Harness Racing Victoria’s Nikkita Ross is one of 15 women whose ambitions to get behind the microphone have been boosted after being selected to take part in the second round of the 2021-22 Change Our Game Women in Sports Broadcasting Program.
The program aims to address a lack of gender diversity in sports broadcasting, with the course focused on enhancing and refining broadcasting skills including research and preparation, play-by-plays, presenting opinion pieces, and delivering trackside updates.
The Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, Sarah Styles, said, “This program is helping get more women on air and their voices respected, and opening up the many career paths behind the camera for women in sports broadcasting as well.”
Participants will learn hands-on from experts in the broadcasting industry, led by Emma Race and Lucy Race of Making the Call, who are also hosts of the award-winning radio show and podcast The Outer Sanctum.
“The success of the previous cohorts of this program demonstrates that the sports media industry is eager to diversify their broadcasts. We are thrilled to add these new voices to the landscape,” Lucy Race said.
Emma Race said, “This cohort of graduates are skilled in a diverse range of roles in sport. Their voices and experience in sport broadcasting is an incredibly exciting prospect We cannot wait to support them in this endeavour.”
Ross will join other successful applicants, including four-time Olympian and 2017 World Champion Mogul Skier Britt Cox, and Track and Field athlete Nana Owusu-Afriyie, who has competed at six international competitions including the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships.
Harness Racing Victoria CEO Dayle Brown said, “This is a wonderful opportunity for Nikkita to continue her development in the broadcasting space. Nikkita is a rising star on our TrotsVision team, and the experience she will gain from being involved in the Change Our Game Women in Sports Broadcasting Program will benefit her enormously. We are proud of Nikkita and committed to ensuring that our media and broadcast ranks continue to diversify to better reflect our audience.”
Ross said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be selected to take part in the Change Our Game program. The opportunity to learn from skilled and highly experienced individuals in the sports broadcast space is very exciting. I am looking forward to working with other females who are also passionate about combining their love of sport and media. It is great to see knowledgeable and passionate females play key roles in sports broadcasts. I admire Daisy Pearce and Abbey Holmes and the way they cover the AFL, and closer to home Brittany Graham is someone I have always looked up to for what she does in the harness racing media space.”
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