BBC broadcaster Holly Hamilton: “It feels like the soul has been taken out of sport”

Will we ever enjoy the 'new normal' of sport?

The premier league is back, the US open has just wrapped and it finally feels like some level of normality is returning to sport, but at what cost? On this week's episode of Girls With Goals, we caught up with BBC sports broadcaster and presenter, Holly Hamilton, to talk about 2020; the year that sport went away. Not only is the Co.Down native well-known for presenting at Wimbledon, you might also recognise her from the infamous red couches of BBC breakfast, let's not forget that she's anchored Sportsday from some incredible venues across the UK and Ireland so, you could say she's in a good position to evaluate the cautious return of massive sporting events across the world. It's literally Holly's job to cover these events, so we wanted to ask her opinion on the changing face of sport and how these massive industries will bounce back (if at all) after a global pandemic? When it comes to the 'new normal' of sport though, Holly admitted it doesn't feel anything like normal to her:

"We are just having to get on with it and scrape together what we can in terms of tournaments and competitions but you're right, it feels a little  bit like the soul has been taken out of it. The fans for example are such a huge part of what sport is about we've seen it with golfers, people like Rory McIlroy, he really struggles without having the crowd quite literally there behind him. Until fans are able to get back to the stands and the stadiums it just doesn't feel like it'll be anything close to normal"

Listen to the full interview with Holly below: Holly also talks about the Mash Direct campaign that she's supporting which aims to get sports clubs across Ireland back up and running. Over the last few months, there has been a massive disruption to sports teams' activity levels and this competition aims to help out by offering a sponsorship package to the winning entry. Holly talked us through some of the entries and delightful squabbles between her and her fellow judges (Katie McCabe we're looking at you). Also on this week's episode we're taking a look at the incredible new documentary that was released by the 20x20 campaign as they enter their last chapter. 20x20 aims to change the culture surrounding women's sport in Ireland, they have three clear goals.

• 20% more media coverage of women in sport
• 20% more female participation at player, coach, referee & administrative level
• 20% more attendance at women’s games and events

You can find out more about the campaign here.