{"id":235911,"date":"2021-03-11T14:39:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T19:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=235911"},"modified":"2021-03-11T14:39:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T19:39:19","slug":"women-sports-reporters-leading-voices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/sports-cuba\/women-sports-reporters-leading-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Women sports reporters: leading voices"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Julita Osendi said that if she did not exist another woman would have come to do the same, it was not a display of modesty, but of the full conviction that women had and have all the right and aptitude to earn a prominent space in the complex universe of sports journalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Life has proved Julita Osendi right. Women occupy an increasingly prominent place in the Cuban sports press, gradually breaking down the myths and prejudices that for decades limited or blocked the presence of women in the programs that the island\u2019s media dedicated to the coverage of sports events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today women narrate baseball games and boxing fights or follow the most important disciplines, a scenario unthinkable in the past century. Today we have women analysts of the highest caliber, whose criteria and accurate assessments mark states of opinion and influence decisions of the sports system itself, something that has not been achieved by condescension, but by their intelligence and ability to overcome.<\/span><\/p>\n

A further step in the recognition of the rights and work of women in this field has been taken with the recent creation of the Women\u2019s Section of the Circle of Sports Reporters of the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC), which will bring together all the country\u2019s women professionals focused on the coverage of sports events in the different press media.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yisel Fili\u00fa T\u00e9llez, journalist for the Cuban Television Information System and the specialized channel Tele Rebelde, is in charge of the new organization and assured <\/span>OnCuba<\/b> that one of the main challenges in this beginning is to locate, in all the media and teaching spaces, the journalists (associated with UPEC or not), photojournalists, narrators, assistants and journalism students with the profile defined in sports coverage, in order to exchange experiences, learn about their personal challenges, aspirations, dissatisfactions and purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Yisel Fili\u00fa T\u00e9llez. Photo: Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A priori, this is a wonderful and revolutionary project, but it did not happen overnight. Precisely, when Yisel Fili\u00fa is asked about the roots of the new Women\u2019s Section, she tells us that it is something that has been progressively gestated based on Julita Osendi\u2019s imprint in Cuban sports journalism, from the appearance of many exponents in the branch and of a more receptive vision\u2014although not totally open\u2014of the \u201cdecision makers\u201d in the newsrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago I understood that sports journalists in Cuba were not the two or three women who marked the stage of the legendary Julita Osendi, who represented inspiration for many, especially for me. In 2011 when I had the opportunity to participate in the International Postgraduate Course in Sports Journalism in Havana, I shared with Darilys Reyes, from Cienfuegos, and Glenda Torres, from Havana. Then I met Mayli Est\u00e9vez, from Villa Clara, Yuliet P\u00e9rez Cala\u00f1a from the Isla de la Juventud, Lianet Escobar, from Guant\u00e1namo, and this meant that there was already a path in terms of women in the exercise of sports journalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were gaining visibility, to the point that today, I am almost certain that there is at least one woman sports journalist in each province, whether on television, written press or radio. Young women sports journalists write to me, wanting to share professional experiences, or women journalism students, commenting on their intention to practice the profession upon graduation. Since that 2011 we not only gained visibility but also respect,\u201d said Fili\u00fa, who has more than a decade of experience in the media.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darilys, it\u2019s for you, it\u2019s for all the women<\/b><\/p>\n

The new Women\u2019s Section of the Circle of Sports Reporters is named Darilys Reyes in Memoriam, in honor of the journalist from Cienfuegos who died in October 2019 at the age of 33. Comprehensive, incisive, Darilys was a reporter of excellence, who always carried the truth ahead and captivated us all with the depth of her analyses.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is no better name for the new organization, whose birth is a starting point to \u201chonor and somehow perpetuate Darylis\u2019s love, talent and sagacity as a sports reporter,\u201d said Yuliet P\u00e9rez Cala\u00f1a, another of the women who, from her native Isla de la Juventud, addresses sports issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darilys would take the lead today in a project of such magnitude, for which she and another group of colleagues advocated countless times, without finding decisive support. \u201cSeveral times I proposed that a space be found for women sports journalists, but unfortunately the space did not come,\u201d Yisel Fili\u00fa said.<\/span><\/p>\n

As of then, different initiatives were developed on social networks, such as the Facebook page \u201cPeriodistas Deportivas Cubanas Que Swing,\u201d in which some posts were published, although everything remained on a very empirical plane.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darilys Reyes: un p\u00e9same profundo desde el periodismo cubano<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n