In the third of our UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 special, we sit down with Eiri-Wyn Pitman, Social Media Lead for She’s A Baller!
Tell us about yourself, what is your current role and what roles have you done previously?
My name’s Eiri-Wyn Pitman and I am the social media lead for She’s A Baller and this is my first role in the sports media industry which I balance with finalising my studies at UCFB.
What do you do in your current role?
Create and post content for She’s A Baller and that can be anything from attending games and posting live content through to reporting on the latest news across women’s football and essentially telling stories from women’s football that our audience wants to see, hear and ultimately will engage with.
Tell us about She’s A Baller? What is it, when was it founded, etc.
She’s A Baller was founded in 2019 as a platform to elevate women’s football across social media and provide young gen-z female fans with a community of like-minded people that could enjoy the game for what it is. She’s A Baller has fast become an authenticator within women’s football, followed by fans and blue ticks alike, built on the mantra that we’re part of the women’s football community not just trying to talk to it because it’s now seen as an area of opportunity.
What is the long term goal for She’s A Baller?
To continue to be a driver within the women’s game and community ensuring that the narrative around women’s football is positive, inspiring the next generation and ensuring there is a platform for athlete’s and fans to consume the content that just engages, connects and ultimately resonates with them.
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What excites you most about UEFA Women’s EURO 2022?
A major tournament is always going to excite and this could be the moment that women’s football enters the nations conscience a little more. A proper platform for the players to showcase themselves on a world stage and that if you love football, you’ll love how technical and talented women’s football is.
The second part of this is that it the outstanding coverage and primetime TV slots is providing additional exposure for women’s football for the next generations meaning that it will start to cross -over into the mainstream with boys trying to emulate Beth Mead, Lauren Hemp, Ella Toone and Leah Williamson in the playground as well as their male counterparts – the more they progress through the tournament the more the Lionesses and women’s football will become mainstream – and that is very exciting, just imagine if they bring it home!
You’ve been to quite a few of the games so far, what have you thought of the match day experience?
I’ve never experienced football like this before. This is my first major tournament experience and I really can’t get enough of it, I never want the tournament to end. Being surrounded by passionate fans from around Europe and joining in with the celebrations has been a once in a life time experience. The match day experience has been like no other, the effort put in by the FA to ensure theres fun activities and great atmosphere before the games has been incredible. I actually got quite emotional during the opening game, it was so special seeing so many fans excited for a women’s football game.
If you could change one thing about your Industry, what would you change?
One thing we would like to see if more commitment to the women’s game from commercial investment to media coverage. Things have been getting better over the past couple of years but there is still a long way to go from brands entering the space to support women’s football but doing so tentatively or at a small percentage compared to what they invest on the men’s side and media companies providing a level of coverage that goes beyond just showing the games. It’s not about competing or saying women’s football is the same, it’s just about ensuring that young fans have the opportunity to watch, view and consume women’s football in the same way.
Sport is a hectic industry, what do you do to switch off?
To switch off from such a busy industry, I like to paint, attend yoga classes, and run. After working in this industry for a year now, I’ve realised that it never stops, there will always be more work to be done, more opportunities to create content; so it’s important for me to prioritise switching off and doing these things outside of work, to ensure I get time to myself and to reset.
What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone wanting to work in the sports industry?
The one piece of advice I’d give someone wanting to work into the sports industry is to enjoy it. Make sure you’re always enjoying it. Working within this industry is a dream for most sports fans, but it’s easy to get too caught up in work and the pressure could take away the enjoyment. So I’d say to take in every moment and enjoy it. When you love what you do, you produce the best kind of work.
How to follow Eiri-Wyn and She’s A Baller…
You can follow She’s A Baller on Instagram and you can also follow Eiri-Wyn here.
Thanks for reading our chat with Eiri-Wyn Pitman! If you want to read more from our Industry Insider series, you can do so by clicking here.
