If the above article has you nodding in agreement then perhaps you'll need some help creating a Women in Sport Blueprint… or at least some more conversation pieces for the dinner table.
By Simon Lewis (July 2005)
HOW TO BEAT THE BOYS
• Compete fairly and equally for places along with boys, rather than only playing in your own team. This will help to raise your levels of play and competitiveness. How good would Jacques Kallis be if, for some reason, he had only ever been allowed to play in the women’s cricket league?
• Play tennis to five sets like the men and you’ll build up your stamina and strength. It will discard one more argument against men and women receiving equal prize money at events.
• Find your level to compete at and play against males of equal ability. Improve your play (and that of your male opposition) through genuine and tough competition.
• Play with a men’s side even if it means an SA woman’s Test player playing fourth league with men, or in a boy’s side. That’s how men improve their levels of competitiveness!
WHAT CAN WOMEN DO?
• Play sport, which will give you a frame of reference to …
• Support women and girls playing sport, emotionally or financially.
WHAT CAN WORLD SPORT DO?
• Schedule women to play short exhibition matches during or before high-profile men’s matches and tournaments.
• Include women’s teams at, for instance, boys schools tournaments. Women need the exposure of a shared audience.
• During the men’s major golf tournaments there should be 2-4 women’s two-ball groupings shuffled around the men’s field. The women could play for an informal women’s title if the men feel their participation is in any way unfair. It would be something different for the fans to enjoy and would give women a vital chance to compete on the same stage, even if not for the same prize, as the men. This would further raise their levels of play as well as the public’s awareness of the top women players. Perhaps in ‘exchange’ the women’s tour could include some men who aren’t able to make the senior tour on merit, or perhaps younger men or boys who need to raise their own level or gain a form of exposure. In turn that would give these women players an added incentive and spur to keep progressing themselves with the different challenge presented by having ‘different’ players competing against them.
WHAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN, BUT COULD WORK?
Destroy all sexual segregation in sport. Let sportspeople find their own level in a newly graded system. Slightly weaker men’s golfers would play on what was the LPGA, along with women. The men’s tour can include any women who can hold their own on the tour and can sacrifice their women’s earnings compared to what they will earn on the PGA. What about the LPGA? The divisions could be almost like boxing. Weight and strength is a big factor in sport, so why separate men and women just by sex. Ok, so you can’t define it by weight, as most men’s sport is not divided around weight classifications, but there could be a ranking system of ability divisions. This could work well for many men who are unable to compete against the bigger male opposition, but who want a high level of competition, and perhaps a greater degree of exposure than they would otherwise get. There are many men who can’t make the men’s tour … why not open the ladies tour up to some of them? As soon as any man or woman dominates in a division, they earn the right to move up to the next division, or at least have a chance to play some events at the higher level, to see how they perform. The mixed sex competition should help both sexes, and it will certainly get the sexes playing together and getting an appreciation for one another. Sound crazy? Didn’t the thought of whites having to share ‘their’ buses and trains with blacks sound crazy not so long ago … or sharing ‘their’ sportsfields with blacks …
HOW DOES A SHARED AUDIENCE WORK
Most of the successful and best-known women sport stars are tennis, golf, swimming or athletic stars. All but golf enjoy the benefit of frequent shared stadiums and tournaments. Golf has, however, grown as women have started PLAYING the sport in such large numbers, and there is now greater media coverage of the women’s tour, but the crowds are pretty small compared to the men’s events, and the TV coverage is nowhere near as large as for the men’s tour. The average guy will struggle to name more than two current women golfers on the tour. One of the main reasons for the existing growth in exposure of women’s golf is that women now have a reference point and an aspiration towards golf, and they are the consumers of golfing equipment and paraphernalia.
In tennis, the men’s and women’s tours are separate, but there are a number of tournaments where they play at the same venue. This has helped to get the women stars known to men and women as well as helping them to become high-profile heroes. It’s perfect. There’s less division of ‘who are you paying or spending time to watch’, and marketers promote one event that draws a shared crowd. You pay, go in and watch. And the whole infrastructure is there to split the costs of admin, marketing, event organization and TV logistics.
IF GOD WAS A GAL
1) Male players would always appear topless in post-match interviews, even if they are sweaty and slightly out of breath …
2) Richard Snell would still be in the Proteas side and Bob Skinstad would still be playing for the Bokke… even into their 40s!
3) Women’s endorsements would be based on their ability; men’s endorsements would mostly take into account their listing in the Hot and Handsome 100 ratings.
4) Rugby players would wear cycling pants – shorts can be left in the locker-room.
5) Mark Boucher would be on billboards countrywide ... advertising just the jockstrap!
6) The women’s final at Wimbledon would be played last.
7) And they’d be paid equally!
8) The SA Sports Illustrated Swimwear Issue would feature Keith of Storm Models, Gareth of Outlaws and Rob of Max Models in an exotic location wearing teeny Speedos and tighty-whities.
9) And that’s the only time men would be on the cover of SASI: gals would be on all 11 other covers!
10) Ryk Neethling would be Yahoo’s “most-hit” sports star.
11) AND ... the gals would be channel-hopping through channels 21 to 27 on DStv while the guys would be dancing around in the kitchen wearing just an apron (and I mean, JUST an apron!).
© SIMON LEWIS • The Ball magazine simon@theball.co.za • www.theball.co.za
