CBC's Brenda Irving

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Challenges still there for women in sports journalism

CBC's Brenda Irving

By John Chidley-Hill

Brenda Irving knows about the challenges of being a woman in Canadian sport. She's been a trailblazing broadcaster with the CBC for the past 13 years and in that time has interviewed many great women athletes about their careers.

There has been a common theme in those interviews, Irving told students at The Centre for Creative Communications, Centennial College on Feb. 17, 2009.

"Continuing to gain equality, as far as participation," has been the biggest challenge facing Canadian women in athletics.

And one name has stood out as a role model, Irving says.

"Bobby Rosenfeld. She did so many things, and did them so well," Irving says, of the 1928 gold and silver medal winner (died in 1929) who went on to a career with the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star.

"And then after being a great all-around athlete, an Olympic champion, then at a time when women weren't sports writers, she was a writer. And she was able to influence sport in that way," Irving says.

Professionalism and hard work were two of Rosenfeld's calling cards, traits emphasized by Irving as important for any woman trying to break in to the competitive field of sports journalism.

"Get into it for the right reasons, not just as an easy way to celebrity," Irving says. "You should be one of those women [for whom] sport was a part of your life in some way.

"You were a great fan. You collected hockey cards, or you collected baseball cards. This was a passion."

At the close of her chat, Irving had advice for all aspiring journalists.

"Work hard, make sure you know your stuff, and be honest in your reporting."

The Sports Journalism program at The Centre for Creative Communications, Centennial College, features 12 courses over 12 consecutive months and is unique in Canada. It offers training in print, online, radio and television and finishes with a six week professional placement.

For more information about the Sports Journalism Program, contact program coordinator Malcolm Kelly at mkelly@centennialcollege.ca.