Tag: sport

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The Matildas’ Effect and The Rise of Women’s Sport in Australia

Growing up in a sport-loving household, sport was always on our TV. Regardless of the season or time of year, we were always consuming sport-related media. I remember being aware that most of the sport we watched was focused on male athletes or men’s sporting teams, but I didn’t fully realise the gender inequality of the Australian sports media landscape until years later. Women in sport have been underrepresented in Australian media for decades. Despite the international success of Australian women’s sporting teams and female athletes, media coverage of sport has aimed its focus solely in the direction of male athletes and men’s sports teams. Studies have consistently shown that in Australia, female athletes and women’s sports have had minimal media coverage and recognition compared to male athletes and men’s sports (Litchfield, 2015).

With this in mind, what has unfolded over the past month for women’s sport in Australia becomes even more extraordinary. Australia has been captivated by the nation’s women’s football team, the Commonwealth Bank Matildas, and their rise through the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In a few short weeks, the Matildas were able to capture the attention (and hearts) of the nation as they moved through the competition with inspiring individual and team accomplishments. Such accomplishments included winning early games despite the absence—due to injury—of their team captain, Sam Kerr. The Matildas ended up winning their way through to a semi-final by penalty shoot-out. This marked the best result (to date) by an Australian women’s or men’s team at a World Cup. Beyond the on-field feats, the more astounding story seemed to be unfolding off-field. As the nation got behind this (women’s) sporting team, TV records were shattered, games were sold out, and stadiums were overflowing with supporters around the country. As well as this, the Matildas have demonstrated the marketability of women’s sport; the Matildas sold more jerseys before the Women’s World Cup even began than the Socceroos did during and since the Men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. 

Historically, women’s sport in Australia has received far from equal representation in the media, with men’s sport spread across newspapers and permanently featured in primetime TV slots. However, this has been flipped on its head in the past month—the Matildas have been smashing TV ratings and records during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, surpassing both the AFL Grand Final and State of Origin. The Matildas’ Women’s World Cup semi-final match against England made history by becoming the most-watched TV program since the current audience measurement system ‘OzTAM’ launched in 2001. The Matildas’ clash with England attracted a national average audience of 7.13 million viewers, with Seven West Media announcing that the Matildas’ semi-final match had smashed the record for the most streamed event ever in Australia. 

The Matildas may have finished the tournament without a medal—but what they have accomplished in the past month for women’s sport in Australia is greater than could have ever been expected. The amount of support coming from all across the nation is not something that could have been predicted prior to the tournament commencing. Regardless of gender or age, people were supporting the ‘Tillies’ and actively embracing women’s sport—something not seen in Australia to this degree ever before. Again and again, journalists and media personalities covering the FIFA Women’s World Cup described what was unfolding surrounding the Matildas as ‘generational’; what was happening was going to be transformative and bring about ‘generational change’ for women’s sport in Australia. Children over the last month have seen women’s sport all over the TV. They’ve heard people discussing the Matildas: at home and in school; on public transport; in shops. Conversations surrounding women in sport are going to be more common for them now, which in itself is evidence of a generational change currently underway—a wider cultural change miles away from the misogynistic and sexist attitudes that were, for a long time, the norm for female athletes in Australia.

Now that the FIFA Women’s World Cup has drawn to a close, what do we need to do?

We need to continue championing women’s sport; watching it, supporting it, talking about it. With the Women’s A-League and AFLW competitions starting up in the coming months, we need to take this momentum set in motion by the Matildas and apply it to all women’s sport such as our domestic leagues including the Women’s A-League, AFLW, NRLW, WBBL, and Suncorp Super Netball. Since the completion of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the AFLW have announced plans to increase prize money so that it is equal to the men’s competition. This announcement was met with criticism from some, claiming that the AFLW were only making the announcement now to capitalise off the momentum created by the Matildas. Are the AFL (and other sporting organisations) piggybacking off the success of the Matildas? Probably. Does it matter? Not at all—this is what change looks like. 

When it comes to women’s sport, it doesn’t have to be a competition between organisations. There are many examples of women’s sporting teams and female athletes supporting each other for the betterment and growth of women’s sport in Australia as a whole. One such example is that of the Matildas during the FIFA Women’s World Cup; they took the time to put out a video message on their social media for the Australian Diamonds Netball team, wishing them luck before their own World Cup final. Organisations that decide to better fund their women’s sporting programs after witnessing the success of the Matildas should not be torn down for choosing now as the time to do it—ultimately, it is going to lead to better opportunities and remuneration for female athletes as a whole. 

Female athletes have spoken out, calling for more government funding into women’s sport, to improve facilities and help grow participation. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded in the days following the completion of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, announcing the allocation of $200 million in funding for women’s sport in Australia. “The Women’s World Cup has changed sport in Australia forever and it’s also helped to change the country forever,” Albanese said. “This program that we’re announcing today will ensure that not only can young girls growing up see it, they can be it.” With greater visibility and increased exposure to women’s sport, continued growth will follow, improving future opportunities for female athletes.

