Fast Five is where we catch up with women and non-binary people in sports media and ask them about their work, their career highlights and their advice for emerging sports media content creators.
Megan Maurice is an award-winning journalist, the author of Life Goes On, and the co-author of Shine: The Making of the Australian Netball Diamonds and Fair Game by Alex Blackwell. Her journalism has been published widely and she is a regular contributor to The Guardian, with a particular focus on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion. She lives in Sydney with her family.
Have you always wanted to work in sports media?
I always knew I wanted to write – I loved to read from a very young age and the idea of telling my own stories was so exciting to me. Once I got to an age where I realised I wasn’t going to be a professional athlete (it was a very young age, I have zero talent) and I figured out I could write about sport instead, that became the dream.
Do you have a favourite moment from your career so far?
Getting to co-write former Australian women’s cricket captain Alex Blackwell’s memoir was a big one, as was co-writing Shine, the story of the Australian Diamonds, with my friend Jenny Sinclair. I will never forget the feeling of being at our launch for that book and having Diamonds players lining up to take photos with us – it was such a surreal moment!
What is your dream sports media gig?
I have always wanted to be a commentator – when my sister and cousins played backyard cricket and were fighting over who got to be Steve Waugh and Shane Warne, I was sitting up in a tree pretending to be Tony Greig. Considering I’m getting close to my 40th birthday and I haven’t got there yet, I’m not sure it’s a realistic dream, but never say never!
Who are some of your favourite sports media creators?
So many! Trailblazers like Mel Jones and Liz Ellis are women I have always looked up to in the commentary space. Rana Hussain is someone I have so much admiration for and I love everything she produces. Lucy and Emma Race, Kasey Symons, Kirby Fenwick and Danielle Warby are doing some of the most consistently excellent work out there. Raf Nicholson and Melinda Farrell are doing brilliant things in cricket and I love reading everything they write. Geoff Lemon, Adam Collins, Dan Liebke and Cat Jones are also favourites of mine because I love the way they do things differently and have proved that there’s a desire for sport content that’s deeper and more nuanced than what we traditionally get. And I love seeing the next generation come through – Georgia Rajic is a rising star who is going to be a huge name in sports media in the very near future.
What advice would you give to any women or non-binary people interested in pursuing a career in sports media?
My best advice is that you don’t need to follow a traditional path. I studied sports media at uni, but spent years not working in the industry because I couldn’t find a way in. Eventually I started writing for myself, made connections through social media and elbowed my way in and carved out a little space. The impostor syndrome doesn’t really go away, so you just have to keep pushing on and trying to ignore it. It’s a tough industry, but a magical one, which is what keeps me trying even when I feel like I don’t belong.
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