Ladies who League, literally! - By Mary

Over the past couple of days, there has been much debate in mainstream media about women's sport.

This piece that I have written was certainly inspired by John Stensholt's piece in the Australian Financial Review and Kathryn Wick's piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, both yesterday.

Stensholt repeats comments made by Australian Sports Commission Chairman, John Wylie, who criticised corporate Australia and indeed suggested that they are not taking advantage of significant opportunities when deciding not to sponsor women's sport. These comments come following the inability of the National Women's Basketball League to find a naming-rights sponsor. This is a league which has Lauren Jackson involved - one of Australia's sporting heroes over the last decade.

Wylie suggests that businesses 'want to celebrate and be associated with success, but the commercial world simply has not caught up with the success that is women's sport.'

The article then goes on to quote a number of statistics including that women won 57% per cent of the medals won at the 2012 Olympic Games and that the majority of medals which have been won at an elite level in 2013 have come off the back of women's sporting success.

While what Wylie suggests is admirable, for companies to begin supporting women's sport, it has to be worth their advertising dollar. In a world where millions tune in to the NRL and the AFL per week, it makes more sense for advertisers to hedge their bets here, rather than on women's sport which is rarely televised and certainly not held up in the same light as men's sport.

The articles all managed to name a series of successful female athletes including Kim Crow, Cate Campbell and Jessica Fox.

Herein lies the problem - many Australians have no idea who these athletes are.

Sport is largely tribal and support of a team is often based on tradition and geography. I am a Parramatta supporter because my father was. My father is a Parramatta supporter because he grew up in the area. My love of NRL was born as a result of my father having control over the remote and deciding that he wanted to watch 4 games of NRL per weekend. If I wanted to spend time with the family, I had to watch NRL. Over time, my disdain for the sport grew into the passion which I have today.

Watching sport is also a matter of convenience, at least at the beginning. Australians are exposed to all sorts of sport all over the weekend - NRL, AFL, motorsport, cricket and the A-League are all televised. However, very little women's sport is televised. It requires more effort to become involved in and watch women's sport. 

Once people are attached to a sport, they will go to great lengths to watch and support it. Many Australians, including my dad, wake up very early in the morning to watch the EPL. Many Australians also wake up at ridiculous hours to watch the Olympics and the Tour de France. These are sporting spectacles and in a country which loves sport as much as Australia does, our dedication to watching our athletes is not difficult to understand.

However, at the moment, women's sport is not a spectacle. While there have been numerous success stories in women's sport this year, including Sam Stosur winning the Japan Open and the recent success of our netballers in New Zealand.

What is the solution?

We cannot expect corporates to put their money behind women's sport without an audience.

Earlier this year, Catharine Lumby called for a women's State of Origin match to be held as the opener for the men's clash. I think this is a sensational idea. For a game with as wide an audience as the State of Origin, to see women competing at a similar level who are just as talented and athletic begins to open the eyes of the average sporting fan to the talent women have in the sport.

Awareness is the key and getting people to develop an interest in our female teams rather than maintaining the current situation, which is seeing women in sport as essentially invisible.

@LadieswhoLeague want to play their part too. While we often discuss our passion about women and rugby league and our desire to see women more involved at the higher echelons of the game, we often forget to support the women who play Rugby League. 

In the new year, we are going to make an increased effort to write articles about women who play rugby league and to support the tremendous women and their athletic talent. It is time for women not only to be involved in the highest echelons of the game, but also for their sporting prowess to be recognised.

Love,

@LadiesWhoLeague