It’s clear to see that, following the recent success of the Matildas, we are in such an exciting time for women’s sport in Australia. The Matildas have shown that it is not the same country it was in the past—the nation is ready to get behind women’s sport and support female athletes in the same way that they have been supporting men. It’s important that we don’t let the past month and what the Matildas have achieved be the end of this inspirational chapter. Instead, it should act as a starting point for what is to come. 

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The Event That Stops The Globe, For Two Weeks  

With the commencement of the 28th Olympic Games in Tokyo, the world tunes in to watch athletes from over 206 countries compete to win gold and see their country’s flag fly over the Olympic podium. For 16 days, our lives are consumed with 24/7 coverage of impressive athletic feats, an opportunity to share in the glory of Olympians and feel as if we played a role in their success.  

Every four years (global pandemic permitting), we suddenly become invested in the success of Australia in everything from swimming to skateboarding, cheering on our home-grown athletes as they compete to secure the title of the world’s best. With 11,000 athletes from every corner of the globe dedicating all of their time towards achieving the Olympic dream, the Olympics have become the perfect distraction from the ever-changing Covid-19 situation, as we can turn our attention to living vicariously through the success of our athletes. To hear the national anthem of their country play after a win is enough to bring a tear to the eye of any athlete, or highly immersed spectator, in what is considered one of the greatest sporting honours. 

For those that are unfamiliar with this 125 year-old event, athletes compete to see who can go fast, jump high or throw far, hoping to win one of three medals and stand on a podium. 472 Australian athletes will compete across 33 events in Tokyo, representing the green and gold under team names that are unmistakably Australian. The Hockeyroos, Socceroos and Olyroos all have a certain ring to them, but surely a team named after the merciless magpie would be enough to scare off competitors? 

In addition to the standard Olympic sports that spectators are familiar with, this year has seen Tokyo add skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing to the events, in an effort to entice the next generation of athletes watching at home. Since 1896, the Olympics have become a platform to launch winners into a world of sometimes short-lived fame, with many resurfacing every few years to begin another Olympic campaign and a shot at gold.   

While some of us can only dream of becoming an Olympian, for some Tasmanians this dream is a reality. With 11 Tassie athletes competing in Tokyo, Tasmania is able to remind mainland Australia of the talent our state can produce, as our top athletes represent their state with pride. Launceston born swimmer Ariarne Titmus has just become the first Australian to win gold in the women’s 400m freestyle in 49 years, since Tasmanian resident Shane Gould won at the Munich games in 1972. Defeating her rival, American Katie Ledecky, in a nail-biting finish, that came down to only 0.67 of a second. With another win in the 200m freestyle under her belt, Ariarne’s success marks a major milestone for Tasmanian sport.    

 Men’s Hockey Tasmanian players Eddie Ockenden and Josh Beltz, are aiming to continue the Kookaburras consistent success over the past 30 years, as they continue to compete over the coming days. With Josh Beltz scoring a goal against India in his Olympic debut, the Kookaburras are well positioned to win gold as the games continue.  

With Brisbane now lined up to host the games in 2032, it’s likely that the mass-media attention given towards the Olympics will only increase in Australia over the next 11 years. A respite of only 3 years until Paris hosts the next games in 2024, seems like just long enough to recover until the excitement begins again.  

Once the games conclude with the closing ceremony on August 8th, most Australians can go back to their previous lack of knowledge on the intricacies of gymnastics or table tennis. But for now, we can all continue to be couch coaches, cheering on our athletes from home. 

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A Guide to the Tour de France (By Someone Who Knows Very Little About Cycling And Generally Dislikes Team Sports)

In the last few weeks, you might have heard people mentioning the Tour de France. If you’re like me (and you have nothing better to do than sit at home on a Tuesday night with your parents who are fast approaching sixty), you’ve probably seen it at the tail end of the ABC News, or during an ad break for that show on SBS where they learn about their family history (the one where they always cry). For very similar reasons, every July since I was a small child, I’ve watched the Tour de France with my parents. 

This is how someone who knows very little about cycling and generally dislikes team sports has ended up in the position of being able to explain a sporting event to you. And I realise that you didn’t ask. But think, maybe if you know a bit about the Tour de France you can finally bond with your decrepit old man, impress a potential sporty suitor or talk your way out of a hostage situation. You never know when this is going to come in handy. So strap in. 

The first thing that you need to know is that there are men on bikes. They’re racing. For eternal glory. Oh, and the total $3 million in prize money. They race from a nice village in France, through endless nice villages in France to the Champs-Élysées in Paris. There’s one stage a day, from nice French village A to nice French village B. The race goes for twenty three days. Although they get two of those days off, and the last day they just roll into Paris. Pretty piss-poor really. 

