Game Changers NI: Recent Episodes
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Join host Claire McCollum as she chats to six game changing women in sport about their journeys and experiences.
The Electric Ireland Game Changers sponsorship in partnership with the Irish FA is committed to strengthening the role of women in football locally.
Over the last three years, the partnership has played a role in improving at all levels, the attendance at matches, coverage in the media but most importantly empowering girls and women to enjoy sport.
To find out more visit; https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/all-about/gamechangersni
Game Changers is back for a bonus episode taken from a virtual coaching event hosted last week.
Electric Ireland's Anne Smyth was joined by Neal Johnston, Female Rugby Officer at Ulster Rugby; Netball with Tom Causer, Club and Workforce Manager at Northern Ireland Netball; female football with Gail Redmond, Women's Domestic Manager at the Irish FA Foundation and former head coach of the Glentoran women's team ; and GAA, with Briege Corkery, one of the most successful female GAA players in history, who has won 18 All-Ireland medals across Camogie (7) and Football (11) for her home county, Cork.
Electric Ireland is committed to the development of female sport through this coaching event. It is now just as important, if not more so, to bring attention to and support the women’s game throughout this pandemic.
To join the conversation, visit: gamechangersni.com
Now working full time for Fifa as the international football body’s Head of Women’s competitions, Sara Booth has the inside track on the beautiful game. The sporting legend, who made her debut for the international side aged just 16, says she was aware of the “inequality” in the sport from a young age – and right from the start was determined to do her bit to make a difference.
As a child, Michelle O’Neill was into pretty much every sport available. Playing both Gaelic football and soccer to a high level, as well as progressing through the ranks in athletics and Irish dancing, the Co Wexford native was determined to succeed. With ambitions to represent her country on an international stage, it was an unexpected invitation to join a beginners’ class in refereeing that changed the course of her career forever.
When your dad is one of the most legendary footballers in history, knowing a thing or two about the sport is a pretty odds-on bet. And with women’s football now the fastest-growing game in the world, Pele’s daughter, Kely Nascimento-DeLuca, is making a feature length documentary about the sport. Opening up about what – and who – inspires her with Belfast Live’s Electric Ireland Game Changers podcast, the mother-of-four describes her father’s phenomenal charisma.
She's nicknamed ‘The Curse’ but so far there has been very little that’s cursed about Leah McCourt’s rise to stardom in the competitive world of Mixed Martial Arts. Just this year the fighter made history by becoming the first female MMA star to headline Bellator in Europe, with an incredible unanimous decision win in Dublin against German featherweight Judith Ruis. But, says the sports star, her work is far from finished and there’s lots more to come.
When it comes to male-dominated sports, the world of motorcycle racing has traditionally been right up there with the best of them. But two years ago, that all changed when Spanish rider Ana Carrasco stunned sports fans by becoming the first ever woman to win a World Championship in solo motorcycle road racing. Now still just 23, the star has huge hopes for the future – and says as well as aiming to repeat her success, her dream is to ride one day in the world superbike class with the team she loves, Kawasaki.
Her list of achievements reads like something from a movie script, from reaching the summit of Mount Everest to becoming the first Irish woman to make it to the North Pole. But conquering the world’s highest peak didn’t happen the first time around for Hannah Shields – and while she was prepared to lose her hands, toes, and even her life to fulfil her ambitions, she couldn’t risk her teammates’.
Join host Claire McCollum as she talks to six pioneering women about their experiences of changing the face of sport.
The first episode with Hannah Shields will be available from the 22nd June.