baby.”
The way publicists communicate with sports editors and reporters has changed along with the rest of the media world. What people on the outside of the industry may not know, however, are that the details that were carried out with physical and cerebral strength years ago, are today, combined with professionals’ organizational and technical abilities.
But I digress…
I venture to say that the most visual change among sports publicists and media are in the way each look. Sports were once all about the guys…the good ol’ boys…reporters chain-smoked or fashioned cigars hanging out of the corners of their mouths. Along came Title IX , which brought more women to the playing field. At the same time, press row began to show its feminine side.
While the majority of sports executives remain male, the overall composition today, is mixed. Issues from locker room access to who is allowed to play, put a spotlight on society’s shift as more women delayed marriage and took jobs outside their homes. [click to continue…]
Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.
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