Game changers
FEATURES There’s plenty of room for both men and women when it comes to sport – so why are we still struggling to get the coverage, attention and money we deserve?
In the last five years, we’ve seen the introduction of women’s boxing to the Olympic Games, the first ever female to take pole position in NASCAR’S prestigious Daytona 500 motor race and the first female coach hired in the National Football League. These events are just a few among many, as more and more women continue to break into the limelight for their achievements in sport. But does this mean that things are actually changing? Why have the profiles of female athletes been so far behind men’s in the mainstream, and why are women still struggling to earn the same as their male counterparts? These are just a few of the questions that Sarah Shephard aims to answer in her new book, Kicking Off: How Women in Sport are Changing the Game.
You only need to look towards sports such as mixed martial arts and tennis to see support for the argument that women are finally breaking through sport’s glass ceiling (or already have) – but is this really the case? And will we ever reach a stage when women can finally stop celebrating ‘firsts’? ‘Since the last Olympics, it has felt like there has been a real surge of desire to improve the state of play for women’s sports from lots of different places,’ says Sarah, who has had the experience of working on a weekly sport magazine for almost 10 years. ‘Lots of things have changed for the better. But I felt like there was a need to take stock and look at the big picture – and it is a big picture – and ask what the state of play is for women in sport in 2016.’
NO ACCESS It’s true that in sports like tennis, athletics and cycling, even anyone who
only has sports on their periphery could name successful female athletes from each of the respective sports: Serena Williams, Jessica Ennis-hill and Victoria Pendleton are all without doubt big names. But to take it that step further, even in maledominated sports like football and rugby, we’ve seen women come to the forefront and take hold of the spotlight over the last couple of years. ‘Seeing women’s rugby and football on the front pages of newspapers and making headlines on the nightly news were “whoa” moments,’ Sarah reflects. ‘Success plays a huge role, but it was also key that some of the games in those tournaments were screened on terrestrial television, taking women’s sport to a broader audience.’ That’s the thing: women’s sport happens, it’s everywhere. Long before boxing became a discipline that women could take part in at the Games, it still happened. Women have long competed in basketball, football and rugby all over the world – we just weren’t watching. ‘Getting women’s sport into people’s homes is a huge step,’ she adds.
SHOW ME THE MONEY Sport is no exception when it comes to the gender pay gap, but knowing this doesn’t stop the stats from being downright jaw-dropping: Kicking Off reveals that according to the UK’S Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation in 2014, women’s sports accounted for just 0.4 per cent of the commercial investment going into all sport in Britain. This embarrassing figure is partly down to the lack of media coverage of women’s sports, which in turn generates sponsorship opportunities. If athletes aren’t getting airtime, why would companies want to invest in them? The book actually makes eyeopening comparisons between the top sponsorship deals of men and women: While a deal worth £280million tops the list for men, there’s a massive plummet down to £450,000 when it comes to the women. In fact, ‘in 2013, the top five women’s sponsorship deals added up to £1.4million.’
With so few resources for women, how can we expect the viewing figures, media coverage and ticket sales that men’s sport is boasting? Depressing stuff – but it’s not all bad news. Tennis has long been applauded for offering the same prize money for both its male and female athletes. ‘It’s the benchmark for professional women’s sport, largely because of the efforts of Billie Jean King and her cohorts in the 1970s, who ensured they had their own tennis association and were clear from the start about what they deserved,’ explains Sarah. ‘It also helps that women’s tennis gets mostly equal billing to men’s at the grand slams, and that the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) has a full calendar of events so women’s tennis stays on the news agenda for the majority of the year.’ It’s not a quick process – after all, tennis started its journey to equality in the 1970s – but there’s certainly potential: consistency in events and the airing of them will not only capture interest but keep it.
IT’S THE TAKING PART Not only do we need to make it fairer among men and women who are already involved with sport, we also need more girls and women to take part in sport – to close what Sarah refers to as the participation gap. In Kicking Off it’s stated that a 2012 report by Women in Sport found that 51 per cent of girls are put off taking part in physical activity due to experiences at school. This was found to be because of reasons such as the belief that there were more opportunities for boys to become successful in sports, as well as the idea of sweating being seen as unfeminine.
Thankfully things are changing, albeit slowly – we might not all be climbing over each other to join the local footy team, but you only need to look to the gym floor to see the progress that’s taking place: while once upon a time, the free weights area was dominated by men, we’re seeing more and more women take to the iron for their workouts. Jessica Ennis-hill’s time in the limelight during London 2012 was particularly encouraging, Sarah reckons: ‘Women who look at her and think, “I’d like to look like that” will only reach one conclusion: they need to hit the weights.’
This is great news for us – weight training is not only beneficial for our bodies but its positive effect on the mind, confidence and sense of empowerment is unquestionable, too. But there’s another knock-on effect, and it’s working wonders for women in sport. ‘I think that with more women now weight-training, they’ll gain a real appreciation for the feats of female athletes,’ she says. ‘I know myself that being more aware of how much I can lift means I’m in awe watching female weightlifters hurl hundreds of kilos over their heads like it’s nothing.’
Perhaps that’s why we’re seeing more and more women of all shapes and sizes break through into the mainstream, too. The public are becoming far more accustomed to seeing strongerlooking female athletes who aren’t afraid to ditch the conventions of what was originally thought of as ‘feminine’ – we see female athletes grimace, groan and sweat their way to finish lines, PBS and victories more often now.
‘I think Ronda Rousey has played a huge role in helping to “normalise” the strong female athlete and prove that women’s sport is just as watchable and commercially viable as men’s sport when it’s marketed and supported correctly,’ Sarah adds. Ronda Rousey, the worldfamous mixed martial artist, not only got a medal in the Olympics in judo before her MMA career even began, but is now seen as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in competition. Oh, and she’s also a seriously sought-after actress, having made appearances in films like Entourage and The Expendables 3. If that’s not crossover star material enough for you, she’s also the author of a bestselling autobiography, My Fight Your Fight. This rise in her public profile all came as a result of the impact she made in her sport.
With all the Jessicas, Rondas and Serenas gracing our TV screens, popping up in our conversations and influencing our lives, it’s obvious that things will be equal one day, right? ‘I fear we are a long way off in many areas,’ says Sarah. ‘Look at the sponsorship deals, for example.’
Sarah’s right – the facts don’t lie. But what can we do? For now, it’s about fighting for the same opportunities. ‘If I ever have a daughter, I would want her to grow up believing she could play whatever sport she wanted without fearing ridicule or feeling like she didn’t belong,’ she says.