Durban — South African women have not only been doing great things on the field of play, but also in the media world. Not only does Melissa Reddy occupy a high-profile role in the UK with Sky Sports, but another woman doing great things internationally is former KickOff and Soccer Laduma head of social media Rossella Marrai-Ricco.
Marrai-Ricco, 33, who boasts a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English and Communications from the University of South Africa has been serving as the international digital content editor of Italian football giants Juventus for over three years.
Marrai-Ricco’s love for football started at a young age, while playing alongside her brother Mick and his friends. She credits veteran SuperSport anchor Carol Tshabalala as an inspiration.
“In my teens, I would pay attention to both the local and international sports journalists and personalities. Locally, I would say Carol Tshabalala (was an inspiration) for the way she paved the road for women in sports in South Africa and for her overall knowledge of the game. It’s been amazing to see her become a household name in South Africa and equally respected internationally,” Marrai-Ricco told IOL Sport.
Marrai-Ricco entered the world of sports journalism 12 years ago when there was very less women in sports media. While she did face “certain levels” of discrimination she counts herself lucky to have worked under the likes of Gavin Barker and Peter du Toit.
“I was one of a very few in a group of women working in the sports media football industry in South Africa a good 11/12 years ago. There was and wasn’t a space in the market for women in media in the sense that few women were doing it, but the industry still wasn’t 100% open to having us around. (Barker and Du Toit) showed their faith in me and gave me the platform to grow within the industry. They provided a safe space to work and offered guidance,” she said.
Marrai-Ricco says that she did experience “stereotypes of why a woman would want to work in football” and credits her attitude for helping her overcome the harder days.
“I maintained a professional attitude and I let my work do the talking for me. Slowly, slowly, those acts of discrimination and stereotypes fell away,” said Marrai-Ricco.
Marrai-Ricco’s journey to working for Juventus was one that involved hard-work for over a decade. She has always been passionate about Italian football, having started to blog about it from her teenage years. She is also a dual citizen of South Africa and Italy, with her grandparents having moved to SA after World War II.
“My career in South Africa progressed from being a football journalist to the head of social media at Soccer Laduma and KickOff magazine. While I loved the work thoroughly, I had set a target for myself to make the move to Europe by the age of 30. I landed up moving to Italy a day after my 30th birthday. I happened to see the position on LinkedIn open for an international editor at Juventus and I applied for the job. I got the offer. It feels like a very natural progression in my career as I had always covered Italian football and had a solid understanding of the club and Italian football in general,” she said.
While now based in Italy, Marrai-Ricco says that being in the nation of her roots has made her feel more connected to the country where she was born and raised, SA. She is always eager to tell people stories about SA.
One of the factors that Marrai-Ricco enjoys about her role at Juventus is the fact that no two days are the same. She is currently tasked to help grow the Juventus Women brand and content, and finds the field exciting as more investment is being made in women’s football.
“Most days entail content creation and strategy development for our platforms and the Juventus brand. Other days include being hands on with the team to create fun and engaging content, while others involve match days and travel for away matches. It’s incredibly thrilling and exciting and each day is unique,” Marrai-Ricco said.
Whilse media in SA has by and large been experiencing tough times in recent years with several large-scale outlets having been forced to restructure, retrench or in the worst-case scenario, close, Marrai-Ricco sees the quality of sports media practitioners in the country as being at a “solid level”. She is also encouraged by the fact that more women are getting into sports media.
“I’ve been out of the country for three-and-a-half years but from what I’ve seen and from my experience, the level of sports media in the country is at a solid level. In Europe, they may have more resources, but the level in South Africa is good. I am proud to see how many more women are getting into sports media in the country. Long may it continue,” Marrai-Ricco said.
Following Banyana Banyana’s recent Women’s African Cup of Nations success, Marrai-Ricco sees a very bright future for women’s football in SA.
“Our players don’t get as much credit as they deserve. Banyana Banyana have repeatedly shown how much of a quality side they are and their win in the Wafcon further added proof to this. Despite not having a professional league, Sundowns Ladies also went all the way to win the inaugural afF Women’s Champions League. Many players are leaving their mark for international clubs in Europe and the United States. Last season alone, we had Thembi Kgatlana playing in the Uefa Women’s Champions League group stages. The talent is there. I see the game growing even further,” Marrai-Ricco said.