By Ellen Johnston
Personal trainer and fitness instructor Ellen Johnston shared her thoughts and personal experiences with gender inequality in sport with Her Sport in the following essay:
Gender inequality isn’t a new issue, it's always been there, both in professional and amateur sport settings. In recent years female participation in sports has increased and female sports are now widely accepted across the globe today but despite these changes, the playing field still isn’t quite level.
Women don’t receive the same support and opportunities as men when it comes to sports. Young female athletes notice these inequalities and they’re left asking themselves "Why am I not given the same respect as a boy?" This trail of thought can leave them feeling discouraged and may result in them losing the love of sports.
ome will argue that there’s gender equality in sports but it’s clear from my experience that gender inequality is still a predominant issue in sports and serves as a barrier to female participation.
A prime example that sticks out in my mind is when I played in an Ulster Final for gaelic football with my secondary school when I was in 2nd year. In fairness, the school paid to bring supporters to the match but it’s what happened after the final that the inequalities began to show. We lost the final, but a year or two ago, a boys' team from our school were in the same position and they also lost, but despite the result of the final, they still received new gear as a reward as such. Meanwhile, what did we receive? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
There’s also a case with how the Ladies county team are treated in comparison to the men's team. After the men finish training, there’s hot food waiting for them. What do the ladies get? Jaffa cakes.
Let’s look at the ticket prices for the All Ireland Finals, both male and female finals. To attend the GAA All Ireland Football final, a ticket is €100 - across the board, adults and children. The ticket prices for the female finals are quite the opposite, there’s 3 prices - adult €25, student/OAP €10 and U-18s €5. A ticket allows you to watch 3 finals - junior, intermediate and senior, not like the male final where it’s just a single game.
When it comes to finals, the men always receive more media coverage than the females. Females don’t receive the same level of support as men do, the stands of Croke Park do be packed for the GAA All-Ireland Football Finals but there aren't the same crowds there for the LGFA finals.
Is it any wonder female athletes feel undervalued? They do the same sport but their efforts aren’t reciprocated, in terms of funding, support and opportunities.
Research carried out by the LGFA in 2016, found that girls who play sports are:
- 80% more likely to have positive mental well-being
- 70% more likely to feel happy
- 63% less likely to feel depressed
- 61% say that they have made life-long friends through sport
- Women who play sport believe that they’re 70% more likely to reach their full potential in life
While those statistics all seem quite positive, their research also revealed something startling:
- By age 13, 1 in 2 young women will drop out of sport
- Girls are 3 times more likely to drop out of sport than boys
- 7 out of 10 believe they’re more likely to drop out of sport due to lack of encouragement
Participating in regular physical activity can benefit girls in many ways, for example:
- Fewer chronic illnesses
- Less likely to dropout of school
- Develop better social skills
- Lower rates of mental illness
- Improved cognitive function, better able to retain information and concentrate for longer periods
While we know exercise is good for us, there’s still a stark gap between the males and females in sports participation - only 25% of females participate in sports compared to 43% of men.
While 7 out of 10 girls drop out of sports due to lack of encouragement, there are many organisations doing amazing work to give women in sports the support and recognition they deserve, some organisations include:
- The LGFA
- Sport Ireland
- Her Sport
- The Women’s Football Association of Ireland
- The Camogie Association
- Athletics Ireland
- The IRFU
Lidl launched a campaign in collaboration with the LGFA called ‘Serious Support’ back in 2016. The aim of the campaign is to give women in sports the support and recognition they deserve. They want to encourage all women to get involved and stay involved in sports. Since 2016, the Serious Support campaign has seen Lidl invest €5 million into the LGFA. As well as sponsoring gear to hundreds of clubs and schools throughout the country.
Since the launch of the campaign there has been a 73% increase in underage playing numbers and we have seen a shift in attitudes towards the game with support rising to an all-time high and multiple attendance records broken.
While we have come a long way in terms of gender equality in sports, a significant gap still exists between female athletes and their male counterparts at all levels of sports.
Fortunately we have many successful Irish female athletes who are evidence that you can achieve sporting success as a female. They include, but aren’t limited to, Stephanie Roche, Ellen Keane, Cora Staunton, Geraldine McLaughlin, Katie Taylor, Amber Barrett, Anna Geary, Kellie Harrington, Vicki Wall.
It is my hope that over the coming years, this gap will continue to reduce and that there’ll be a level playing field for the up and coming sportswomen of the future. In order to do that, we need to come together to make the change.
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By Ellen Johnston
