The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 kicked off six months ago this week, so to mark the occasion, we’ve been catching up with some of the Kiwis who played a role in the tournament. 

First up, broadcaster Narelle Sindos on working on the biggest women’s sporting event in the world.

Tell us about your role during the FIFA Women’s World Cup. 

My role during the FIFA Women’s World Cup was a full time reporter working for Optus Sport, the Australian host broadcaster. I was one of a three person crew, attending trainings, press conferences and capturing fan colour. But our main responsibility was reporting live pitch side at various games around the country - we made it to 15 all up!

What made you want to be involved in the tournament? 

Football was my favourite sport growing up, and I’ve been lucky enough to work in the football world for the last 9 years.

I was also lucky enough to be at the 2019 World Cup in France - it was incredible! So when New Zealand and Australia won the bid I knew I had to be involved in it one way or another.
 

Did the tournament live up to your expectations? 

It’s fair to say the tournament exceeded my expectations. I knew we would have thousands of fans coming from overseas but I didn’t expect the locals to get behind it as much as they did. After the opening match I think people realised wow okay this is something we can’t miss.

It exceeded expectations on the pitch too! Matches were hard to predict, the debutant teams were giving some of the bigger nations a run for their money and we’ve seen so many superstars emerge from it!

What was your favourite moment? 

It’s got to be Hannah Wilkinson scoring the opening goal of the World Cup - and the Football Ferns going on to beat Norway - a game no one was expecting them to get three points out of! 

What impact have you felt from the tournament after it finished?

There’s definitely been a shift in perspective on not only women’s football, but football in general now. I also think the support at the international level has followed the players back to their respective club teams. More people are paying attention to the A-League Women’s competition, and various competitions around the world.

Being based in Australia now, I’ve also seen first-hand the rise of the Matildas - they have all become household names, not to mention they’ve sold out all of their home matches post World Cup which is insane!

Article added: Monday 22 January 2024