Concerns pandemic will hit drive for sporting diversity
Moves to get more women involved in playing sport could be set back by the pandemic, the founder and head of the Scottish Women in Sport (SWIS) charity has warned.
Maureen Mcgonigle set up the charity in 2013 after seeing the barriers facing women in Scottish football. Having worked in a number of different jobs linked to sport, from Scottish Amateur Wrestling to Sportscotland, she found there was an inequality which not only made it more difficult for women to pursue a career in sport but which could also be discouraging younger girls.
“It was realising the inequality that existed that prompted me to start the charity,” she says. “At that point Scottish Women’s Football did everything to make women’s football happen – from school sports to international matches and development of players. Women who wanted to represent their country had to raise their own money and buy their own kit and it just seemed very unequal.”
The disparity in treatment between boys and girls was not something that was a secret to Maureen.
“When I was young you were never encouraged to play sport within the school environment,” she said. “I remember terrible changing rooms, no outfits for sport and I came from the west of Scotland, where back then it wasn’t considered the thing for girls to pursue sports.
“I enjoyed playing hockey, that was a sport I really enjoyed, but I wasn’t encouraged to join a club. The progress we have made since then far exceeds my expectations – I never thought women would be getting paid to play football, for example. There are more sports looking at how they can bring more equity and diversity, and there is more visibility of women in sport, as well as more women working behind the scenes in vital roles that don’t get the headlines.
“My fear is that the pandemic will take us back in terms of equality, and make the barriers that still exist worse. You only have to look at the major sports that were enabled to go forward during Covid – it didn’t really include the women’s section – football, rugby, things like that.”