THE Football Black List (FBL) celebration is one of the community’s foremost occasions. This year’s event takes place at the Battersea Arts Centre tonight (March 21).

Central to the event running smoothly is J’nae Ward. The Manchester native has a growing reputation as an event co-ordinator and took time out of her very busy schedule to talk to The Voice on International Women’s Day to give some insight into her love of athletics, meeting the demands of events and the Football Black List.

RH: When did your interest in sport and football start?

I’d say my passion was always athletics, that’s something that I trained in for 11 years. Football was just on in the background, a male family thing for me. I just kind of enjoyed going to see sport live, Manchester United was my team, but for me it was more about going along with family for family bonding.

I’m trying to better the path for sport and the experience for people like myself

My passion started with athletics in the generic sports world. I started at nine, and one of my PE teachers told my mum that she thought I had a lot of talent and that I should attend the local athletics club.

From there I got more and more dedicated and made a lot of sacrifices throughout my time doing athletics.

Was there anybody in particular that got your attention in terms of sporting role models?

I always thought that any of the Jamaican women’s sprinters were so amazing, and I think they still are!

They’re so groundbreaking, they’re so unapologetically themselves, and I think athletics sometimes can be a sport where it’s really hard to be yourself.

They were dominating the sport, and they still are, but they had their personality shine through in terms of their fashion and they really made sure that Jamaican culture was prevalent in everything they were doing. They weren’t just athletes, they were also characters off the track.

Shelly-Ann-Fraser-Pryce and even Perri-Shakes Drayton, I loved her as a UK role model for myself, I just liked those bubbly and bright personalities.

When you entered the world of sport did you feel welcome?

Yeah, I think I did! I think when I was in athletics I had a really good support system.

My training group, I think we were very supportive of each other and when you spend so much time dedicating yourself to training you are surrounded by a lot of influential characters.

My passion started with athletics

When you see people making big teams, you do feel motivated and supported because you’ve got a lot of women around you, whether that’s coaches, physios, nutritionists. There was a lot of support there.

What led you to do what you do now in terms of co-ordinating events?

When I was at university, I studied sport science. I was really interested in events and logistics, and I realised I didn’t want to go down the physio or the PE teacher biology route, and I thought about the logistics of sporting events.

I was looking at the World Champs and Olympics and Commonwealth Games and thinking how did these events get to the point of taking place?

I thought that with my personality, and my key skills, that could be somewhere I could really apply myself, so I started working with the events team at my university, Brunel.

I then started working at Cancer Research for the summer helping with Race for Life and Tough Mudder and all those kind of competitions.

From there, I landed at Refresh Sports, the team behind the Football Black List events.

What motivates you in regards to events?

I think, for me, it’s so rewarding seeing the end product. Not all jobs and all sectors do you get to see the final form, do you get to take away something.

I’m always going to have the videos and the photos and the recognition and just the feeling of accomplishment because I can see how it’s impacting people, and especially the fact that it is Afro Caribbean people that just makes it even better for me.

I think getting to liaise with different companies, vendors, and people that are from similar cultures to myself, just makes the job so much more rewarding and it’s just so easy to kind of relate to them, to make them feel comfortable, and just educate them about the work that we’re doing.

It makes the event seem a lot, I don’t want to say easier because organising events is not an easy thing, you have to be able to persevere and be just quick, reactive and show efficiency, but these are skills that I’ve always practised my whole life and at university.

Also, I think just the culture and who I’m engaging with for these events, just makes it so rewarding because it is like I’m looking at my future self, future generations of myself, and I’m trying to better the path for sport and the experience for people like myself.

What were your feelings just prior to delivering the first Football List regional event in Birmingham?

It was petrifying! I couldn’t sleep the night before, I was tossing and turning because it was so unknown, we were going to a city that we’ve never been to, knowing probably only a few people.

Knowing everything that the Football Black List stood for beforehand and using just industry contacts to try and fill a room and convince people that we’re going to be staging an event that is worthwhile attending to. 

I think when not a lot of people know a lot about the event then they are quite suspicious, and rightly so.

We were attempting to convince them that we’re celebrating Black people. Therefore, it was very hard, you just have to hope that you’ve done a good enough job of selling the experience and convincing people that it would be something worth attending and the cause is worth being there for and celebrating.

It was very, very hard, it was very, very difficult and I was very, very scared. I think I only started to breathe once the awards were over because I just felt as though it was well received, the drinks and food were flowing, the actual show itself ran smoothly, but I was a bag of nerves for that first event.

How do you get through it?

I try to make sure that we are as organised as possible. I love coordination and I always try to make sure that we have backups for problems.

I feel like problem solving is one of the best skills you can perfect in events, making sure that if the cameraman doesn’t show up, if the social media team have any issues, that they are prepared for the worst-case scenario.

If we have disability access issues, if the food isn’t right, if there’s anything wrong, even down to the fire alarm, just making sure that we are prepared and efficient in everything we do.

Also, I have to remain calm because if my team feel as though that I’m not calm, then that is not going to help anyone and that can have a ripple effect.

Would it be fair to say that those regional experiences hold you in good stead for the national celebration at Battersea Arts Centre?

Yes, definitely. I think controlling what you can and relying on the team and just being as organised as we can to go in.

Obviously, on the evening, when you’ve got this many people coming together, things are going to go wrong, but it’s how you bounce back from them and you’re not letting them sway your focus, you just attack them head on, and just try and relax and enjoy it.

The night goes so quickly. People still talk about last year’s event but for us it’s on to the next one. Therefore, I think it’s learning to enjoy it as well, I think knowing that the event is over so soon, so try and take a moment to really take in all the hard work and seeing how the guests enjoy the experience.

What would you say to any woman that maybe wants to get involved in the world of sports or events?

I’d say, become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I think when I came into this role, I was not confident because I hadn’t done a major amount before, I hadn’t worked on my own before.

So, to be in a lead position was very scary and I had to get used to being scared but using that fear as motivation and drive was the main thing for myself.

I had to tell myself, I’ve been put in this position to do something spectacular so I have to rise to the occasion, I have to put myself out there and be okay with being uncomfortable for the greater good.

I love coordination and I always try to make sure that we have backups for problems

 I think with events, it’s confidence. I think your team and everyone around you will pick up on your confidence if you do not believe that you’re capable of executing an event.

You have to fake it till you make it and don’t be afraid to put yourself in rooms with people. I think you can get impostor syndrome, especially in the football industry. It’s so big. It’s so glamorous and glitz and it’s so serious.

I think it’s sport, but it’s very serious. So I think it is important to understand that you are meant to be where you are.

Do you think that women and sport now is becoming two words that we can all put together, and people are becoming more appreciative?

Absolutely. I think a lot of sport used to be male dominated but now I think women are just so comfortable.

I think we don’t look for male validation in a lot of things that we’re doing now and we’re not trying to prove ourselves, we’re just there to do a good job and get it done basically.

It’s a great time for women’s sport right now, especially seeing how they’re filling out football stadiums like we never would have thought even five years ago that would have been possible.

I think we just need to continue doing what we’re doing and uplifting other women and bringing them in on opportunities that arise and yes, let’s continue building.