If there was ever a time since Billie Jean King in the 1970s when women in sport have been thrusted into the spotlight, it is now. Their success at the Olympics and Paralympics in 2021; at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham over July and August this year; the simply magnificent win by England’s Women’s football team at Euros 2022 in July at Wembley; and taking place as we speak, the Women’s Rugby League World Cup in in Manchester, is absolutely phenomenal.
It’s not unusual to see women in all types of sports today; but it wasn’t always like this. In fact, back in the 1960s, women were banned from the majority of sports. Let’s take you back to 19th April 1967 and the Boston Marathon.
The rise of women in sport
Kathrine Switzer had managed to get round a ban that stopped women competing in marathons and was due to run in the Boston Marathon that year (the oldest marathon in the world, by the way). However, the organisers’ boycotted the event but that didn’t stop Kathrine. She ran and she finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes. In later years, the BBC interviewed her and she clearly remembers Jock Stemple, who was co-director of the marathon, “grabbed me by the shoulders, spun me back and started trying to rip off my bib numbers.”
Her bib number was 261 and since that day in 1967, that number has become a symbol of equality. Kathrine’s mantel was later taken up by Nadia Comaneci, Larissa Latynina and famously, Billie Jean King. Most recently, Serena Williams, Yelena Isinbayeva and Laure Manadou have taken over.
Talking of Billie Jean King, she led the fight for equal pay for women following her first win at Wimbledon in 1966. It was she who was instrumental in forming the Women’s Tennis Association and in 1973, when she threatened to boycott the US Open unless women were given equal prize money, and won, the sporting world started to really sit up and take notice.
Girls’ participation in sport at school
A worrying statistic from Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) is that by the age of 14, girls are twice as likely to drop out of sports at school as boys are. But why? The WSF identified a number of reasons which include:
- Safe transport – travelling to a sports location isn’t as easy for girls as it is for boys from the safety aspect. Sometimes neighbourhoods are unsafe, or it’s winter daylight hours or there isn’t a safe option, such as carpooling.
- Little to no access to sports – more and more schools are dropping their sports programmes. That means girls have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play sports at school than boys do. Many cities, towns and even villages have sports facilities but not many of them encompass girls playing sports.
- Social stigma – possibly one of the biggest issues is social stigma. Despite the progress made over the years, there is still discrimination against women, and girls, in sport. They experience bullying, negative performance evaluations from trainers, not to mention the social isolation. For many adolescent girls, this is exceptionally crushing and may lead to them never going near a sport again.
A recent study by Women in Sport found that over one million girls who were sporty at primary school had lost interest by the time they became teenagers. The main reasons? Fear of being judged (68%) and a lack of confidence (61%).
But another statistic in the study was equally damning; 78% (8 out of every 10) girls who used to play sports admitted that they avoided taking part during their period. This figure is higher than girls who had never been into sports (69%) and those still passionately taking part in sports (64%).
Menstruation and women in sport
Periods have long been a taboo subject, whether you’re a sportswoman or not. So, when famous GB sprinter, Dina Asher-Smith blamed ‘girl stuff’ for her dip in performance in the 100m final at the European Athletics, you could audibly hear the intakes of breath from sporting officials worldwide
But she didn’t go away and hide. Asher-Smith actually brought the issue into the limelight and called for more research into the link between female athletes’ menstrual cycles and performance from a sports science perspective. She added: “I feel if it was a men’s issue there would be a million different ways to combat things.”
Asher-Smith’s bravery in talking about such a taboo subject opened the floodgates. Sportswomen worldwide rallied behind her. Ama Agbeze MBE, England’s netball international, championed Asher-Smith’s call, saying “It needs to be talked about and discussed more.”
She pointed out that if people at the top levels of sport, no matter what their age, are struggling to talk about it and ask questions, how are 12-13 year olds, and older children, going to have the confidence to bring up the topic?
Millie Bright, the Lionesses’ star defender, has taken the matter one step further, announcing that “I can 100% tell you I’ll be coming on very shortly, if my cycle is correct.”
But thanks to a plan developed by Dawn Scott, the Football Association’s senior women’s physical performance manager who has been monitoring the effect of menstrual cycles on women’s performance in sport, Bright’s symptoms were significantly reduced. The interesting factor is that Scott used research conducted by Dr Georgie Bruinvels, a British sports scientist.
The gender gap in sports
Without doubt, this year the most inspiring of sports teams has been England Women’s football. Their win in Euro 2020 was the instigator for a surge in sporting aspirations among girls. In fact, Women in Sport reported a record 70% increase in the number of girls wanting to take up sports again. But the gender gap still remains, as a report by Women in Sport and Sports Direct found.
- Half as many girls as boys say they do lots of sports and other activity.
- 17% more girls than boys say they love sport, but lack the opportunity to play.
- 4 in 10 girls feel women’s sport is still viewed as lower value than men’s sport, and that girls were not expected to be good at sport.
The good news is that attitudes are gradually beginning to change; indeed, it appears that the change is significantly more evident in the younger generation as more boys (42%) want to see women’s sport receive more support.
The even-better news is that sportswomen are not allowing the sporting ‘powers that be’ – namely, the male older generation – forget that women in sport have the right to be treated as equals, on all levels. Many old rules and traditions are being challenged. Just this year, Wimbledon was called to task over their rule that players, men and women, must be dressed in ‘almost entirely white’ tennis attire. For female athletes competing while on their periods, where’s the inclusivity in that? Do you really think this rule would have remained in force for 145 years if a clothing policy affected men in the same way? Definitely not.
In April 2022 in London, a community of 76 athletes, 35 of whom were female and all of whom are part of a programme known as Unlocked, came together to discuss and tackle the issues they are passionate about. From addressing visibility to increasing diversity and focusing on women’s health issues, they are working to change attitudes across the board on a wide range of topics. They are empowering women in sport to speak out and share their experiences, driving much-needed change.
Really Helpful Club is about accepting and embracing people from every facet of life, bringing people together in ways where ideas and experiences are shared, offering unique opportunities for people to grow, and empowering each other to achieve what they might have thought impossible. Our community is our greatest asset, and is at the heart of what we do.
