“Get involved, know your beat, put in the work, and enjoy what you do,” this is advice shared by Independent Media Rugby Journalist Wynona Louw, for young girls hoping to be future Journalists.
That’s is exactly what she did to see herself earn her place as one of the most trusted Rugby scribes in South Africa. While studying towards her Honours in Sports and Exercise Science at UWC, she started working with the Under-20s and later their Sevens teams, with prior experience as a sport writer for their student newspaper.
She did the groundwork early on in her career, including freelancing at Rugby365, enabling Louw to continue telling SA Rugby stories while also observing the growth of the women’s game, “There is still a long road ahead, but there has been some growth in terms of turning women’s rugby more professional, for example the revision of the national structures, which saw the Springbok Women move above the Blitzboks to become SA Rugby’s second-most important team”.
Wynona sat down with gsports’ Lonwabo Nkohla to chat about the game she says many would be surprised is actually very big on values and respect despite the many misconceptions around it.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get into rugby Journalism?
I was studying at the North West University and started writing sports for the student paper. When I became sports editor, I could focus on rugby more. Once I graduated, I moved to Cape Town and started freelancing at Rugby365 while completing my post-grad studies. After graduation, IÂ continued at Rugby365 before joining Independent Media.
Can you give us a sneak peak of your creative process, what’s a day in the life Wynona the writer?
I try to plan my days around what’s happening in terms of press conferences, meetings or other media engagements just to get some structure around my schedule. Of course you can’t always plan for everything, as things may spring out of nowhere, but I try to get most of my writing done before I head out and then finish whatever else comes out of those sessions afterwards. The first thing I do when I wake up is check my emails (I don’t drink coffee, but that does a pretty good job at waking me up!), after that I try to finish one piece before I get to the ‘scheduled’ things.
On game days, I usually don’t write anything before kick-off, so I spend most of the day watching whatever games are on and running errands before I head to the stadium.
What are some of the challenges faced by women in Print media?
I don’t think it’s confined to print. You of course have to know what you’re doing; nobody is going to read or listen to someone who doesn’t, whether you’re male or female. But as much as expectations are part of the job, it shouldn’t be a case of females having to ‘earn’ the right to have an opinion on a certain sport while it’s more of an ‘automatic entry’ for males.
I have to say, though, that in my experience, that kind of treatment, or anything antagonistic, at least overtly, has mostly only come from the public, like readers who maybe weren’t familiar with my work, or those in the field who try to silence youww to drive their own agendas.
For the most part, I have been very well supported. There have been a lot of positives, and a lot of people have been really, really helpful.
What are the reactions you get professionally and otherwise when you tell people that you are involved in a sport like rugby, which is widely perceived as hyper- masculine?
People are usually surprised, but I think that’s just because it’s not very common. They tend to be really intrigued and the reactions are always positive.
From a woman’s point of view, what’s the biggest misconception about the sport?
That it’s all about ruggedness, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a sport that’s bigger on values and respect than rugby.
Which would you say is your one body of work you’re most proud of?
Tough one! I can’t say it’s what I’m most proud of, but some of the work I’ve most enjoyed doing were the follow-ups to the Springboks’ World Cup victory in Japan.
If you were to author a book by one woman in sport, who would it be and why?
Babalwa Latsha. She became the first African women’s rugby player to sign a professional contract, she made history. Material about male players is commonplace, and shedding the same light on a woman’s story, on the road she walked, could be special.
Talk to us about the importance of writing more about marginalized groups, like women.
One of the best ways I think marginalised groups can gain a greater reach and, in turn, garner more interest and growth, is through becoming more visible. People can’t follow what they don’t see.
It’s so important to do the little things, whether it’s including those groups on rugby posters or ads, or ensuring they feature in reading material. Involvement can only increase with exposure. The more little girls see or read about women playing rugby, the more likely they are to get involved themselves.
How would you describe the state of women’s rugby in the country?
There is still a long road ahead, but there has been some growth in terms of turning women’s rugby more professional. For example, the revision of the national structures, which saw the Springbok Women move above the Blitzboks to become SA Rugby’s second-most important team, and the appointment of Lynne Cantwell as the first high-performance manager for Women’s Rugby.
Our women are also playing in more provincial games compared to a few years ago. But the big problem is lower down, at school level. Young girls need to get involved in the game at school level already but, at the moment, it’s not happening. Most schools simply don’t offer it and girls have nowhere to play, unless they join a boys team.
It will certainly take some time, but if we want to create a solid feeder to the provinces and get to the point of competing against other countries instead of playing catch-up, we are going to need numbers, and that starts at junior level.
You’ve worked as a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Western Cape: How did you get into it?
I wanted to go into coaching, but when I went to Pukke on an academic bursary, I had to apply for a degree, although I wanted to do the Diploma in Rugby Coaching. I ended up undertaking the degree in Human Movement Science and Psychology.
While it had a sporting element to it, it also came with the more physiological side of performance enhancement. I really enjoyed it, and that’s where I decided to go into conditioning.
So, when I started my Honours in Sports and Exercise Science at UWC, I started working with the Under-20s and later their Sevens teams.
What does that entail?
It’s basically the enhancement of athletic performance. Strength and conditioning coaches use exercise programmes to improve performance components such as speed, endurance, agility, power, and strength, while also incorporating injury prevention, for example by strengthening body parts that are prone to injury in a particular sport or due to personal history.
What informed the transition into rugby journalism?
When I started at Independent Media, on a full-time basis, I didn’t have as much time to do all my training sessions and be with the UWC teams on weekends, so I focused more on writing.
Your advice to younger women that would like to go into Journalism?
Get involved wherever you can, whether it’s a school paper or campus radio. That experience will help you get a real feel for the field and will prove invaluable in future.
From there on, know your beat, put in the work, and enjoy what you do.
Photo 1 Caption: Rugby Journalist Wynona Louw previously pictured (left) on the Expresso Show. Photo: Expresso Show
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