9/6/25
Above: Ann Odong in match day mode with The Matildas. Photo: ABC.
Whilst the arrival of Joe Montemurro as The Matildas’ new head coach took all the headlines last week, the announcement that Ann Odong is to depart her role as the team’s media manager was just as big for many of those around the women’s game in Australia.
Why is this the case? Simply, Odong is both a legend and a role model. She diligently supports those who support the women’s game, going out of her way to provide people insight, advice, and the benefit of her experience and achievements. Put simply, Ann Odong’s encouragement and accessibility have enabled so much of the phenomenal growth in interest in The Matildas through her superbly crafted media campaigns and support to the people who cover the team.
Impetus has grown into the site it is today, thanks to the support Odong gave us in our early days.
In this special article, four of our site’s writers explain the impact she has had and how she has inspired them to become who they are.
Then, Penny Tanner Hoath, who coached Ann at Gosnells City Soccer Club, south-west of Perth in Western Australia, and then supported her during the embryonic journalist’s earliest days at Radio Fremantle in the early 2000s, shares her memories of those days when Odong was cutting her teeth on The World Football Programme on the station.
A role model and inspiration
by Genevieve Henry
Ann Odong is an incredible role model and one of the most respected people working in Australian sports media. While that may sound like fangirling (it definitely is), she earns this by being one of the most talented, professional, and kind people I have encountered on my journey.
Long before I ever dreamed of press conferences or accreditation, I would spend hours scrolling through and admiring Ann’s work as a football photographer. Her ability to capture beauty and tell a story is uncommon amongst sports photographers. Something about her work feels more personal, more human.
From her use of unconventional angles and framing to the clarity and quality, her photos are a step above so many others. Ann certainly inspired me to get into football photography, so it’s only fitting that years later, she would play a central role in my own career.
In addition to her aforementioned excellence, Ann fosters an environment so welcoming that a terribly nervous teenage girl could feel welcome in press conferences.
Working for Impetus has given me countless incredible opportunities, including access to Matildas’ press conferences. Up to a certain point, I had only been writing up reports based on the video files, but one lucky window I got to attend a press conference over Zoom. I was panicking, because asking Mackenzie Arnold anything was the biggest thing I had done so far—Ann soothed those fears from the moment I logged online.
I became accustomed to these press opportunities with Ann in charge and began to feel as though I belonged just as much as every other journalist there.
Months later, I had my first in-person press opportunity, and my anxiety felt larger than life. There I was, surrounded by journalists twice my age with equipment that made my eyes water to think about the cost, in my homemade Matildas hoodie and messy airport hair. If I could have curled up into a ball, I would have. But when Ann stepped in to get the ball rolling, my fears were instantly soothed.
If my memory holds up, the first thing she did was sing a snippet of a Beyoncé song to check on the microphone (now that I write it, it sounds like a hallucination!), and just that simple act made me feel much more light-hearted and brave. Her comforting and professional presence cultivates the best journalistic environment – one of truth, openness, and excellence.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ann when I had my first photography credentials for an international match. I ran into her while waiting for team photos, and although she was likely extremely busy, she was kind enough to not brush me off. That moment of recognition fueled me to embrace my position and feel confident in myself. Ann inspired me and so many other women in sports media to feel as though we deserve to be here.
Thank you, Ann. Australian football media, the Matildas, and I (amongst countless others) are forever indebted to you!
The driving force behind irreversible growth
by Kieran Yap
It’s impossible to quantify what Ann Odong had brought to Football in her time as media manager of The Matildas. But what we do know for sure is that the game has never been more popular, and it has never been more accessible for media and fans.
The Matildas have never been bigger, women’s football has never had more potential, and she has long been a driving force behind what now seems like irreversible growth.
It is exciting to think of what might be next for Australian women’s football’s most influential off-field figure after she finishes up as Media Manager for Australia’s most beloved national team. The sport is a better place with Ann in it.
