“The skill is there, the stories are there, the success is there.”
A new series celebrating Irish women in sport is coming to TG4 soon and it looks like it’s going to be absolutely class.
Mná Spóirt: Croí is Anam will follow former Slaughtneil camogie captain, Aoife Ní Chaiside, as she travels around the country meeting a variety of sportswomen, documenting their passion and drive for their game of choice.
Shot as Aoife was about to win her third All-Ireland consecutive club camogie championship, the three-part documentary ventures beyond the world of GAA, taking viewers to a place where sports isn’t just about the game, it’s about everything.
TG4 wanted to created a series that portrays the importance of sport in Irish women’s lives.
And most importantly, depict how it can “… uplift women and provide emotional, physical and psychological sustenance, and about how sport can bring women together in an increasingly isolated world.”
The show’s first episode will focus on the ambitious initiative to promote and champion women in sport – 20×20.
20×20 wants to encourage 20 percent more media coverage of women in sport, 20 percent more female participation, and 20 percent more attendance at women’s competitions and events before the decade is out.
To achieve this, the campaign has partnered with various media outlets (including Her) to celebrate women in sport and give them the recognition they so desperately deserve.
In episode two, Aoife meets sprinter, Patience Jumbo Gula, discus thrower, Niamh McCarthy, and world champion handballer, Aisling Reilly. They discuss the big issues facing each of these women today – disability, image and racism.
In the final episode of the series, Aoife meets Kilkenny manager, Ann Downey to discuss why so few women have followed in her footsteps and become managers in sport.
She also visits Irish rugby star Eimear Considine’s school where she encourages her students to love sport and to champion physical activity.
Going to be a good watch, this one.
Mná Spóirt: Croí is Anam begins on Thursday, April 18 at 9.30pm on TG4.
20×20 is an ambitious two-year long initiative to better promote and champion women in sport.
With the tagline of “if she can’t see it, she can’t be it,” the 20×20 movement has three targets to reach by 2020:
- 20 percent more media coverage of women in sport
- 20 percent more female participation
- 20 percent more attendance at women’s competitions and events
And at Maximum Media, we’re proud that Her and SportsJOE is backing the 20×20 movement as official digital media partners
