The One With the Football

There is an episode of Friends

The one with the football

Phoebe has no idea

Rachel just can’t play -

“Go long, sweetie” 

And Monica is overly competitive 

(And neurotic 

And crazy

And the macho one next to her brother 

Who is an academic and therefore kind of wussy 

So they balance each other out)

Tomorrow, in real life,

Is The Big Game.

The most watched 

Sporting event 

In America,

The Super Bowl.

The focus of the game,

Apart from the advertising,

Will be the men. 

In the world of American football

Women  

Are the cheerleaders, metaphorical or real

Playing the feminine, on-looking, 

Supportive roles

In 2011

The American NFL did open up the game

To women players 

In March 2013

The first woman, Lauren Silberman, went to regional try outs. 

As of Super Bowl 2014, no woman has been selected for an NFL team. 

But there are women football players 

Who play 

Full contact American football

(And don’t wear bikinis to play) 

The Women’s Football Alliance 

The Independent Women’s Football League

And Spring Football League 

Represent over forty teams 

Across America 

When the New York Sharks 

Professional Women’s Football Team

Appeared on Good Day New York 

The male host, in his introduction, quipped

“A women’s football team? Well, I’m skeptical!”

At the first Modern Olympic Games in 1896 

Women were not permitted to compete 

As it was felt their presence would be

Impractical

Uninteresting

Unaesthetic and 

Incorrect

(Though a few women did compete, in 

Tennis, golf, croquet, and sailing) 

It was not until the 2012 Olympics 

In London

That every participating country

Had a female athlete present 

Today, in 2014

The Tour de France 

Olympic Ski jumping

The Mavericks International Surfing Competition 

And 5 set tennis matches at top tournament level 

Are closed to women competitors 

While major sporting events

Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup, State of Origin, The Ashes

Have women’s teams at amateur, or even professional levels

In their respective sports 

The BIG GAME

The highlight of the sporting calendar 

Is always the men’s competition.

The press barely reports 

Matches, games, and results 

Of women’s sporting events 

In the USA 

In 2009 

A twenty year study 

Found that 96% of

Sports media coverage

Was devoted to men’s sports

Similar statistics can be found 

In Australia

Where in 2010 

9% of sports coverage in the news

Was about women’s sport 

Or in the UK

Where in 2013

The Guardian newspaper featured just

2.5% of articles about women in sport 

So tomorrow is the Big Game 

And my (now) home state is playing

But I won’t be watching 

I’ll be channeling my

Inner Rachel

Going long 

And seeking out the women’s games. 

I want to live in a world

Where women matter 

Take centre stage 

As competitors 

Athletes and 

Sporting heroes 

And are recognised 

For their efforts and prowess 

And are represented as more than 

Unknowing, incompetent, and neurotic. 

Women play sport. 

Let's support them 

As much as we 

Cheer on the men. 

The end. 

Women in Sport

Growing up in Australia

Sport was ubiquitous 

Sport on television, in the news, in the papers, school sport, weekend sport 

Women's teams weren't prominent

Or even there at all

Men in sport was just 

Sport 

But we had plenty of prominent women

Athletes like Cathy Freeman

Johanna Griggs

Liz Ellis

Louise Sauvage

Nova Peris

Susie Maroney

Susie O’Neal

Zali Steggall

Were in the public eye

As positive role models of their sport

And nation

The Sydney 2000 Olympics torch relay

Blazed into the stadium and

Celebrated a century of women’s participation in the Olympics

Dawn Fraser, Susie Maroney, Betty Cuthbert, Raelene Boyle, Shirley Strickland and

Cathy Freeman

Between them, the winners of 15 gold medals,

Household names admired and loved.

To have women literally carrying the torch

As the pinnacle of the relay

Said to sixteen year old me

Women in sport are important

Women in sport matter

But I have come to realise

That while I would like this to be true

At the present moment in time

Women in sport, for the most part,

Are second class citizens 

Still viewed as inferior

Not worth funding, promotion, or care

It wasn’t until 2012

That every participating country

Had at least one female athlete present

At the Olympic Games

That was last year. Not last century.

And even then,

The Australian women’s basketball team,

Winners of three silver medals over three Olympic Games,

Flew Economy Class to London

While their male counterparts,

Winners of zero medals over three Olympic Games,

Flew Business.

They weren't alone. The same treatment was accorded to the 

Japanese women's soccer team. 

Women around the world still require permission to participate 

As athletes 

The Super Bowl, World Cup, Grand Prix, Tour de France

All bar women from participating in the main sporting event

As competitors

Today, in the 21st century

Women’s sports are rarely written about

And when they are

The players are referred to as

"The Girls"

The coverage shows women uncovered 

Because “sporty women”

Can still be “sexy women”

Look at your television

Look at your newspaper

How many women’s sports teams

Are represented?

The statistics are abysmal

ESPN has launched a dedicated women's channel 

And held a summit 

A UK group have launched a new magazine

The UN wrote a report 

Grassroots movements are popping up all over the place

Despite fierce resistance 

The fact that we need to “raise the profile” of women in sport

In 2013

Underlines the problem 

I would love to see a day

When dedicated women's channels

And magazines

Are no longer required

When "sport" is not synonymous with “male” and

Instead means people, of any gender

Being active and competitive

At all levels

From backyard games to professional televised world events

Women and girls play sport

Let’s celebrate their success

In equal measure to the way we celebrate the men's

Let women participate at the top level

In any sport of their choosing 

And as participants or spectators 

Let us rejoice in the human ability

To move and play and compete

Across the world

The end.