She saw the potential and supported it wholeheartedly
by Ben Gilby
For years, as someone who lives 10,000 miles from Australia, my experience of the Matildas was getting up at ungodly hours and powering up the laptop to shout at a screen.
In 2019, as the World Cup in France that year came to an end, I wanted to combine my appreciation of the women’s game with my love of writing – to cut a long story short, Impetus was born as a ‘one man band’ in September of that year.
As The Matildas were the national side that I’d always been so passionate about since the mid-2000s, it was natural that they played an integral part in our earliest coverage along with what was then still known as the W-League. So, one day, armed with a number of articles with a gradually increasing number of views, it was time to bite the bullet – be a bit cheeky and ask if the site, its writers, and photographers could apply for Matildas accreditation.
An email was sent off to Football Australia media, and, if I’m being honest, no reply was expected. But, within a few days, Ann Odong replied. She had clearly had a look through some of the examples of our writing that I’d sent and gave us permission in 2020 to get on the Matildas’ media list.
The access that Ann Odong gave to women’s football media is like no other. Other national sides only offer in-person opportunities. For Ann, it’s all about the accessibility of The Matildas – and that is a major reason why they are, without question, arguably the country’s most beloved sporting team.
Ann gives Zoom access to media events, video files of player features, and sends out special interview packages to all media. It means that if you are located on the other side of Australia, or in my case, the other side of the world, you can still report on The Matildas. You can play a role in lifting their visibility further.
Then there are the little personal touches that make Ann who she is. There was a strange moment on the terrace at Kingsmeadow, where I stood during Sam Kerr’s early days at Chelsea with a large Western Australian flag. During one WSL game, I heard a voice in front of me – “Ah! You must be Ben.” – It was Ann. Clearly, my status as the Matildas nut who lives in South-West London was spreading.
She didn’t have to do that, but she did – a phrase that is synonymous with her.
Fast forward to 2022, and The Matildas themselves were at Kingsmeadow for open training and a media conference before playing South Africa the next day. It was one of those weird ‘pinch me’ moments. As I walked into a small room at the ground, fiddling with a video camera in front of a table was Ann. “Hi Ben! So good to see you!” she said. My nerves went.
The video camera set-up ceased, and she began talking to me about me personally. Naturally, we both have strong connections to Western Australia, and conversation turned to some of the things we miss most about the place – coffee being one of them. Within moments, she gave me a personal recommendation of an Aussie cafe in South London. A place I now frequent regularly. Thanks Ann!
Then, when head coach Tony Gustavsson walked into the room, the first thing Ann said to him was – “Tony, meet Ben, he covers The Matildas in-depth from England.” Once more – she didn’t have to do any of that. Her job was to set up the media room ahead of the presser. But she didn’t. She stopped, recognised me by name, and focused on what she knew about me. She personally introduced me to the Matildas’ head coach. That’s going way above and beyond.
Without her early recognition of the potential of our site and our writers back then, Impetus would never have reached the position it is in now. It was access to and our coverage of The Matildas that opened the door for us to get accreditation for the Lionesses and WSL.
Ann Odong – I would not be where I am today without you. Our site would not be where it is today without you. On behalf of our team of just under 100 contributors, thank you.
Such an important advocate
by Ella McShane
During the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Matildas’ media team executed one of the most successful media campaigns in modern sports history. The campaign elevated every facet of women’s sport on Australian shores and beyond.
The woman behind it? Ann Odong, Ugandan-Australian storyteller, strategist, advocate, and the off-pitch hero who led a team that changed the game forever during that transformative summer. Her official job title, The Matildas Media & PR Manager.
The ‘Til It’s Done’ campaign, brought to life under Odong’s leadership and storytelling, became more than just a unifying slogan; it was a nationwide movement that brought out the best of Australian culture.
The movement advocated for the minorities that had previously not had a seat at the table and marketed the Matildas as a team that represented all Australians.
The campaign partnered with the world-leading corporate sponsorships and the storytelling by Odong and her team, crafted one of the most powerful global identities in sport. For the first time, it was women at the forefront of what it meant to have a national team crest on the heart.
