(Photo: Aaron Kearney ABC)

A group of Pacific women mentored and trained by ABC Australia is taking centre stage commentating on two international sporting events in Fiji.

Over the past six months the group has worked closely with respected former Director of ABC Sport and senior sports commentator Peter Longman.

Mr Longman is working with the sports journalists in Fiji to strengthen their live commentary skills and knowledge with hands-on training at the 2022 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Women’s Nations Cup and Oceania Netball World Cup Qualifiers.

The training is delivered by the Women In News and Sports initiative (WINS) run by ABC International Development to promote gender balance in sports broadcasting

“This is an incredibly exciting project for WINS,” Mr Longman said. “It comes at a time when women’s sport is undergoing enormous growth in the Pacific.

“Broadcasters in the region want female sports commentators to work on local and international events. This training is helping to produce female commentators who can commentate at the highest level. We are so impressed by the female commentary talent in the Pacific countries.”

The OFC Women’s Nations Cup is being held from 13 to 20 July and the Oceania Regional Netball World Cup Qualifiers from 16 to 23 July.

The WINS initiative is a training and mentoring programme that provides female journalists in the Pacific and Asia with the tools to carve out a career in sports media.