Motorsport’s Naomi Schiff plus The FA’s Kelly Simmons to speak at SVG Europe Women and Sky Sports event in London
Naomi Schiff, former professional racing driver turned Sky Sports presenter, is set to take the stage at Elevating Women in Sport at Sky Sports
SVG Europe Women and Sky Sports are excited to announce the initial line-up of speakers for Elevating Women in Sport, being held at Sky Central on 5 July from 3pm.
Naomi Schiff, former professional racing driver turned Sky Sports presenter, plus The FA’s head of the women’s professional game, Kelly Simmons, and Sky Sports’ executive producer Jo Osborne are set to take the stage at the Sky campus cinema early next month.
The event will begin with a fireside chat between Schiff and Heather McLean, SVG Europe editor and head of SVG Europe Women, to discuss the issues of representing society in sports broadcasting, both on and off the camera, as well as Schiff’s own career path and the challenges and triumphs she has faced along the way.
This will be followed with an in-depth conversation on ‘Maximising the growth of the women’s game’, with Simmons and Osborne. Women’s sport has never been in a stronger position. Even when many were predicting that the pandemic would stop women’s sport in its tracks, we’ve seen record attendances, rights fees and viewing figures, and increased visibility in the media.
This panel will look at how European broadcasters approach their women’s sports rights, how much is dictated by the men’s game, and how much do we really know about female fans and how to engage them.
After a quick discussion about the exciting roles available in sports broadcasting behind the camera, guests will be invited to network and will be given the opportunity to get hands-on with broadcasting kit including steadi-cam, jib and cloud production set up, and talk to trained operators about their roles.
Inga Ruehl, executive director for production and operations at Sky Sports, commented: “It’s exciting to have Naomi, Kelly and Jo on the stage next month at Elevating Women in Sport. We are looking forward to welcoming people from across the sports broadcasting industry here at Sky. It’s going to be a great event that will cover all aspect of sports broadcasting and diversity, from in front of the camera, to the technical roles behind it, to getting more women’s sport on TV and getting the fans engaged with it. See you there!”
Kelly Simmons, The FA’s director of the women’s professional game