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Welcome to The Roar’s women’s sport weekly wrap – a space where I’ll introduce you to personalities in women’s sport and share some of the biggest talking points from the past week.
It was almost a tie for my favourite story in women’s sport this week, but I could not go past the announcement that Cricket Australia and Facebook have agreed to broadcast every single game of the second edition of the Women’s Big Bash League.
This news is pretty epic; particularly considering where the WBBL started last season. You’ll recall that initially Channel 10 was planning to televise only a couple of WBBL games on their secondary channel. As the season progressed and interest increased, coverage moved to the main channel and surpassed all ratings expectations with 142,000 viewers on average watching each game.
With this announcement, you won’t miss a ball all summer. By the end of the cricket season, there’ll be no excuse for you not to be able to name at least 10 players that play in the WBBL competition. I’ll start you off – Maisy Gibson, Alex Blackwell, Elysse Perry.
So, if you haven’t gone onto Facebook and given the WBBL a like please do – it’s not just a like for cricket, it’s a like for women’s sport.
I solemnly swear that from now on, I will not talk about sport in the workplace. I got this idea from an op-ed piece in the SMH written by Caitlin Fitzsimmons about why we need to stop talking about sport at work partly because it is bad for diversity.
In part, I agree. I don’t think it’s useful for a group of white men to sit in a room discussing the weekend’s football results. But I don’t see this happening.
Instead, Australia, particularly Sydney is a place where a wide variety of sports are embraced throughout the year – from AFL, to NRL, to BBL/WBBL, to NBL, there is almost something for everyone.
And even if you have no interest in sport, if gender diversity is something that you are passionate about, then rather than feeling excluded from conversations about sport you can talk about sport through a gender lens.
Perhaps mention all the ways that women are shattering ceilings in sport at the moment. Take the NSW Breakers who last month became Australia’s first professional female sporting team, or the success of the Aussie Pearls at the Olympics or Moya Dodd who was recently named Westpac’s Woman of Influence in 2016.
Instead of taking away from the diversity conversation, I think sport has a very powerful role to play in changing perceptions. I hope you choose to be part of that conversation.
It’s been a pretty big year for Charlotte Caslick. She left Rio with a gold medal, was part of a maiden HSBC Women’s Sevens World Series title, was named in World Rugby’s 2015-16 Dream Team and won the 2016 Shawn Mackay Award for Australia’s most outstanding female player at the John Eales Medal. This week, Charlotte added one more success to 2016, being named the Women’s Sevens Player of the Year by World Rugby.
Some of you may not know this, but Charlotte has been nominated for the award for the last three years and has always come just short. She is only the second Australian to win the award with Emilee Cherry, one of Charlotte’s team mates, first winning the award in 2014.
Thanks to the Aussie Pearls, everyone in Australia now knows what rugby 7s is. With increasing numbers of young girls and boys taking an interest in rugby 7s, it’s clear that the gold medal in Rio was a game changer. In particular, women’s competitions have grown in Sydney, Canberra, Perth and Brisbane. In 2017, a Sydney schoolgirl’s competition will start as will a women’s university series.
Don’t forget, it’s not long before the HSBC World Series for 2016-2017 kicks on December 1 in Dubai and remember, you’ll also have the chance to see the Aussie Pearls in action at the Sydney 7’s on 4-5 February 2017.
Congratulations Charlotte – you aren’t just a girl boss, you’re a boss. Period.
We’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go
When it comes to women’s sport it is so important to celebrate how far we have come but to never forget how far we have to go.
While giant strides are being made in sports like cricket, netball, AFL and rugby league, there are some sports that are being left behind and one of those is certainly the WNBL.
Following her retirement earlier this year, Lauren Jackson, one of Australia’s greatest athletes, has committed to becoming an advocate for women’s basketball and it’s certainly needed.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the WNBL. It does not have a naming rights sponsor. Or a broadcast deal. On average, players earn less than $25,000 per year with 20% of players earning less than $5000. The competition does not have a minimum wage.
My question is which Australian corporate is brave enough to step up to the plate and commit to women’s basketball? Just ask Buildcorp how they feel about their sponsorship of the Wallaroos, or Samsung on the success of the netball ‘Rethink Role Models campaign’ or Harvey Norman on its successful partnership with the Australian Jillaroos. I’ll give you a hint – the verdict, across the board, is that it has been a worthwhile investment.
And one final word – remember that while the countdown is on until the WBBL starts, remember that the W-League is in full swing. I’ll be at Marconi Stadium on Sunday afternoon to cheer on the Western Sydney Wanderers Women when they take on the Adelaide United Women. I’m hoping they can bounce back following their loss to Sydney FC last weekend.