Kelli Underwood (born 1977) is a radio and television sports journalist and sportscaster specialising in Australian rules football. She is notable as being the first woman in history to call an Australian Football League match on television[1] which is seen by many as a landmark for women in Australian media for such a male dominated sport.
Underwood's work began in radio, starting out on a local radio station at Murray Bridge, South Australia.
She moved to Melbourne and worked at Geelong station K-Rock before moving to 3AW as a sports reporter and AFL match day reporter. There she joined Rex Hunt commentating a match among much media fanfare.
Underwood's move into television began when she became a reporter for Ten News and Sports Tonight.
She is also part of the ABC Radio Grandstand team, working as a boundary rider and commentator.[2]
During the Network Ten broadcast of the 2009 NAB Cup between Geelong and the Adelaide Crows, Underwood made history becoming the first woman to call an AFL match on television when she joined Tim Lane in commentary.
Channel Ten claimed her debut was a success,[3] however that she would be used only on occasional matches during the NAB Cup.[4]
She called her historic first AFL premiership season match on the 18th July 2009 - the Round 16 match between Geelong and Melbourne at Kardinia Park with Anthony Hudson.
Underwood faced heavy criticism and in January 2011 Network Ten bowed to the pressure and relegated her to the position of boundary commentator. She will continue to call games on the radio for the ABC.[5]