March Madness and Caitlin Clark show investment in women’s sport pays off: Alice Soper

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark has become one of America's biggest stars. Photo / AP

OPNION

A historic moment in women’s basketball was reached on Monday as 18.7 million people tuned into the NCAA final between Iowa and South Carolina.

It was the largest audience for any basketball game in ESPN’s history. This moment is just the latest breakthrough we have seen in women’s sports. They come almost weekly now, a sellout here, a new star there, all culminating in an undeniable fact - if you invest fully in women’s sport, you will see reward.

How do you create a breakout star like Caitlin Clark, Sam Kerr or Ruby Tui? Before Clark broke records, Lynette Woodard set them. Brandi Chastain lifted her home country’s hopes 20+ years before Kerr did the same. Vanessa Cootes was the four-try finals hero of New Zealand’s first world Cup win before Tui sang six titles later. Our female athletes have always succeeded, it is the infrastructure around them that has failed.

There have been high performance ladders knocked over as people are climbing them. No thought of retaining the knowledge that retires each season from the field of play. We’ve seen coaches and management, incapable or dangerous, appointed with due process and then removed after lengthy ones. A lack of vision and accountability is the common theme attached to meagre funds administered.

Coverage that has only reliably told the story of championship matches or controversy. Action from limited camera angles or perhaps just your aunty’s Facebook. Team lists published as close to kickoff as possible. Schedules that go out without venues and timings. Fans have simultaneously been treated as both detectives and fools. Having to follow a trail of clues to kickoff or be tricked into watching the end of a game that opened for the one they paid for.

The miracle of these moments we are seeing now in rapid succession is that finally the bigger picture is in view. Investment is just not another word for player wages. It’s part of the equation, sure, but far from the only missing piece. Those that have turned moments into momentum have understood this. It’s the coming of age of the infrastructure, not the athletes, that is the game-changer.

This season was the first time the NCAA allowed women to use the March Madness name and they have only strengthened the brand. The action on the court was elevated by the guidance of long-serving veterans of the sport such as Dawn Staley. Staley, the only person to win basketball Olympic gold both as a player and a coach, ran her less experienced side to an unbeaten season. These exploits were expertly analysed, unpacked and celebrated by other greats of the game such as Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and current WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike.

Caitlin Clark’s ascendance was visible due to such coverage. It peaked in March Madness but has been built since the end of last season. Timelines filled with the same shot from multiple angles, highlighting the full production being put into these college fixtures. Clark’s star now carries the new fans with her to the next level of the women’s game - she is due in just a few days’ time to be named as the number one pick in the WNBA draft.

Investment is an expression of commitment. It’s how we show what it is we will prioritise and what it is we value. Some investments are monetary, others are visionary. They see all the moving parts that need to come together to make a moment. They balance and support the development of each of these facets, to fill the stadiums and have us all chanting her name.