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

Willie did not get to play soccer as a child.[6] In Vanuatu, mostly boys play soccer.[6]

Career

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
  1. Rosman, Rebecca (June 19, 2019). "'Commentary for Good' brings underrepresented languages to the Women's World Cup". The World.
  2. "BBC World Service - Sportshour, 'I am so proud that we are the first female commentators in our country'". BBC. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  3. Australia: The pacific road to the women's world cup. (2019, May 31). Asia News Monitor Retrieved from ProQuest
  4. HANNEY, DANIEL (2019-05-30). "A Pacific Lingo". Beyond 90. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  5. "Pacific women get historic opportunity". Oceania Football Confederation. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  6. "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. "Vanuatu Women Sports Journalist". Loop Vanuatu. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  8. 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
  9. "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.
  10. "Vanuatu sports journalists to commentate in FIFA Women's World Cup". Sista Magazine. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
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