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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: SENEGAL GOLF WOMEN
HEADLINE: Golf: The Senegalese Woman Who’s Beating All the Boys
TEASER: One woman is redefining golf’s elitist image and challenging her country’s conservative gender norms
PUBLISHED AT: Tuesday, 02/01/2022 at 5:39 am
BYLINE: Annika Hammerschlag
DATELINE: Saly, Senegal
VIDEOGRAPHER: Annika Hammerschlag
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Salem Solomon, wpm
VIDEO SOURCE (S):
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB X TV X RADIO X
TRT: 2:13
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: There is an accompanying radio piece and Annika will send photos that go with the story for the web. WEB team: The web article is separately in the works and both TV and radio pieces will complement it when done.))
((INTRO))
[[Golf is sometimes seen as a sport only accessible to an elite few. But in Senegal, one female golf star is redefining the sport’s image and challenging her country’s conservative gender norms. Annika Hammerschlag reports from Saly, Senegal.]]
((NARRATOR))
When pro golfer Oumy Dieye first started competing against men, she felt intimidated. They didn’t want to play with her, she says, and they didn’t take her seriously.
But then, in her first match, she won.
After that, she had all the confidence she needed to keep playing — and beating — the boys.
Now, as the only professional female golfer in Senegal, she competes almost exclusively against men.
((Oumy Dieye, Professional Senegalese golfer)) ((Female In French, 13 secs)) ((incue - “ment-nan” outcue - “con-fi-ans”))
“Now I’m used to playing with men. I train in the morning, noon and night. I’m in the gym three or four times per week. So that also gives me more confidence.”
((NARRATOR))
Dieye turned professional seven years ago. She’s placed in dozens of competitions around the world, including in Thailand, Kenya, and South Africa.
Her accomplishments are particularly noteworthy considering Senegal is a conservative, Muslim nation where women are discouraged from participating in sports, especially at the professional level.
((Oumy Dieye, Professional Senegalese golfer)) ((Female in French, 11 secs)) ((incue - “kan” outcue - “mé-zont”))
“When you’re Muslim, we prefer to keep girls at home, to find them a husband and
((NARRATOR))
In 2020 the Senegalese golf federation agreed to help Dieye establish a golf academy in preparation for the 2026 Summer Youth Olympics in Dakar. It would be the first Olympic games to ever be held on African soil.
The project was postponed due to Covid, but it is expected to restart this year.
Dieye will be tasked with training Senegal’s first ever national team with a special focus on preparing the next generation of female golfers, including her daughter.
((Baidy Agne, President, Senegalese Golf Federation)) ((In English, 24 secs))
“Girls will be part of it on an equal basis like boys. And that will be something that I think we are prepared and committed to doing. And Oumy also has that vision and is committed to promoting girls to give them opportunities as girls, to help them get to the level that they can be.”
((NARRATOR))
Dieye says she hopes to find a sponsor so she can continue to compete internationally and bring the next generation of Senegalese female golfers into the fold.
((Annika Hammerschlag, for VOA News, Saly, Senegal.))
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