Often not conceptualised by consumers, this elevation of quality and competitiveness in the women’s game has been made possible by people like Ann Odong. The Australian football media community and beyond will always be inspired by her World Cup legacy.
I’m so damn proud of her… she single handedly made the Matildas the brand they are today
by Penny Tanner Hoath
Ann walked into my world as a shy, unassuming teenager, then named Doris, and into my football club in the mid-2000s, Gosnells City Soccer Club, about 25 minutes south-west of Perth, searching for a place to feel welcome and some purpose and connect to a community.
Her family had arrived in Australia some 10 years after escaping from the terror in Uganda. I did not know about her background until we became fast friends, and I had taken her under my wing. That knowledge served to endear me more to Ann as she simply got on with life, looked after her family, and absolutely jumped into new opportunities with the energy we all simply expect of Ann.
Maybe finding someone like me, a female, who played decent football, was in the media, and had total passion for the sport, was akin to finding a new home. I saw in her a spark for living and wanting to give something and to belong somewhere.
Along the way, the then Doris applied for her driving licence and, to my surprise, changed her name to her legal birth name, Ann. We all learnt to call her Ann, which was tricky at first and took me years to get a hold of after knowing her as Doris.
Ann was an avid reader and, being incredibly astute, she didn’t need telling twice with that famous encyclopaedic memory; she would call anyone out if you forgot and impress anyone in a conversation.
Ann joined the World Football Programme in the mid-2000s as a shy young lady and flourished in this space. She didn’t know if getting behind the microphone was going to be her thing, but was willing to try under my tutelage. That encyclopaedic knowledge had to be used for something more than just reading!
Ann is easy to talk to, but was very quietly spoken at first. We worked on that, I nurtured her in the studio until she didn’t need me there anymore and could host on her own.
I gave her space to expand in all ways, contacts, introductions, and guidance. Ending up behind the microphone, challenging all of our resources, processes, and guest lists, and taking command of all of the technology of the time in our community station and at home and anywhere a microphone or laptop could be, was second nature in a short time for her. No problem at all.
She learned fast and explored everything she could in the world of live radio until there was nothing left to consume in that space. A professional in that space when she left us around five years later.
People loved what she did in those early years, as it spotlighted a big need that wasn’t being filled, locally and nationally. She NEVER EVER STOPPED working. Nothing has changed there.
One of Ann’s first notable interviews at World Football Radio was with a very young teenage Sam Kerr, accompanied by her Mum, in the studio at Radio Fremantle 107.9fm in Hamilton Hill. This was before anyone else besides us in Perth knew there was a Sam Kerr to be reckoned with.
That initial contact with Sam (through her Mum), I think, fanned the flames of possibility and thoughts whereby making personal connections was a pathway she could use to step into higher and wider levels of women’s football.
Remember, Ann entered the women’s football arena when few people were connecting the potential with its possible growth, so she was pioneering in media and making a LOT of friends and connections along the way, well before any move to Melbourne, studying law and landing a job at Football Australia.
Who knew back then that this was all part of laying the groundwork for what was going to become the number one national brand, and she would lead that global brand into a World Cup on home soil? I’m so damn proud of her. I believe she is the person who single-handedly made the Matildas the brand they are today. Don’t try telling me any different.
I was very sad to see Ann leave Western Australia, but by the time she left the World Football Programme, the Women’s Game website she had created was the single most accessed women’s soccer portal in Australia, and she had established herself as the oracle with a hard-working team around her.
What an inspirational person. Total dedication to the cause, total respect for everyone around her, and loyal over and above everything. She just needs to get some more sleep then she could fit more in (My lips to God’s ears.) This is an Ann saying from her Mum.
What makes me smile about Ann (besides the above) is when she says “Lordy”. It comes from a place of ‘OK, let’s take a moment and think about that,’ with a hint of amusement, knowledge, and possible mischief. Pretty much sums up the relaxed Ann that I know and love.
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