Today we announce the 17 winners from 11 countries of the global competition that was launched last September to encourage aspiring women football writers.
The 17 selected entries in the Emerging Women Writers’ initiative will appear in an anthology entitled Hear Us Roar – An Anthology of Emerging Women Football Writers to be published in time for the 2023 Women’s World Cup and launched at the 2023 Football Writers’ Festival to be held in Sydney from 15–17th July.
As part of the prize, three of the writers will also travel to Australia to attend the festival.
The three top contributions assessed by an international judging panel of seven judges are:
Olga Bagatini (Brazil) who wrote a profile of Sissi, one of the greats of Brazilian women’s football who was the joint Golden Boot winner at the Women’s World Cup in 1999. Sissi is all but forgotten by her own country’s football establishment and Bagatini wants to give women of Sissi’s generation the recognition they deserve.
Steffany Wangari Ndei (Kenya) who wrote a personal story of her relationship with football, from a child who fell in love with the game watching the 2002 World Cup, to a promising player on a college scholarship in the US, to becoming disaffected with the game until she returned to Kenya to coach a boys’ team.
Alina Ruprecht (Germany) who wrote a football business piece by profiling FC Viktoria Berlin and how a group of women investors are changing football administration and management in a lower-level women’s club, and their ambition to make it to the top level.
Bagatini, 29, is a journalist from São Paulo who is currently working on a UN project which uses sport to empower women and girls, particularly from the favelas.
“I am absolutely delighted with this opportunity. I can't wait to represent Latin America at the 2023 Football Writers' Festival, exchange with writers from all over the world and be able to bring Sissi's story to a wider audience through the anthology.”
Ndei, also 29, is a journalism graduate from Nairobi currently studying for a Master´s in Sports Integrity and Ethics and wants to be a sports investigative journalist.
“Bar the disbelief, I am stoked to meet and learn from the heavyweights in the industry of sports journalism as well as the upcoming heavy hitters.”
Ruprecht, age 23, is a political science graduate from Munich who is now enrolled in a Master´s degree in European Studies, and hopes to work in football.
“When I received the invitation to attend the Football Writers’ Festival in Sydney, I was completely speechless. This is an incredible opportunity to meet the other emerging women writers, and read all the stories that are to be published in the anthology and I am thrilled that the judges appreciated my work.”
The judging panel included journalists and authors from Australia, the UK, Nigeria, Egypt, and Argentina.
The fourth iteration of the Football Writers´ Festival will be held in Tar-Ra, the cultural precinct of Sydney also known as Walsh Bay, from July 15–17th 2023, days ahead of the opening of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The complete list of the entrants whose articles have been selected for publication is below.
Boardroom to Bleachers
Rebecca Ngoie, Congo
Coconut Football—A bitter-sweet relationship
Adi Arieta Tinai, Fiji
Football Bloody Hell
Steffany Wangari Ndei. Kenya
Football Fandom
Luca Marie Wodtke, Germany
From Rejection to Stardom
Cassandra Kimaka, Cameroon
Game Changers: How Viktoria Berlin is revolutionising women’s football
Alina Ruprecht, Germany
Izzy’s Magical Soccer Adventure
Emma Larkin, Ireland
Keeping the Hope Alive
Natasha Raheel, Pakistan
Menstrual Cycle—A real headache for women in football
Neilley Ebessa, Cameroon
My Love is for the Red, Red Rose
Amy Canavan, Scotland
Racism in Women’s Football—Why is it still happening?
Francesca Lever, England
Sidelines
Olivia Barber, England
Sissi—the unsung hero of Brazilian women’s football
Olga Bagatini, Brazil
The Development of Women’s Football in Cameroon
Chansiline Nanze, Cameroon
The Shine of Girls and Women in Brazilian Soccer—An illustrated story
Nathalia Servadio, Brazil
Three Goals That Changed Me
Flora Snelson, England
Virtual Turnstiles
Caroline Stefko, USA
(L-R): Alina Ruprecht, Olga Bagatini, Steffany Wangari Ndei