She is a small-framed woman in a male-dominated field. Lynn Butler may be petite in appearance but not in her passion for sport.
Butler (28), a sport journalist for News24, born and bred in Kuils River, is among the finalists for the 2023 Momentum gsport Awards announced last week.
The awards, in its 18th year, are dedicated to honouring and elevating the profiles of women in sport. The public can help choose the winners of 20 categories through free voting online until midnight tomorrow.
Butler is a finalist for the Woman in Print category for (according to the criteria), “excelling in her environment and using her position to create powerful journalist content about SA women in sport’’.
Passion
Butler, who matriculated from De Kuilen High School in 2012, obtained her B Tech Journalism degree at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
She started as an intern at Women24, writing about “celebrities and soapies – completely different from what I’m doing now”.
As she always had a love for sport, she grabbed the opportunity to join the sport department at News24 in 2016.
“Cricket is my favourite sport. I love cricket.”
She could not play cricket in high school, but helped teams keeping score, she says.
“The passion was always there. I always knew I wanted to be in sports. Journalism was a way to watch sport for a living.”
She is most passionate and knowledgeable about cricket and golf but covers various sports.
For her the best perk of the job is to go out and speak to people. Favourite sportswomen she often speaks to are cricketers Laura Wolfaardt and Suné Luus. Golfer Ashleigh Buhai, she says, has accomplished much but remains humble.
“Just seeing sportspeople for who they are, like any ordinary person – it is nice to see they’re actually human and not just this amazing athlete.”
Attending the Olympic Games in Tokyo was a highlight.
“It was during covid time, but it was amazing. I got to see all South Africa’s medallists. I got to speak to Tatjana (Schoenmaker) and all the athletes.”
Awareness
Kass Naidoo, founder of gsport, who became the first woman television cricket commentator in South Africa in 2005, is someone Butler has always looked up to. “She was the only woman I knew of who liked cricket growing up. She was a huge inspiration.”
As Naidoo, she also feels it is important to raise awareness for women in sport. “I know I have this platform; I want to do the most that I can by writing about sportswomen. Women’s sport was nowhere when I started. I like to see how it is growing – people are taking notice.
‘’It is just an honour for me to be able to chat to these women and tell their stories. I’m blessed to be a mouthpiece for women in sport.”
There are still challenges, such as equal pay, exposure, and sponsorships, but she sees progress.
“We are slowly but surely getting there – but it doesn’t happen overnight.”
With our women cricketers (Proteas) and footballers (Banyana Banyana) drawing some attention, and the Netball World Cup on our doorstep in recent months, Butler agrees: “It’s been an amazing year so far for women in sport.”
Being the only woman sport journalist (alongside one female sub-editor) in a team with 10 men, working with men has become second nature, she says.
“You shouldn’t be scared to be who you are; whether you’re a tiny soul from Kuils River who likes cricket, you should just embrace your interests and do what you love,” Butler says.
The Momentum gsport Awards is endorsed by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The finalist with the most votes, who doesn’t win a category, will be declared the Public Choice Award winner. Voting will close at midnight on Thursday 31 August.
Visit gsport.co.za to view all the finalists and vote.
