Claire Thomson
BBC Sport has launched a women’s sport campaign to showcase the extraordinary female talent that will be on display at major sporting events this summer.
We Know Our Place aims to celebrate how far women’s sport has come since the 2019 Change the Game campaign, which broke down sporting stereotypes and challenged out-dated perceptions. That summer, more than 45 million people engaged in women’s sport content across the BBC platforms, with 28 million watching the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Change the Game sent a powerful and evocative message to the sporting world, empowering female athletes and spotlighting their athleticism, skills and talent. The campaign formed a breakthrough for women’s sport coverage and created a more established and fantastic platform for women’s sport to continue to power inclusion, growth and normalisation and increase in popularity.
With the launch of BBC sports latest women’s sport campaign, this summer is another massive opportunity for women’s sport to deliver incredible stories and many memorable moments. With the Women’s Euros, Wimbledon, World and European Athletics Championships, Commonwealth Games and The Hundred among others, there will be more coverage of female athletes across BBC Sport than ever before.
We Know Our Place defies the stance that ‘women should know their place’ – a phrase that is so often used to suppress women – and re-appropriates it with the idea of power and celebration, to give a new confidence to women’s sport. Women’s sport is on the rise and women in sport are beginning to know and relearn their place: it’s on podiums; it’s breaking records; it’s in mainstream media, on billboards and bedroom walls. It highlights the passion, dedication and success of female athletes who continue to change the game and encourage other women and girls to get involved in sport.
The campaign launched with a video during both the men’s and women’s FA Cup finals. In 60 seconds, the video, directed by Judith Veenedaal, takes viewers on a female-focused sporting journey featuring women selling out Wembley stadium, impressing audiences on Centre Court and inspiring a nation with their talent and incredible sporting prowess.
“It was a great opportunity to work with the talented team at the BBC, especially for a project with such an important message at its core,” said Veenedaal.
“As a mother myself I know what it means to inspire and encourage the next generation of women. To not see the barriers but the opportunities. Working with these elite athletes to achieve that goal was a privilege for such an important campaign.”
Feature image courtesy of Ichigo121212 via Pixabay. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image licence can be found here.
Claire Thomson
Aspiring Sports Journalist and Modern Languages Student (French/German) at University of Glasgow