WOMEN AND SPORTMEETING THE CHALLENGE | INVITING PARTICIPATION

Ashleigh Barty – World #1 Tennis Hannah Green – Won Women’s PGA Championship Minnesota Sally Fitzgibbons – won Rio Pro – World #1 in Surfing

WOMEN AND SPORTMEETING THE CHALLENGE |INVITING PARTICIPATION

Taliqua Clancy & Mariafe Artacho del Solar The Matildas Women’s Eight

WHO ARE AUSTRALIANS MOST PROUD OF?

ADVANTAGES OF WOMEN AND SPORT✓ Sport played by women has

broader general engagement, influence & value

✓ Sport represented by, and involving women produces intangible association value –e.g. female athletes are seen as inspiration, considered role models & are positive advocates of healthy body image

✓ Organisations that have at least 30% of women’s representation are more successful

SAILING PARTICIPATION?▪ Nationally 136, 000 people indicated

they sailed at least once / year in 2018 (0.7% of the population).

▪ 17% of these were women

▪ Majority of adults who sail are male & aged 45 and above

▪ Less than half of those who sail did so through a club or association

▪ In Qld specifically, females 15-17 are most likely to play their sport/ physical activity through an organisation/ venue (39%)

AusPlay Data, 2018

MOTIVATORS TO PARTICIPATION IN SPORT BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION IN SPORT

Source: Accenture, 2017

WHAT KEEPS WOMEN OUT OF SPORT?Source: Riot, 2015

WOMEN & GIRLS ARE AS ACTIVE AS MEN & BOYSBut the activities they do are:

o Less intense

o Shorter in duration

o Less club/ organized sport

CREATING CHANGE▪ Habituate:

▪ Normalise women in sailing. Profile, promote it, put it in front of people again and again.

▪ Find your Channels:

▪ If women are not on your website, then it’s not the place to promote to them

▪ Leverage Cross Sport Support:

▪ Change attitudes with others through the use of joined-up thinking. Women’s sport is on the rise – get people to pay attention to it. E.g. Netballers promoting tennis; #ShowUp …

Work together – in Sailing and across

sport / cross pollinate

Talk to women, where

women are

Normalisewomen in the sport

BEYOND 30%▪ Historically low numbers of women in leadership positions in sport (local, national

and international)

▪ Some sports have reached 30% board gender diversity (on average) BUT there remains a lack of creation of sustainable pipelines for female leadership talent within sport

▪ Mentoring and networks/ job shadowing/ greater access to formal and informal development opportunities

▪ Show more than the stereotype – “He’s great and a good spokesperson but he reinforces all the stereotypes – ex-athlete, alpha male … and he’s the one banging the drum about getting under-represented groups into [our sport]”.

SHESAILS AIMS TO:

• Promote and celebrate female participation in the sport of sailing

• Unify all female participation activities under one SheSails brand

• Provide clubs with visual materials and case studies to help grow female participation in recreational and competitive sailing

• Provide new and existing female sailors with the opportunity to enjoy activities at their local sailing club with like-minded people

• Develop an online platform to feature female-focused events and programs across the country

KEY REFERENCES

▪ AusPlay Focus (2017). Women and girls participation. Australian Government.

▪ Dinsdale, S., White, K., de Vries, A., & Mendelsohn, J. (2017). Women in sport: An Accenture point of view on the state of play in Australia. Available from: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/~/media/PDF-46/Accenture-Wins-Women-In-Sport-The-State-Of-Play-In-Australia.pdf

▪ Nielsen Sport. (2019). Girl power: Measuring the rise of women’s sport in Australia. Available from: https://www.nielsen.com/apac/en/insights/article/2019/girl-power-measuring-the-rise-of-women-s-sport-in-australia/

▪ Riot, C. (2015). Female participation in sport and active recreation: Exploring opportunities to enhance the well-being of women with young children. ASPETAR Sports Medicine Journal,4 (1), pp. 174-178.

▪ Repucom (2015). Women and sport 2015.