Sports TV Awards 2021 Finalist: Rise Mentoring by Rise: Women in Broadcasting

Rise, together with BT Sport, ITV and Timeline TV offered women access to crucial support to help transform their careers in the face of the pandemic

Credit: Rise (2021)

2020 was the third year of Rise’s award-winning mentoring scheme, which offers critical support for women in technical broadcasting roles. For their agile response to delivering the scheme in the face of the pandemic, Rise has been shortlisted for the ‘SVG Europe Women Award for Diversity in Sports TV’ at the highly competitive Sports TV Awards 2021.

With COVID-19 stopping face-to-face meetings, which had previously been an integral element of the scheme, Rise’s management team rapidly pivoted all activity into a comprehensive online schedule. This not only helped to keep the mentoring community connected but evolved into a critical support network during an unprecedented and uncertain time. Despite the impact of the pandemic, Rise received unprecedented applications to the programme, with 27 young women from across the sector being selected, working across sports broadcasters, production companies, and manufacturers.

The scheme was supported by key players in the sports broadcasting field, including BT Sport, ITV, and Timeline TV, and has been able to provide mentees with exclusive insights into sports production and a chance to speak with on-screen and off-screen talent to understand more about career progression within the sports TV sector.

The winners of the SVG Europe Sports TV Awards 2021, sponsored by Canon, will be announced on Thursday 28 October at Chelsea F.C. during the Sport Production & Technology Summit 2021. Registration for both events is now open to members and sponsors here.