Gwen Chipasula Aims for Global Success

Media and Public Relations Officer at NAPSA Stars Football Club, Gwen Chipasula, has ambitions of making a mark on the global stage.

Besides working in Public Relations, the Zambian is multi-talented as she also doubles as a photographer.

Chipasula studied Journalism, Public Relations and at a later stage, she went on to get her qualifications in Media and Communications Studies.

In the last five years, Chipasula says there has been a significant progress of women’s sports coverage in Africa, as she reveals that in her home country, they have more women media officers attached to teams as compared to males.

Over the years, Chipasula has had the privilege of being part of the COSAFA Media team. Her aim now is to get FIFA call-up.

Speaking with Tlamelo Kganakga, Chipasula chats more about the importance of studying and shares advice to young girls who aspire to venture into the sport media space.

Gwen, thank you for chatting to us. Please tell us about yourself and where you are from.

My name is Gwen Chipasula. I am from Zambia. I am a Media and Public Relations Officer currently working for NAPSA Stars Football Club here in Zambia. I worked as a Sports Journalist for two years before joining NAPSA Stars. I studied Journalism and Public Relations, then later on studied Media and Communications Studies.

When and where did your love for sport begin and did you play?

I have never played any sport before. I just grew up enjoying watching all kinds of sports. I would always watch football, especially with my dad back at home and that made me fall in love with the sport. When I was studying for my diploma in Journalism, I did sports reporting and from that time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and that was cover sports. When I joined NAPSA Stars, my love for football grew even bigger.

You have a degree in Media and Communications studies. How important is it to get knowledge of the career path that one wants to get into?

I believe this is very important because education is everything. My point is, not all of us are born with a talent, so it’s important to at least be educated so that you have something to fall back on. But also, it’s important to understand the fundamental skills of every profession. It’s important to understand the ethics and basically just how you handle your work. It may look all easy from the outside, but every profession needs great understanding to carry out the work. Passion alone cannot do it.

You wear various hats as a Media Officer, Public Relations as well as a photographer. Please tell us about these different roles and how they impact your career?

As a journalist, you are trained to be all the above, so wearing these hats is nothing special to me. Ideally my job entails me handling all those things. But also, it has a lot to do with how passionate you are with what you do. You won’t find a lot of journalists doing all those listed, but it all goes down to how passionate you are with your work.

Let’s look at two of them – journalist and photographer – both are male-dominated fields. How are you handling it?

I believe what a man can do, a woman can do, too. I remember when I was studying for my degree; we had more females than males, so I guess it’s a field we all want to get in because it is fun.

What’s the state of women in sport media in Zambia? How is it progressing and are women going into the same career?

These days we definitely seeing more women in media as compared to men.

What do you think of the progress of women’s sport coverage in Africa in the last 5 years both online and in print?

I have seen a significant progress in this area, and I know we are definitely heading somewhere. I will give you an example, in Zambia we have more female Media officers attached to teams as compared to males.

What is it that people don’t know about you and what do you do for fun?

I am a very shy person. I know a lot won’t believe it. I enjoy being indoors and I have extreme anxiety when I am in public. The only crowd that keeps me calm is that at the stadium. I believe it’s my happy place. I occasionally hang out with friends or just stay home watching TV.

What do you think we as media can amplify women’s sport coverage?

We have enjoyed so much freedom as media and if we put it to good use, there is so much we can do.

What is your greatest career ambition?

I love what I do now, and I am constantly working hard to reach greater highest in the same field. I am privileged enough to be part of COSAFA Media team through my hard work, and I do not want it to stop just here. I want to go as far as getting FIFA call-ups if I can because I know it is possible.

What is your advice to young girls who aspire to be in the sport media space?

They should go for it. It is a very challenging field for us, so many challenges but if you are focused on what you want to achieve, then you’re unstoppable.