UnLtd introduces female-only Big Clash cricket match, ‘Lady Ballers’
Women are being encouraged to participate more heavily in UnLtd’s fundraising cricket match, with with the introduction of ‘Lady Ballers’.
Former editor of Adnews, and current group communications director for Group M, Rosie Baker, said when she first started umpiring the matches, she was the only woman on the pitch, and this needed to change.
New in 2019: ‘Lady Ballers’
“At the beginning of Big Clash, when I stepped confidently onto the green to umpire, knowing all the rules of cricket and how to call a fair game, I was the only female on the cricket pitch. UnLtd has long wanted to involve more women in the day as players, and last year a few women, including MKTG’s Erin Hunter, stepped up and led the way joining the men on the field,” she said.
“But this year, thanks to the efforts of a handful of dedicated industry women, including fearless team captain Kathryn Furnari, we’ll see a women’s game. And what a game it will be.”
Rosie said the ‘Lady Ballers’ would look to emulate the success of the Australian women’s cricket team to help drive UnLtd’s fundraising efforts. She also encouraged interested women to get in touch and join the team’s weekly training sessions.
Lady Ballers will take place as part of the Big Clash event in Sydney (21 February) and Melbourne (28 February). The event aims to raise funds for UnLtd’s charity partners.
In Sydney, the media owners team will be spearheaded by Penny Kaleta from Nine Australian Community Media, while rival agency ‘Lady Ballers’ will be led by PHD’s Furnari.
In Melbourne, the media owners team is captained by Inmobi’s Tiffany Damm, while agencies have Helen Karambilas from TMS at the helm.
On the men’s side of the draw, there are four teams in each city: media owners, media agencies, tech and creative. Publishers battle tech, and creative take on their media agency counterparts, before a final in each city.
In Sydney, the media agencies captain is Mediacom’s Ben McCallum, media owners is led by Val Morgan’s Guy Burbidge, tech has Unruly’s Ricky Chanana leading, and creatives have the talents of Maud’s Nick Jackson.
Their Melbourne counterparts are Spark Foundry’s Peter Butler (media agencies), Ooh Media’s Tim Murphy (media owners), REA’s Rob Hudson (tech), and M&C Saatchi’s Andy Cairns (creative).
UnLtd’s CEO Chris Freel, who alongside Oliver Newton founded the event five years ago, said the event – which raised $125,000 last year for children and young people at risk – has become a fixture in adland’s diaries.
“It’s not often you see Domain and REA in the same team, and we love that our industry can put their competition aside for a day and focus on what really matters – bowling bounders at your favourite rep or agency,” he added.
“Not only is it a great day out, we are also making a huge difference in raising awareness and much-needed funds for the UnLtd charity partners helping children at risk.”
McCallum said after the crushing defeat to media owners in Sydney last year, this year, media agencies would take home the prize.
“I would like to thank Mark Jarrett for leading the side last year, a great captain indeed. To give you some context on how we will play this year, Mourinho has made way and Solksjaer has arrived, the agencies will attack, attack, attack under my leadership,” he said.
“The trophy is heading home where it belongs.”
The event is supported by JC Decaux and Seven West Media, with umpires from Adnews, Mumbrella, Amplifii and B&T.
Players from Adshel, ARN, Astus, Bauer, Big Mobile, Bold Media, Broadsheet, Cadreon, Carat, CHE Proximity, Domain, Facebook, Group M, Initiative, InMobi, KPMG, M2M, Mamamia, Maud, Mediacom, M&C Saatchi, MCN, MIQ, MKTG, Network 10, Nunn Media, Oath, OMD, Ooh Media, Pacific Magazines, PHD, PlayersVoice, Publicis Media, REA, SBS, Shopper Media, Snapchat, Spark Foundry, Talent International, TBWA, The Guardian, The Monkeys, The Trade Desk, Quantcast, UM, Unruly, Usual Suspects, Val Morgan, Vizeum, and Wyse Women, are already confirmed to be attending
EVENT DETAILS
SYD
Media Agencies: Ben McCallum, Mediacom
Media Owners: Guy Burbidge, Val Morgan
Tech: Ricky Chanana, Unruly
Creative: Nick Jackson, Maud
Lady Ballers – Media Owners: Penny Kaleta, Nine Australian Community Media
Lady Ballers – Agencies: Kathryn Furnari, PHD
MEL
Media Agencies: Peter Butler, Spark Foundry
Media Owners: Tim Murphy, oOh! Media
Tech: Rob Hudson, REA
Creative: Andy Cairns, M&C Saatchi
Lady Ballers – Media Owners: Tiffany Damm, InMobi
Lady Ballers – Agencies: Helen Karambilas, TMS
SYD
21 February 2019
11am – 8pm
Sydney University, Oval 1, Camperdown
MEL
28 February 2019
11am – 8pm
Fawkner Park, South Yarra, Melbourne
topics
Andy Cairns
Ben McCallum
Chris Freel
Guy Burbidge
Helen Karambilas
Katherine Furnari
Mark Jarrett
Nick Jackson
Penny Kaleta
Peter Butler
Ricky Chanana
Rob Hudson
Rosie Baker
The Big Clash
The Big Clash Cricket
Tiffany Damm
Tim Murphy
UnLtd
