Local women in rugby
THE glaring disparity in how women who participate in maledominated sporting activities are treated, has been no secret.
The lack of gender equality when it comes to visibility, financial support, access to opportunities, and training conditions, among many others, for women in sports has been a cause of debate and discussions all over the world.
In Fiji, the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) coordinator Shamima Ali has, on a number of occasions, been quite outspoken on how Fijian women in sports, particularly rugby, face discrimination, harassment and abuse.
On one occasion, she told Fiji Times online news portal The Lens @177 that local women had always been keen to play rugby but the barriers that existed (example: poor ground conditions and double standards) were a cause of hindrance.
On Saturday, March 23, both the Drua men and women’s teams played against the New South Wales (NSW) Waratahs and some Fijians took to social media to voice their concerns on what they deemed as the lack of support for the Fijian Drua Women during their match with the NSW Waratahs women’s team.
A social media user said in a video posted on her timeline that it was appalling to see Fijians leave as soon as the Fijian Drua team won their match and did not bother to stay for the women’s match.
She said it would have been disheartening to the Fijian Drua Women to see how empty the spectator stands were during their game when compared with the fully-packed stands when the men’s team played.
And the Fijian Drua Women are the reigning champions for the Super W at that.
Last week, the Women Entrepreneurs Business Council (WEBC), one of 10 councils registered under the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF), held its annual two-day 2024 Women Invigorating the Nation (WIN) Convention attended by 220 women from all walks of life.
One of the sessions was on ‘Breaking Barriers through Sports’ where Swire Shipping Fijian Drua Hospitality and Sponsorships manager and former Fijiana 15s skipper Lailanie Burnes shared her experience on the challenges women in rugby faced in Fiji.
“In 2008, when I first came to Fiji for work, there was one thing I noticed, there was no women rugby team in the Western Division, and I said to myself, ‘why is it that Fiji is so renowned for rugby but where are all the girls?’.
“Why are girls not playing this sport? So, I decided to do something and I’m sure I gave the biggest shock to all of the men that were on the field at that time. I took myself down to the local rugby pitch where there was a men’s team that was training and said ‘I’m going to come and train with you guys’.”
That same year, Ms Burnes started the Nadi Blazers Women’s Rugby team and 20 players from the club actually went on to represent Fiji at the national level.
Speaking on the challenges she saw Fijian women rugby players faced, she said overcoming societal norms was one of the main issues.
“The world has not been easy for women rugby players and when we look at some of the challenges that we face in our journey, one of the biggest challenges that we are faced with, especially when I started playing rugby in Fiji, is the acceptance by the community.
“Having women rugby players going out onto the field is against the social, traditional and cultural norms of a society which is always considered a patriarchal society, but we are changing that.”
Helping to make that change was Stanley Raniga, the chief executive officer of Future Farms Pte Ltd, which trades as Rooster Poultry or Rooster Chicken.
Rooster had engaged in a three-year sponsorship deal with the Fijian Drua in 2021, and two years later in 2023 when the Fijian Drua Women team was set up, they also announced a sponsorship deal with them.
“We were asked if we want to sponsor them as well and it wasn’t an easy decision because we had just invested in a lot of resources in the men’s team, but at the same time, there were rumours on social media that the girls are struggling to look for bus fares to go and attend trainings and that they were getting $50 a week,” Mr Raniga said.
“And so we decided to sponsor them.”
Mr Raniga shared he was once asked which team had more sponsorship and he was all too happy to say that it was the Fijian Drua Women.
Looking back on the history of women rugby in Fiji, and you don’t have to be a rugby fanatic to notice, that women indeed face more challenges in this field than men.
It even got to a point where players had to openly share their challenges on social media for relevant authorities to finally step up and address them.
So, how can these barriers be broken and inequalities addressed, not only on the international stage, but especially in Fiji? Hopefully, this question will be addressed some time in the near future.
In 2008, when I first came to Fiji for work, there was one thing I noticed, there was no women rugby team in the Western...
– Lailanie Burnes