Unravelling the truth about women’s sport investment - Alice Soper

When the women’s-only rugby club, Wairarapa Wāhine Toa, emerged last year they were initially courted by many existing clubs. Photo / Supplied

Alice Soper is a sports columnist for the Herald on Sunday. A former provincial rugby player and current club coach, she has a particular interest in telling stories of women’s sports.

OPINION

A pervasive myth in sport is that women’s participation is subsidised by men. The belief is that any dollar spent is deemed to be a dollar taken away from the men’s budget and so women are often viewed as freeloaders. In times of financial strife, this rhetoric intensifies. Women’s participation is deemed a luxury, one we simply cannot afford.

The irony with this worldview is that the opposite is more frequently documented. Funds allocated to governing bodies, clubs or teams with the expressed purpose of supporting women’s participation are frequently misused. The most recent high-profile case is currently unravelling in France with the International Cricket Council ( ICC) now investigating misconduct.

France Cricket had been recording scorecards for matches, which raised red flags for former international and current board member, Tracy Rodriguez. Taking it upon herself to attend one of these scheduled matches, she reportedly found no game taking place. However the national sporting organisation still published results of this apparent ghost match three days later. What motivation would the cricket administrators have to go to such lengths to stage a women’s cricket match? One word, money.

The ICC provides funding to countries with the development of women and girls a key determinant of the value of the cheques being written. Reports suggest up to 70 per cent of France Cricket’s budget comes from the ICC and 50 per cent of that total is to be spent on women and girls. Inflate the appearance of their participation in your sport and you inflate your bottom line. France Cricket appears to have been robbing Perrine to pay Paul.

This is just the latest example, another closer to home occurred at the Collingwood club in Australia. The Football Club was reportedly in dire financial straits when it partnered with Netball Australia. This partnership, along with the introduction of a women’s AFL side, brought in millions of dollars to the club in government funds and sponsorship, allowing them to upgrade their facilities. The ribbons cut, the club then promptly closed the door on their netballers. Walking away from their commitment to the side.

That attitude isn’t limited to high-performance spaces. When the women’s-only rugby club, Wairarapa Wāhine Toa, emerged last year they were initially courted by many existing clubs. However, then head coach, Scott Collins, found offers made to affiliate appeared to be motivated more by the opportunity to access facility upgrade funding than efforts to grow the game.

I myself have sat in meetings with my provincial union or local rugby clubs and been told that sponsorship we bring in cannot be attached to our team but has to be distributed to the organisation as a whole. The same rules have never seemed to apply to the marquee men’s teams. The competitions and stadiums they play in, have all come with huge upfront costs. Much of which has been paid for by the taxpayer, no matter their gender.

As the calls are only becoming louder for investment into women’s sport, we must respond with transparency in equal volume. That visibility of input and outcome is essential for progress. We must follow the money to be able to tell the full story of its impact. Cheques cannot tick boxes in an effort to appear inclusive. They should be written with a full understanding of the predicted return on investment. Anything less is selling all of us short.