As part of our commitment to live streaming our competitions and to enhance our broadcast, Swimming Victoria was thrilled to provide formal training for a group of budding local commentators on 16-17 September.
The training was funded by Change our Game, through the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation. 10 women registered for the 2-day course which was conducted via Zoom and presented by industry professionals and advocates for women in sport, Tiffany Cherry and Chelsea Ryan.
Tiffany Cherry is an internationally experienced multimedia presenter, producer, journalist and master of ceremonies. She is best known as the first woman to be an AFL boundary rider. As a sports journalist in the early 2000’s, Tiffany was one of a very small group of women with a voice in an industry dominated by men. She helped pave the way for many women in sports broadcasting.
After completing Swimming Victoria’s inaugural commentator training in 2021, Chelsea Ryan has become known to many as “the voice of Swimming Victoria”. She can be found behind the mic at most SV Championships, but her experience is not limited to swimming. Chelsea has held a number of media roles across football, cricket, rugby and netball, just to name a few.
Over two sessions the participants were given an introduction to the basics of commentary, broadcast positions and specialist areas. They discussed the importance of storytelling and the commentary team working together, with Tiffany and Chelsea drawing on their own experiences to provide insight.
The participants had the chance to dive straight in and record themselves calling a race, listen back to their recording and evaluate themselves. The two day format allowed them to practice and reflect overnight and bring their questions to the next session.
There was also an opportunity to listen to and discuss example commentary pieces, including some iconic sporting moments across various sports such as Cathy Freeman’s 400m at the Sydney Olympics and the last 3 minutes in Michael Jordan’s final game for the Chicago Bulls.
We hope the training has given these amateur commentators the tools they need to pursue further commentary opportunities. Here’s what some of them had to say…
“Both Tiffany and Chelsea gave so much of themselves - and their experiences - to help us. They were very open and honest. Their feedback was helpful.”
“I thought the presenters were great. I got some awesome feedback and also really appreciated just getting to know them and feel like they're people who I could maintain mentor relationships with.”
“Top notch. They shared tips, personal guides when they are commentating. Helps to keep these in mind. They were very personable, listened and interacted well.”
With an exciting summer of swimming ahead of us, we can’t wait to see this group of enthusiastic commentators put their new skills to use!
Swimming Victoria would like to thank Tiffany and Chelsea for presenting the course and Change our Game for helping us make it happen.
Interested in taking part in our next round of Commentator Training? Email your expression of interest to narelle.holding@vic.swimming.org.au.
