Adele Willie
Adele Willie is a female sports commentator.[1][2] Willie is from Vanuatu.[1] She is among a group of the first female sports commentators from the Pacific Islands.[1] Willie provides commentary on soccer.[1] She discusses soccer in her own indigenous language, which is Bislama.[3][4] Willie is one of the first commentators from the Pacific Islands to cover the Women’s World Cup.[5]
Early life[change | change source]
Willie did not get to play soccer as a child.[6] In Vanuatu, mostly boys play soccer.[6]
Career[change | change source]
Willie was a sports journalist for the Daily Post Vanuatu.[7] She said men did not want to talk to female journalists.[7]
Willie, Jannesa Hinge Moli and Lavenia Yalovi got to call the Pacific Games in 2015, the Commonwealth Games in 2018, and the OFC Women’s Nations Cup.[4] Willie, Hinge Moli, and Yalovi trained for 8 months through an organization called WINS (Women in News and Sports) to get the opportunity to speak about soccer.[3] Willie and Hinge Moli talked in Bislama, and Yalovi talked in Fijian.[8]
Then, they were the first female commentators to go to the Women’s World Cup from the Pacific Islands.[1][5][9] They were invited by FIFA.[2][4][10] It was part of FIFA Women’s World Cup Pacific Commentary Project.[4]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Rosman, Rebecca (June 19, 2019). "'Commentary for Good' brings underrepresented languages to the Women's World Cup". The World.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "BBC World Service - Sportshour, 'I am so proud that we are the first female commentators in our country'". BBC. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Australia: The pacific road to the women's world cup. (2019, May 31). Asia News Monitor Retrieved from ProQuest
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 HANNEY, DANIEL (2019-05-30). "A Pacific Lingo". Beyond 90. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Pacific women get historic opportunity". Oceania Football Confederation. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sportshour - 'I am so proud that we are the first female commentators in our country' - BBC Sounds". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Vanuatu Women Sports Journalist". Loop Vanuatu. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
- ↑ 3 PACIFIC WOMEN ALL SET TO BOARD PLANE FOR WOMEN'S WORLD CUP IN FRANCE. (2019, May 28). Gov Australia Live (Australia). Available from NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current
- ↑ "As the Fijian football team steps closer to the Women's World Cup in France, a special group of women in media are also achieving their sporting dreams". ABC International Development. 2018-09-05. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
- ↑ "Vanuatu sports journalists to commentate in FIFA Women's World Cup". Sista Magazine. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.