When you think about a woman reporting on sports, what do you think of? I know that the first thing that comes to my mind is a cute, blonde, skinny little thing with a microphone. More often than not that blonde is who is hired as “eye-candy”, someone who is hired to makes the boys/men listen. Sadly, these girls make it even harder for the typical woman to break into the boys’ club. In today’s world, it is more common to see a woman standing in sports press conferences, but what brought her to be standing in the spot? Less than 15% of sports reporting staff are female. Over the next few months, I will be posting about experiences that I have had over the last year being a woman in sports media and the women who inspire me to keep pushing through.

I spent all last college hockey season writing and taking photos at the University of North Dakota. I went to every press conferences and didn’t speak more than ten words. In six months, I asked one question on camera. I always felt eyes on me, questioning if I belonged in this room full of males. I can count on one hand how many times I was in a conference with another female and when they did, we hardly acknowledged each other. Afraid that saying something would ruin our cover. The problem is not only with the other people in the media but the players that make sexist comments. The even bigger problem is that many females in sports media spend a lot of time hurting each other instead of lifting each other up.

Over the weeks to come, I’ll talk more about these details and specific experiences.

Thank you for reading!