I might never have made it to the level I’ve achieved without the love and support of my mum. For many kids, sporting life of whatever variety you choose begins with your parents’ encouragement. It was the same for me.
I began gymnastics when I was four, and started doing Little Athletics on the Gold Coast when I was 11. My mum encouraged me to take up those sports, and signed me up to compete.
Eventually, you hit a point in your life where you have to make a choice. It becomes a matter of whether you enjoy it enough that you want to continue with it, and maybe even go all the way try to make a career of it.
I kept going, first and foremost, because I loved what I did. I was making also some really good friends out of athletics, which was another important factor. I was confident I was good enough to get to the Olympics, so I made that my goal.
Becoming a professional sportsperson in any discipline is not an easy thing to accomplish, and although we live in 2014, it’s still harder for women than it is for men.
My first pillar of support in all this was my mum, who worked two jobs so I could afford to travel to school carnivals and national championships. Like any great parent, she was supportive of me doing what I loved to do.
Then, when I was 17 years old, I was really lucky to have Adidas come on board as a supporter for me. It was my first sponsorship.
It wasn’t a lot of money but it was enough to fund my sporting trips to national championships and world juniors, and it meant mum didn’t have to work two jobs.
Sponsorships aren’t easy to get. I’ve never had to spend time knocking them back, that’s for sure. I have spent my fair share of time out there, knocking at doors, trying to raise some support for myself and others.
While there’s more support for women in sport today in Australia than there has been in the past, this country is still very much dominated by the male side of sport.
There are some big questions that I think need to be asked. I don’t consider myself the person to answer these questions necessarily, but simply asking them, and having them talked about in the media, can be just as important.
Questions like; why is there so little interest in women’s sport in Australia? Why do we see it so very rarely advertised, or supported, or aired on TV, compared to what we see of men’s sport?
Even when female athletes are able to succeed, it is much more difficult to make a career of sport. Sponsorships are much harder to come by for female athletes, and we don’t earn as much as men can.
In Australia we see a lot of focus in the media on team sports, in particular men’s team sports. If you look at what footballers earn in Australia, it is a lot compared to other athletes. I definitely don’t earn as much as a man playing football.
And despite the numerous challenges we face, women have achieved a lot while wearing the green and gold over the years. In recent times we’re leading the men on the imaginary scoreboard for what we, as athletes, have achieved.
So why haven’t things changed?
Torchbearer
Guest
I maybe in a minority, but I would rather watch footage of Sally winning her Olympic, World Championship and Commonwealth medals on endless loop than any Australian football code.
Adam Smith
Guest
"And the girls always seem to get up quicker after nasty tackles." :) That is so true.
Adam Smith
Guest
I agree Cass, considering the profit that is being made I think the women's game should be given an even bigger 'slice of pie'. I've seen the Aussie women's cricket team lately and they are great to watch, there is definitely quality, class, skill etc. The only thing that hurts my eyes is seeing the empty stadium that they are playing at. But - main point being the mens game should be happy in taking a financial loss to grow the womens game. When it comes to sport I'm definitely left wing.
Elizabeth A
Guest
I agree in part. There is a responsibility of the sporting organisations to promote their sport. Cricket Australia have realised that women's cricket is worth promoting (somewhat) and are putting more effort in these days. However, given the success of the Australian Women's Cricket team the airtime they receive is not commensurate with their success. Until people get used to women's cricket they won't turn on the tv to watch it. How can people get used to watching it unless they get a chance to watch it, get to know the key players and the way the game unfolds. Same with women's hockey, soccer, basketball etc. Of course the governing organisations need to be proactive with their promotion of the game but the networks, radio and tv, need to be open to televising games, interviewing athletes and reporting on events. ABC Grandstand is now doing more interviews with female athletes and this is welcome. Until the main sporting and broadcasting organisations employ female board members and demonstrate equal respect for women's athletic endeavours they may stay stuck in a murky jurrassic past. We live in a modern nation but fail to demonstrate a modern outlook in the understanding and promotion of the value of our female athletes for the betterment of the health and wellbeing of all.
NaBUru38
Guest
To promote women's sports, you need media coverage and sponsorship. You get that with proper sports management. If sports federations and promoters don't try hard enough to promote women's sports, then nobody will watch them.
micka
Guest
Cass, you may be right but I reckon it will be a long wait until a business parts with big sponsorship dollars out of altruism rather than advertising bang for buck. In the mean time I think supporters have to create the bang for buck through attending these sports. There is less of a commitment in a single person buying a ticket than there is for a big business to throw in a sponsorship deal on an unproven product.
Steve Kerr
Roar Rookie
Thanks Micka, that is exactly what my comment says. I have no idea what Bondy is reacting to.
crashy
Guest
I find women's tennis and rugby 7s and 15s a joy to watch. Don't mind women's ggolf and netball either.
matth
Guest
As stated earlier, the leagues are profitable overall and need a certain number of teams to maintain their TV deals.
