Sports queen honored by the King

Kiwi journalist Suzanne McFadden, whose stories about the America’s Cup and women in sailing have been featured in Scuttlebutt, has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honors for her services to sports journalism and women. Here’s an excerpt from an interview in which she reflects on a 40-year labor of love:

How hard was it starting out in the 80s as the only woman in the room in sports departments, press boxes and media conferences?

Initially it was tough to get a foot in the door. I tried a couple of times, but naively I had no idea how difficult it was as a young female to get a start in sport, which was the only job I ever wanted. It wasn’t until a defendant in a district court case I was covering threatened to kill me, that the Herald bosses finally agreed to transfer me from news to the sports department – just in time for the 1990 Commonwealth Games. I was there when gymnast Nikki Jenkins, then 14 years old, won gold on the vault, and her parents had been my PE teachers. I stayed working in sport for the Herald for 10 years – and I had incredible opportunities to cover events around the world, like the America’s Cup. And even though I was the only woman in the department through that decade, it felt more like being part of a tight sports team. There was one time, though, at a sailing regatta, I was made to feel like the ‘new girl’ who’d only be there for 10 minutes… 30 years later. – Full report