Sport

Increase of women in sport - and on the sidelines - set to continue

Kenny Archer

Kenny Archer

Kenny is the deputy sports editor and a Liverpool FC fan.

Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes (right).
Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes (right). Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes (right).

SOMETIMES you get the sense the universe is sending you a message.

Monday morning started with a call to Ryan McMenamin, the Fermanagh senior football manager. The intention was to check for any news, ask about preparations (or lack of them) for the again delayed National Football League, that sort of thing.

An enquiry about a potential replacement for departed coach Joe McMahon prompted this response: "If the right person becomes available you can always take him or her in."

When I picked up on his use of male and female pronouns, he could easily have brushed that off, shut the topic down, as many managers would have done.

Instead, McMenamin gave his backing to female involvement in inter-county men's management teams, saying "it really should be happening. You look at it happening in the NFL [American Football], female coaches at the Super Bowl, so I don't see any problem with it."

You know it's not merely lip service with 'Ricey'. He's been involved in coaching the St Macartan's, Clogher ladies football team and has long been an advocate for women's sport.

His allusion to American Football came because, at the weekend, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers triumphed in Super Bowl LV with Lori Locust as assistant defensive line coach and Maral Javadifar as assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Sure, they're not major roles, but after Katie Sowers became the first female coach at a Super Bowl last year, as an offensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers, it was good there were two women winners, to refute any sexist suggestions that their involvement couldn't possibly be productive.

Later on Monday I had the pleasure of interviewing Denise Martin, who's the performance analysis representative on the National Steering Group of the GAA's Sports Science Working Group.

She recalled that when she was first involved with an inter-county team acceptance wasn't a problem - because she "was never a threat" to the coaches, purely because she's female.

Attitudes to women in sport have undoubtedly improved, but there's still quite a way to go in most major codes.

As a modern man I spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen, doing my share of the chores of cooking, washing (dishes and clothes), etc. Often the radio is tuned to soccer match commentaries.

Recently I wondered 'Who is that woman talking?' Not through any sense of outrage, but quite the opposite. She was highly impressive.

Unlike most of the regular male pundits, who largely argue about officiating decisions or waffle about their Fantasy Football team selections, she was offering interesting insights, talking about player positioning, movement, what they were doing wrong and right.

Turned out it was Emma Hayes, manager of Chelsea Women.

Last week Hayes gave women's sport another boost. Linked with the AFC Wimbledon (men's team) job, the expectation was that she would be thrilled and delighted even to be mentioned in dispatches for the post.

Instead she was scathing, irked by the suggestion that a move to the Dons – struggling near the bottom of English football's third tier – would somehow be a 'step up' for her.

Stating that they couldn't afford her anyway, Hayes declared: "I'm the manager of Chelsea, I manage and represent elite, world-class players, and this, for me, is an amazing job that I have spent nine years cultivating all my energy into.

"I'm not looking for another job, I'm blessed with working with wonderful humans day in, day out.

"Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder, Beth England, Magda Eriksson, Millie Bright, Maren Mjelde - do you want me to keep going? These are world-class players."

Sport being sport, Chelsea Women lost their long unbeaten run at the weekend, but perhaps that actually strengthens Hayes's following comments:

"Women's football is something to celebrate, and the quality and the achievement of all the females I represent … it's an insult to them that we talk about women's football being a step down, with the dedication and the commitment and the quality they have.

"I think that's what I'm disappointed with, not being linked to a football job, as a football coach, regardless of gender."

Sometimes the sexism is even more overt. Only last week Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo Olympics organising committee, told a newspaper in relation to efforts to improve gender balance that women basically talk too much:

"If we increase the number of female board members, we have to make sure their speaking time is restricted somewhat, they have difficulty finishing, which is annoying."

"We have about seven women at the organising committee but everyone understands their place."

Forced to backtrack and apologise, 83-year-old Mori admitted his comments were based on ignorance: "I don't talk to women that much lately, so I don't know."

Ironically, the Olympics are a sporting event where females get better coverage and consideration than is usually the case.

2020 was supposed to be a big year for women's sport, with targets set for increased media coverage and participation.

The latter aspect has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but that's true across the board for many sports, regardless of gender, due to restrictions and lockdowns.

Coverage, though, appears to have increased, despite there being less sport happening worldwide, with women's sport cancelled disproportionately.

Having to rely more on technology for access to the wider world, streaming has been a boon for women's sport. Given the time and opportunity to watch women's sport outside the traditional channels, interest and audiences have increased.

Women are no longer content to accept 'their place' as set out by certain men.

Indeed, they increasingly see 'their place' as alongside men on the sidelines – or even instead of them.