Elizabeth A
Guest
Micka I am referring to the Ch9 commentary team before Meg Lanning. It is my view that last seasons Ch9 commentary on men's cricket was parochial and idiotic. Much of the joshing around is sexist and blokey. But they really scrape the bottom of the barrel when trying to discuss women's cricket. There was a particularly cringeworthy interview last year in between innings, By referring to the female players as 'ladies', instead of 'athletes' or 'women'. By bumbling awkwardly and acting as if women's cricket is not really a sport women would play….. It's Jurrassic! Having said that the commentary team on ABC Grandstand did a fabulous job of commentating on the Women's Cricket last year. Sensible informative and not acting surprised that women can actually play sport at a high level. You are right the responsibilities of child rearing are not the reason women do not watch women playing sport. Mainly women are used to watching men play sport because that is the diet we have been fed for generations (except tennis). Men's sport has always got more airtime and coverage and promotion and generated more money. However networks need to take a chance and televise more women's sport. Audiences will be then get an appetite for women's sport. The audience exists at the Olympics because that is always televised. Other sports are slowly getting more coverage. Netball for example already gets a bit of coverage Vixens, etc. I think that the Southern Stars will build an audience over the next couple of years. They are a fairly young team and have already had incredible success. Likewise the Hockeyroos are improving steadily and with Iive streaming and ABC televising games they will be able to build an audience and a following. Unless the women's sport teams are televised they do not have a chance of building an audience and people coming to understand their athletic achievements. it is a catch22, networks probably think why broadcast women's sport when there is not much of an audience but how can an audience be created unless people get a chance to watch (and learn about it as long as the commentary is of a high level)
Cass
Guest
But if someone invested in women's sport, to pay for that 'slice of pie', it may snowball into more dollars which can bring greater quality, which in turn will bring more viewers to women's sport. It's a bad cycle until someone with the money can take a chance and invest.
Kev
Guest
"It would be nice if Adidas and the other big firms could sponsor a lot more young girls 15 – 17 ish to relieve the pressure of the double shift Mums and Dads ." - They need to have incentives to sponsor them. Adidas or any other company for that matter, aren't just going to shell out a few thousand dollars for the sake of it. Sponsorship is at the end of the day, an investment and companies want to see a return on it.
micka
Guest
I didn't know that women weren't allowed to use these stadiums?
micka
Guest
Brendon, commercial realities don't have as terminal an impact on large leagues with large supporter bases. You're basing your assumptions on commercial realities don't impact on male sports when they do with female sports. What happened to Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy Lions? How many NRL teams have closed down or merged? How many teams in the NBL are still around from inception in 79? What happened to the entire NSL? The difference is the Demons and Sharks have large enough fan bases to lobby for their survival and force the competition to keep them alive. Can this be said for women's sports teams? The examples you provided have been basket cases for a very short period compared to their history in their given comps. The difference is that most female teams and sports have not generated the same long term interest and value so have not generated the same level of grass roots support to carry them through the lean times. No one is arguing that female athletes should not be paid big money if they bring in big crowds or a lot of viewers. Nor are they arguing that male athletes should be paid big bucks if they aren't doing the same. Are you arguing that Netball Australia wouldn't prop up weaker teams to maintain a competitive and marketable league structure? However to compare the survival and management of leagues and teams in terms of commercial realities versus individual female athletes pay rates is disingenuous.
micka
Guest
This is the ultimate truth and leveller.
micka
Guest
That is a good and telling stat but sponsors don't pay for one game a season. My boss certainly doesn't pay me commensurate for the one day this year I saved the organisation $200,000.
micka
Guest
Elizabeth, do you mean the Channel 9 cricket commentary team including Meg Lanning? The female opening bat for Australia? It is clear from AFL attendances that women do attend sport in large numbers. The thing is they are not choosing to attend womens sports. Why? To be honest, I am pretty over the argument that women don't attend sports because of child rearing. It assumes that women only come into existence when their first kid is born and cease to exist after the last is able to look after themselves. Young girls and women and women whose children are old enough to look after themselves (also assuming that fathers of children refuse to look after their kids for a few hours) can surely find time to go to the odd sporting event? I see women out all over town doing recreational activities of some type. Why do they choose not to attend female sports? Who pays to support female athletes if not female sports fans? If men by and large haven't been particularly interested in paying a premium to watch female sports, why don't women get behind them? I understand the argument is more than valid for a very large portion of the female community but it is a fair copout to say that women can't support female sports because of family responsibilities.
micka
Guest
I think the AFL reference is due to the high proportion of female attendants at AFL games. Also the AFL IS the top level of the code whether it is global or not.
Dean
Guest
I think the women in swimming and track and field or almost every olympic event are just as celebrated as the men. These are the most comparable sports. If you correct the data for success, is there a big gender pay gap between swimmers and track athletes? I don't think there is. Most World Championship events are on in the middle of the night, the only time you see track and field athletes are when they win, because they then get replayed on the news for about 30 seconds of event and maybe 10 seconds of interview. How much exposure is that for a potential sponsor? Compare that to AFL, cricket, NRL or A-League where there's 10+ hours per weekend of coverage for half a year, every year in prime time. The reason they get paid so much is because of eyes on screen.
Bondy
Guest
nickoldschool If you note every sport we're crowned world champions at theres no qualification phase for Australia RL Cricket RU ,tv companies want guaranteed success here in Australia, the only problem is most of those sports mentioned only have a Commonwealth ring to them , so we're world champions pretty much of games played within the Commonwealth.