Even though I have been able to continue playing, it is only because I am lucky. Moving to these different clubs not only means that it puts me at an inconvenience because I have to travel further, but it is also expensive. I am lucky that my family has supported me and not only driven me to games and training sessions, but they have also paid for the expenses such as uniforms and memberships. Things like the cost and distance is more than enough for girls and women to lose interest in sport, and we need to be doing better to support these young women. How we need to do better Even though there are now many sports that offer equal pay and opportunities there are still several sports that do not do this such as Australian Rules Football and Athletics. Even though Women ’ s AFL is the most highly attended competitive women ’ s sport in the country, on average men ’ s AFL players still earn 800% more than women. It is great to talk about how women should receive the same salary as men do in the AFL, but it is more important to talk about why. A common argument for women earning less is that the AFLW brings in substantially less money than the men ’ s competition and so their pay should represent
that. This is a fair point, but the problem with that is that a major reason it does not generate as much money is that it is not shown as much in the media and so there are significantly fewer sponsorships and money earnt from streaming. Following the AFLW grand final in 2022, I remember watching the news the next morning and the game barely even getting a mention. Yet after the men ’ s grand final, it was all over every channel on TV. If people aren ’ t aware that women ’ s sport is happening, then how are they going to watch it? It is a never - ending cycle that needs to be stopped by getting more people exposed to women ’ s footy. To do this news stations must report on more women ’ s footy so that it can generate more interest. The gaps in giving women the same opportunities as men are glaringly obvious, especially when competing at a junior level. The boys ’ teams are constantly prioritised over the girls ’ teams and that is something that I have experienced a lot as a young woman in sport. When I was in under 14’ s and playing Australian Rules Football, I remember that my whole team was overjoyed that we had just won against the top team in our league and were so excited to be able to sing our song when we got into the change rooms.
When we got there, we were told by the boys under 13 coach to grab our bags and go and sing the song outside because “ the boys needed to get ready for their game. ” This put the idea into my head that women ’ s sport is not as important or at the same level as men ’ s sport. There are still arguments that women can ’ t compete in sports at the same level as men, and in many men ’ s competitions, there is a lack of a female equivalent. Examples of this include but are not limited to only having a men ’ s decathlon and the fact that in most tennis grand slam competitions, men play to five sets whereas women only play to three. Attitudes and behaviours towards women in sports may take a long time to change and will not happen overnight, but it has to start from somewhere. We need to start implementing changes at a junior and recreational level and then build on that. These changes need to start now so that eventually it can be appreciated that women can be as competitive as men, but also so that women ’ s sports can be appreciated in their own way.
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