Women make strides in bid for gender equality
Conference in Edinburgh gives cause for optimism
Together #Wearestrong may be a women’s football initiative but it is also a fitting way to sum up yesterday’s Scottish Women in Sport conference.
Those who attended the day of presentations, debates and idea-sharing in Edinburgh were told that the volume and noise around equalities has never been louder as they discussed ways to tackle gender stereotypes and break down the barriers facing women/girls in sport.
Living up to the hashtag #wewantchange, the speakers and panelists outlined the task facing individuals – men and women – sporting bodies, government agencies and society as a whole and they addressed the changes needed to bolster the number of girls and women benefitting Scottish sport.
From a survey conducted by the Girl Guides, which painted a picture of what it means to be a girl in 2018, with body image and peer pressure highlighted as a massive contributor to the drop in levels of female sporting participation around the age of 12-14, to R&A assistant director Jackie Davidson, who spoke of the huge part family influence plays in bucking that trend.
Former athlete Jayne Nisbet, who beat eating disorders to become a Commonwealth Games finalist, addressed the worrying issues of self-esteem and mental health, and the marketing of women’s football was also placed under the spotlight as Kayleigh Grieve, Uefa’s women’s football marketing manager, stressed the need to adapt to what girls and women want as they work to connect with an erstwhile largely ignored section of the worldwide football fanbase.
Insisting that culture will alwaystrumpstrategy,simone Fullagar, chair of the Physical Culture, Sport and Health research group at Bath University, said that while women are still relatively new to sport in historical terms and maintained that their limits are still being tested at elite level, it is an exciting time in the search for gender equality.
The role played by Scottish Women in Sport and the University of West Scotland was celebrated as Scottish Squash detailed the benefits of the multi-platform promotional campaign Girls Do Sport, which used students and social media channels to showcase nine different sports – tennis, squash, yachting, roller derby, gymnastics, basketball, hockey, boxing and athletics – raising awareness of the opportunities for women in the sporting sector.
Proudly flanked by a branding, declaring Girls Do Squash, CEO Maggie Still, with the help of Dr Sue Strachan, who took pride in the fact that her longtime passion is rated top in the Forbes list of ten healthiest sports, and top junior, Georgia Adderley, spoke of the giant strides made in the past 12 months, as they capitalised on sportscotland funding and the support of SWIS.
Still revealed that much of the change was also driven by 17-year-old Adderley, who is the reigning U-17 British Junior Champion and the first Scot since Lisa Mckenna in 1993 to win a BJC title. The youngster had raised concerns about the dearth of domestic competition, raising a smile when she confessed there was little pride in becoming national champion when she was the only one contesting the title! Through 27tastereventsthroughoutthe country,adderleyandherceo havebolsterednumbersatagegroup level and recruited more female coaches and referees.
“The change we have seen in such a short time has been exciting,” said Adderley, who will compete at the WSF World Junior Squash Championships in India next month. That was illustrated in the junior national championships where she said there were actually 16 entrants at under-15 level this year, a notable increase on previous years. “That is something never seen before and that is after just one year [of promotion]. Hopefully that can get even higher.”
A competitor at masters level, Dr Strachan added: “I’m proud of my sport again. I couldn’t have said that a few years ago.”
But now, Girls Do Squash. Girls Do Sport and, if the conference is any indicator, they will be doing it in greater numbers across various platforms in the years to come as barrier after barrier is broken down.