There’s a number of different competitions going on at the same time. You’ve got the competition for the best sprinter (the green jersey), the fastest person under 25 (the white jersey) and the person who is best at climbing mountains (the spotty jersey). The Columbians will usually go pretty well at the latter, due to their topographical training advantages. Then there’s the overall race (the infamous yellow jersey), which is won by the person with the fastest overall time. If one guy seems to be riding too far out in front, and other riders just can’t catch up with him, (and you have a Dad like mine) you will always get the accusation that that rider is on drugs. The Tour has a big history of drug-taking. Like serious-drug taking. Like these guys used to do cocaine and then die of a heart attack at the top of a mountain kind of drug taking. Ah, the good old days. 

Now (most of the time), instead of using drugs, the riders will use a whole bunch of tactics to win. They have teams, with names like Jumbo-Visma, Ienos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates. It all sounds pretty impressive, but really they’re named after their sponsors, who are supermarkets, banks, software developers, car companies and a country who makes their money by exporting oil (no, Australia doesn’t have a team – I’m talking about the UAE). All the different teams have jerseys with pretty different colours, so when the camera is on them from above it looks like a packet of Skittles spilled across the road. The lead skittle will try and break away from the main group, with the help of their team mates, and get the quickest time. That’s as far as I’m going to go into the tactics, because really all you need to know is: be fast, win bike race. 

Depending on how long the stages are and how fast of a rider you are, it can take around 83 hours overall to get to the end. Now I know what you’re thinking, ‘Rachel, why don’t they just drive?’ What you need to remember is that this race is frozen in time, in 1903 when it was created. That’s one of the reasons why the race is so prestigious – its been around for a long time and was the first of its kind. Despite that, we all know the real winners are the guys in the team cars who cruise into Paris without even breaking a sweat.

Here we come to a Tour de France fact which will blow your mind. Or at least you might find it vaguely interesting. The name of the race is misleading – they actually often enter surrounding countries like Belgium, Italy, Germany and Spain. This alludes to another of the reasons why the Tour de France is viewed so much more than say the Tour Down Under. It’s much more interesting to cross the border from France into Belgium than it is to cross the border from Adelaide to New South Wales. 

If you’re going to watch the Tour de France, or pretend that you’ve watched it, there’s a few tropes of the SBS coverage that you should know about. It’s covered by old riders, and guys from the media like Mike “Tomo” Tomalaris, who’s been covering it for 25 years. That’s longer than I’ve been alive. The guy clearly really likes cycling. You’re going to get the same ad for Skoda, over and over again, because they’re the major sponsor. Their slogan ‘Skoda, simply clever’, will be etched into your brain forever. They have a cooking segment every night, where a French chef will show you how to cook something so oily or fatty that you’ll get a stomach ache just looking at it. They have a DJ and a segment where the viewers send in photos of their pets with the hashtag ‘tourdog’ and ‘tourcat’. I hate it, but in the same way I hate Nan’s salmon curry. It’s kinda gross, but it’s familiar and a laugh to make fun of. The coverage will focus on the ten-or-so Australians who are in the race, with the one who is most likely to win inevitably crashing out weeks – or sometimes days – into the race. 

That brings me to the crashes. These guys are travelling at an average of 40km/h. They’re racing in tight packs, taking corners incredibly fast and sometimes even riding over cobblestones. It often rains, snows, hails and blows a gale. And just to add to that dangerous cocktail, the spectators are notoriously stupid. They wear wigs, paint their entire bodies and run alongside the riders in nothing but their undies. So when the riders come a cropper, which they often do, they’re going to hurt themselves. There’s an incredible amount of broken collarbones, dislocated shoulders and burnt skin. On the first stage of the Tour this year, a spectator held up a sign in front of a rider, who of course plowed straight into it. When he fell, so did almost the entirety of the peloton (the main group), completely screwing most of their chances of winning and seriously injuring a couple of guys. So the crashes are bad. But they can also be the wildest part of the tour — when no one is injured. One year a guy tumbled over a bannister on the side of the road, and all the way down a hill, missing every tree. Another year a rider went straight into a spectator’s caravan. Sometimes guys end up on top of each other in a ditch. Riders have also been known to crash into cows that run onto the road. 

I’ve left the best part for last, which I would say is probably the part which sets the Tour de France apart from other sports and the main reason that I look up from my phone to occasionally give it my undivided attention. The scenery. They’ve got people with cameras up in helicopters showing those watching from home the best that France has to offer. I’ve mentioned the nice French towns, with their beautiful old buildings and cobble-stoned streets. There’s an incredible amount of churches and crumbling châteaus on the hill-tops. There’s monks who make cheese and nuns who make wine. There’s farm animals of every kind – cows, sheep, pigs, chickens. And rivers of all different shapes and sizes, sometimes with bridges over them. They even go through the Alps, which are snow-topped and have the clearest water running from them. It’s the kind of scenery that makes your heart hurt a little, because you’re stuck with the boring beautifulness of Tasmania. It’s like the European gap year for the Covid-era. A nice break in the countryside and cities of France, before going back to watching re-runs of Friends. 

So there you have it, now you know everything you need to know about watching the Tour de France without actually having to watch it. You’re welcome. I’ll leave my bank details in the comments.