"Football?" "But you're a girl." "Yeah. No shit, Sherlock!"

"Wow! Sports journalism. That's a different job for a girl."

"Have you always been into sports?"

"Did you used to play football?"

"How did you get into that?"

All questions I am used to being asked on a regular basis. And nearly four years ago when I committed to this as a career, it used to bother me.  Deep down, it may still do.  But I know longer feel the need to react or come out with a barbed comment.

There's a few reasons for that, the main one is I feel a lot more secure about my capabilities as a sports journalist.  But more importantly as a female sports journalist.

Now, I'm not attempting to be self-effacing when I say this. But I, Natasha Henry am not the best journalist in the world.  No, seriously, I'm not. 

I still feel I'm pretty new to all this and with every period of time that passes I aim to get better and improve my skills.  As anyone should, whatever career they're in.  The way I see it, the day you stop learning is the day you might as well give it all up.  Why should the field of journalism be any different?

Thankfully, I'm not the only one.  Female or sports journalist!

Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a bloody lot of us.  Some would call us a coven, personally I would describe us a more mature sorority.  One that would rather be on the field, than waving pom-poms on the side-line.  And more importantly, one that drinks really good wine and likes really nice food.

And do you know what, we're good.  We're damn good.  We know our stuff, we graft hard and most importantly we have the courage to fight the negativity that - far too often - floats our way.  I know about our capabilities, but I wasn't sure if others did.

I was curious about this, which was why I created the survey earlier this year, to see what others thoughts were, regarding us women that write about sport.

Some of the answers surprised me, and some didn't.  But it's always good to see what people think about something you care strongly about.

So, I'll be posting the article later today and feel free to comment, share or ignore.  It's up to you.

Hopefully it will remind you that the gender of the writer doesn't matter, it's only the words that do.

To be continued...

A Little Help Please

Hi guys,

I'm doing a survey on 'Females in the Sports Writing Industry' and I would really appreciated you taking two minutes to fill it out.

There's only nine questions, and of course it's completely confidential.

Just go here.

Thanks in advance,
Natasha x

Journalists Are People Too!

I must admit, I don't think I've ever had as much grief in my life as I've had over my opinion pieces on Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra.  And this is coming from an Arsenal fan, who has lived in both Leeds and Manchester!

Now contarary to what some may think, I know that my opinion isn't gospel.  It is simply my opinion and along with that, my job as a journalist is to report the news.

This is my Addiction, What is Yours?

I love football, I really do. I absolutely adore the game and I have so much passion when it comes to being a part of it as a fan and as a trainee journalist.

I think sometimes we forget how important the club they support is to a person, how much their favourite team's result can make or break a person's mood.

I saw just this at the weekend. Neil Ashton of the News of the World broke the 'Tevez hands in transfer request' story and was bombarded with numerous tweets from Manchester City fans. Most of them were personally abusive and downright threatening. As I was reading these tweets I was shocked at the level of hatred some people were showing towards him, for simply doing his job. They clearly felt he was lying or he had a vendetta against the blue half of Manchester. The fact is his story was true, it has all been confirmed by the club and the player. But has Mr Ashton received any apologies? I very much doubt it.

My point is: As much as I love this game, there are a lots of fans who use their support of their club as an excuse to be abusive to those not on the same side as them. And the more I think about it, surely it can't be healthy. Surely there must be something missing to wish someone dead because they say something you don't agree with or don't believe.

I'm all for being a true supporter and cheering for your team until your last breath but when it comes to wishing someone dead, I draw the line. I'm all for wearing the shirt, singing the songs and bantering with the fans of your local rivals. But I don't condone the hatred that is shown because matey down the road wears a different colour shirt to you. Where is the line for those needlessly angry fans?

The reason this affected me so much is because I am training towards being a sports journalist. I am working my butt off and this incident made me wonder if it's worth it. Tearing apart my work is one thing, but getting personal is another. There is no need for it at all.

At the end of the day if you can't tell Peggy Mitchell from Barbara Windsor, people would say you desperately need help. Surely confusing the journalist with the person should warrant exactly the same.

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