Women in sports can feel like a never-ending battle. Every week seems to bring a new story about women and whether their equal status should apply to sports. Bernie Ecclestone is the latest to challenge that, claiming that women drivers are not taken seriously. While most sports unfairly favor men, there are some that will give glory-seeking women a fair chance to not only compete with men, but beat them! Sports like tennis and poker are taking steps to give women a platform to showcase their skills.
2016 has seen some unusual outbursts of anti-women sentiment. Unfortunately, it came from that stronghold of equal tennis. Women and men get the same bonus in all professions, but in some professions it seems to be distributed unfairly. Much-loved superstar Novak Djokovic has commented that he believes the attendance and attention that men's games attract means they should be paid more than women's. The comments came in support of tennis administrator Raymond Moore, who raised (in very profanity) the state of how women should "get on their knees every night and thank Federer and Nadal." This comment is in bad taste, not just because of the choice of language, but for someone in that position, talking about women's football in this way takes two steps back when the sport takes a step forward. Fortunately, people's opinions on tennis aren't prevalent right now, but comments like these can snowball.
Irish hero Katie Taylor was one of the country's biggest stars, but in 2013, a year after her tennis triumph at the London Olympics, she was considering turning pro. Not because he wanted to win more, or because he felt he needed a different competition, but simply because he couldn't find any sponsors. Arguably Ireland's best female athlete, she has struggled to find someone willing to support her. Although to his credit, he also can't afford to join the ranks of a highly paid professional with no guaranteed income, so he values his amateur status.
One place where women seem to be in a competitive position to level the playing field is poker. Women are able to beat men and win just as much due to the nature of the game. Of course, sexism still comes with it, especially online, but in a recent interview, Belgian professional Charlotte van Braband said: "Personally, I don't have much of a problem with sexism, I think this can only benefit women if you know how to use it well." That's how it is! With men and their prejudices, female poker players can use it to their advantage!
While there is still a long way to go, Ireland is making progress. The Ladies Gaelic Football League has recently gained a lot of confidence with a new sponsorship deal. Lidl has signed a three-year sponsorship partnership worth £1.5m in the first year alone. Sponsorship starts with trust, and trust is critical to growing any women's movement. Women need a platform to showcase their skills and investing in sports can give women more opportunities to showcase their skills and let the world see that the gap between women and men in sports is closing.
