Dave Mollard’s Change is Constant: Women’s sport is finally getting some of the resources it needs

It’s time for us to pay for women’s sport in the same way we pay for men's, writes Dave Mollard. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Usually, my winter weekends involve watching or participating in the activity of men smashing into each other on muddy fields. With our club rugby season finished and the All Blacks not playing, my sporting fix was fulfilled by watching hundreds of incredibly talented, passionate and skilled women play one code or another.

It started on Friday with back-to-back Fifa Women’s World Cup quarter-finals, with both the teams I was supporting losing, then on Saturday morning, I braved the cold to stand on the sideline of Vautier Park to watch my daughter throw the ball into the net with what seemed like 3000 other young women. Saturday night was more women’s football interspersed with a truly average game of league by the Warriors.

On Sunday, we got to the Arena to see the Cyclones score their first try, and we stayed until the Turbos got their last one.

It was sitting up the back of the Arena grandstand, sipping on an, in my opinion, overpriced can of beer, that I did some deep introspection. It could have been the Export Gold, or the woeful first-half scrums from the Turbos - it may have even been the bracing southeasterly winds buffeting us - but I realised I enjoyed the women’s sport much more than the men’s. It wasn’t a sudden revelation, just a confirmation of a growing shift in my thinking. Women’s sport is finally getting some of the resources it needs to be awesome.

The football was tense, dramatic and full of skill and power - the Cyclones were free-flowing, free-thinking and free of BS. Is there any greater local role model than Silica Winiata, a speed merchant full of bravado and skill on the field and a wahine toa off it in her day job as a police officer, full of care and compassion for our community?

Watching the organised chaos of 17 courts buzzing with 34 netball teams playing while another 34 teams cool down and yet another 34 teams warm up is a little overwhelming, but also inspiring. The precision of the players, the organisers and support crew to make this all happen is magic. The queue to the coffee cart and the exit on to Tremaine Ave were the disorganised parts of the morning.

We have always had an imbalance in Aotearoa when it comes to professional sports, with the men getting paid much more than women. It’s now time for us, the consumers, to front up and pay for women’s sport in the same way we pay for men, by turning up and buying tickets and subscriptions. Only then will these wāhine toa get what they deserve.

Dave Mollard is a Palmerston North community worker and social commentator.