Alice Soper: The sleeping giant of women’s sport has finally been roused

The Football Ferns celebrate the win their World Cup win over Norway. Photo / Photosport

OPINION

There is an adage in women’s sports, ‘can’t see it, can’t be it’. That premise being that we need to see ourselves reflected in our sports stars in order to dream our place amongst them.

This visibility offers a sense of validation that can be magic for those who experience it. My friend and England PWR rugby player, Stef Evans, has a modifier to this expression which keeps us looking forward. It’s the mantra I will carry with me into 2024: ‘Once you do see, you cannot unsee’.

This year must be the end of the surprise that women’s sport can draw a crowd. We have sold out Eden Park five times in the last two years. Two of these matches didn’t even feature a New Zealand side. The Fifa Women’s World Cup opening 10 matches around the country tracked at 97 percent of the attendance of the first 10 matches of the 2011 Men’s Rugby World Cup. Now that we have seen the fans, we cannot unsee them. We have proof that if you market an event with the same energy and resource you put into men’s sports, you will find your audience.

This wave of major women’s sporting events has turned the tide on our audience’s demographics. Many who thought themselves immune to the pull of sport’s spectacle witnessed the different experience of those attending these matches. Realising folks don’t need to be pissed up or pissed off in order to watch sports, we finally attracted more families to our sidelines. Once we saw the change in wairua this brought into our stadiums, we cannot unsee it.

These new fans brought with them new expectations for the women’s sport. Their first taste was of games being served up to them in abundance. Appetites primed, they soon found how hungry you get with little to snack on between major events. These casual observers now see the crumbs being fed to women’s fans. Scrolling through the all-you-can-eat buffet of content from their men’s team, they join us in the comment section to beg for a taste of the season schedule to come.

Now that they see the double standards in their treatment as fans, they can’t unseen its replication throughout the game. No provincial rugby player has earned their keep in Aotearoa but only women are expected to pay for this deficit. Both the men and women’s sides are delivering results for the Wellington Phoenix this season but only one team is paid a livable wage for their work.

The eloquence of our breakthrough wāhine sports stars, spoke to their deep intelligence. Yet we still see reluctance to embrace them into positions of influence in the sport they love. Once you see these women’s merit, you can’t unsee all the mediocrity elevated above them. You can’t help but wonder if their leadership would break the cycle of unending damning reviews.

Sparks of this have been seen in the establishment of the Tauihi Basketball league, with a women-owned team leading the charge. Each team though has a unique brand, each season there is development in the competition offered to maximise its potential and each fan is treated like the gold dust they are. Once you see their example, you cannot unsee its impact.

The sleeping giant of women’s sport has finally been roused. It’s taken two full years of celebration but we’ve finally opened our eyes to what was always plain to see. Now that we’ve borne witness to these events, there’s no looking back. We will keep our eyes firmly on the horizon. All the things we are yet to be, in 2024 we may finally see.