MOVING TO monthly editions means change has come for the Voice of Sport – it’s a new era.
Since I got here 17 years ago I’ve been blessed to be a part of some significant firsts and, hopefully, some equally as significant lasts. The most significant last I hope to have witnessed is the battle for accreditation, the same accreditation that is afforded to other national publications without the bat of an eyelid.
The most disconcerting instance of The Voice newspaper not getting accreditation in the new millennium came when someone, somewhere decided that this then three decade-old institution didn’t deserve to attend the London Olympic Games in 2012.
MADNESS
It was the type of madness that saw a whirlwind of consternation and disbelief manifest into a flurry of cotroversy which in the end led to someone, some- where, seeing sense. The Voice of Sport was accredited, and the rest is history.
As a journalist at this publication it’s a privilege to take a seat in some of the most prestigious press boxes in the world. It’s an honour to talk to some of the biggest and best sports men and women in the world on behalf of Britain’s black community, asking questions and seeking answers that pertain to and interest us.
It’s a feeling of great satisfaction both personal and professional to be able to sit in press boxes, press conferences and media days knowing that as the only other black person in the room, at least the black sports star has that.
Yes, there are still times when the sports editor Rodney Hinds and I are the only black people in the room. We’re the only ones who get the joke about running out of lotion, we’re the only ones who understand when the black sports star says to the room full of Caucasian journalists that ‘there isn’t any food to eat around here’ or when there isn't anyone who can do my hair’.
Whether it’s a private conversation with Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, where he is vents his spleen about the lack of black people coming through the grassroots system in the UK, or it’s being part of a hand selected international media cohort that has been allowed exclusive access to Usain Bolt’s house in Trelawny, the Voice of Sport needs to be there.
EMPHATIC
From the opening of the new Wembley Stadium to witnessing the emphatic 2019 Cricket World Cup final; to establishing the Football Black List; attending London 2012; watching Lewis Hamilton win in the rain at Silverstone in 2008; seeing Man United getting schooled in the Wembley Champions League final; Chris Gayle putting the ball in the road at the Oval during the 2011 Twenty20 World Cup; Mo Fa- rah dominating the long distances and Venus Williams’ birthdays – we’ve been there and we’ll continue to be there.
Change is the only thing you can really guarantee in life, but one thing that will remain constant is the Voice of Sport.