Women: Why Don't We Make More of their Success in Sport

This is a serious question and I would really like to hear from women about this. Women are successful in sport but men's success make the headlines - nearly always. Why is this? OK men are stronger in general but skill does not require strength. But where skill does prevail as in say snooker or horse racing, men still prevail (though less so in horse jumping and 3 day eventing). So it has to be hard wired? Men are just naturally more competitive because of their need to mate whereas women must survive and nurture. This is a very simplistic overview of course but it's a basic point. If that is the case then oughtened the argument be in favour of making more out of women's success in sport because they have to overcome greater inherent odds to succeed?

My point is highlighted by the England Women's Cricket Team who have dominated the world game this year not only retaining the Ashes (albeit over one game) but taking the World Twenty20 World Cup and the one day, 50 over equivalent too. But what media coverage did they get? Very little.

Women's tennis does get considerable media coverage so is this just down to money, marketing and PR or because women's tennis is run in tandem with the men's competition. Would the women's Twenty20 competition have been more widely covered if a men's game followed a women's game for instance? Yes this would be more complicated to organise and the logistics very difficult but not impossible. Women's athletics gets a lot of coverage again because men and women's competitions are run together. What about a mixed Ryder Cup in golf - that would set the cat amongst the pigeons!

Is ensuring that women's sport gets greater media coverage an issue that NGB's and professional bodies should be doing more about?


Keith

Keith Irving
iStadia