Women’s sport too important to be written off

SOME OF us remain in denial about women’s sport. Doesn’t matter how much the male variety is heralded, feted and held up as a passport to all that’s good, there are still plenty who rush to dismiss the female version as irrelevant tokenism. Aussie’s Channel Ten TV network came dangerously close to this position last week when it dumped its coverage of netball’s ANZ series. Rationale? Reckoned netball wasn’t a ‘‘premium’’ sport.

You can only wonder how many blokes it took to change that particular light bulb. Especially at a time when more Australian women are playing netball than any other sport and the Diamonds are ranked No 1 in the world. Maybe they’re basing it on their woeful coverage last season? Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. Screen games at unwatchable hours, give priority to reruns of Get Smart and then complain about the game’s pulling power.

No wonder Channel Ten is struggling. Worldwide, indications are that women’s sport is becoming increasingly marketable; that demand is growing. More needs to be done but the potential is at least being recognised. Britain’s BT network is openly attacking Sky’s dominance via women’s sport. Savvy UK advertisers are clambering on board. Even Americans are noticing. Of the 46 gold medals won by US athletes in London, 29 were claimed by women.

Same goes for New Zealand. If anyone doubts the impact and popularity of our sportswomen they should check out the finalists for the coming Halberg Awards. The female category is noticeably stronger than the male. And as far as the netball goes, it’s a nobrainer. Netball NZ is paid somewhere between $5 million and $10m for their two contracts with Sky. In tough economic times, you can be guaranteed they’re worth every penny of it.

Still, the myth that women’s sports coverage isn’t commercially viable continues to be peddled. It needs to be challenged, not just for the sake of media exposure but because of a wider malaise. Sportswomen are still treated shabbily in New Zealand. Take rugby. The NZRU are dragging their feet over their recognition of women players; stalling an agreement with the players’ association. Otago tried to dump their team during last year’s financial crisis.

It’s not hard to notice the discrimination and it’s not hard to see why it’s there. Women are under-represented in all areas of Kiwi sport but no more so than at board level. For most national sports organisations, issues are viewed chiefly through a male prism. Same with the New Zealand sports media and even the TV networks. Especially the TV networks. Add it all together and the outcome is fairly predictable. It is a ratshit deal for women.

True, there’s plenty around who see nothing wrong with this arrangement. A listener texted Radio Sport’s Tony Veitch the other day to say he agreed with Channel Ten’s decision, and that he was sick of being force-fed netball coverage as a sop to the ‘‘politically correct’’. Pretty much sums up the type of folk we’re dealing with over this. Not only in denial about the popularity of women’s sport but grossly ignorant of the bigger picture.

Any number of studies could enlighten them. Women who play sport are less likely to develop conditions such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, hypertension, obesity and depression. An American study found high school girls involved in sport were less likely to smoke or have teenage pregnancies and more likely to achieve academically. Another showed they were also more likely to find employment.

More needs to be done but the potential is at least being recognised. Britain’s BT network is openly attacking Sky’s dominance via women’s sport. Savvy UK advertisers are clambering on board. Even Americans are noticing.

Don’t know about you but this seems far too important to be written off by a bunch of chauvinist bigots, many of whom probably still struggle to treat women seriously, let alone women’s sport. Media exposure, television coverage in particular, plays a crucial role in developing cultural norms; that is, attracting participants. Fact is, the more young girls who see sportswomen celebrated, the greater the chance they’ll have a go themselves.

Channel Ten’s stance? Doesn’t so much represent the changing attitude towards women in sport as a patronising attitude towards women in general. Worse still, by dismissing netball as unimportant it’s encouraged those sad cases who like nothing more than a chance to rubbish sportswomen as unworthy. Presumably they feel the same way about women fulfilling other roles in the community as well. Am pretty sure there’s a name for that.