My goal this year is simple. I am going to a bum on a seat, watching women’s sport. While we may not be hosting any World Cups this year, there is still plenty of events for you love on. But before we begin all that hype, I wanted to give you my list of “Ins and Outs” for 2024.
INS
Entertainment over inspiration
2024 is the end of the ‘worthy’ trope in women’s sports please and thank you. I know it’s cute to see little kids watching women achieve with eyes full of wonder but inspiration can’t be the only motivation to watch women’s sports. It’s also just plain ol’ fun.
The best moments in sports for me over the last year were down to the pure entertainment value of it all. The drama of an upset, the joy of a new code, the excitement of a breakthrough player. We can and should engage with women’s sport with less reverence and more revelry.Upfront investment
In order to realise the entertainment value, let’s pay our players, extend our leagues and put the money in upfront. As Megan Rapinoe says women athletes are paid for their past performance whereas men are paid for their potential.
We need to fully realise our own and to do that we must fund accordingly.Wrap around content
Highlights and scoresheets aren’t enough. I want a full suite of content to engage with as a fan. This doesn’t need to be expensive. It just needs to be real. It needs to help paint the fuller picture and allow us to connect with those that are playing the sports we love.
For my part, I have started a podcast. Teaming up with WOMENZSPORT, I’ll be interviewing a different woman each week about her chosen code and the legend that she is. Episodes drop each Monday and I’ve already got two in the bank for your road trip.
Multiple merch options
The graphic at the top of this email today is a silly little thing I whipped up for myself and will probably put on a t-shirt. But PLEASE let this be the year where I don’t just have replica playing strips as my only option for official merchandise.
I had the briefest glimmer of hope at last year’s opening weekend of WXV. Where I was able to buy a Black Ferns beanie at the stadium. More of this please, in more inclusive sizes and gender cuts.Supporting your hometown heroes
The world isn’t going to be coming to us this year so we need to go out to the world. By that I mean we have to find our local teams and athletes and give them all the love in our domestic competitions BEFORE they head off to represent us on the world stage. Let the sound of your cheers be ringing in their ears as they catch their flight to greatness.
OUTS
Copy and pasting from men’s codes
Depressingly, the first major announcement in women’s rugby this year is exactly that with news that the British & Irish Lions will be touring a women’s team here in New Zealand in 2027.
This initiative does nothing to develop the game as a whole, instead it will just entrench playing opportunities for already established women’s rugby nations. I’m going to be real with you, the net positive here is not for the women’s game but for the Lions franchise. It’s about making them look inclusive and therefore more attractive to sponsors.
Will I go to the games in 2027? Yes. Do I still hold greater hopes for WXV and it’s impact? Also yes. If I was going to see a tour, I would rather it be a nationwide trip of the Manusina Samoa. Just like their uncles did in the 1970s and 1990s.Launching new franchises without women’s teams
Yes I’m still mad about that stupid Auckland football team. I’m just so tired that the same stale arguments are trotted out in defence, despite a round debunking over the last few years.
So no more. Let 2023 be the last time we let a franchise launch with only the men’s game in mind.Hybrid contracts
Part time wages equals part time poverty. Sport is one of the few occupations where you’re actually never off.
How many other jobs require you to practice your occupation in your own time in order to stay sharp? To constantly engage with folks on your social media or on the street? How many other roles require you to be accountable for what you eat, how you sleep and how you unwind after a tough day at the office?
We ask a lot of our athletes so it shouldn’t be unreasonable to ask that they are paid a liveable wage.Double-headers
I don’t want to watch the last 20 minutes of a match I’m excited about between the ‘excuse mes’ of the folks arriving for the next game. If we are adamant that economies of scale are required to deliver a dignified standard of match day production and broadcast then let’s switch things up.
Rather than offering these matches like the Briscoes Lady’s 2 for 1 deal, let’s sell the event twice. One set of punters for game one, one set of punters for game two, setting up once and clipping the ticket twice.They could even set aside a block for those that are keen on attending both and sell that at a discounted rate. Just stop assuming that block is a whole stadium, it’s not. Different teams attract difference crowds and in 2024 let’s stop being surprised about that.
Head coaches with no prior experience coaching women
US Football’s new head coach, Emma Hayes, did a lot of badass things when she was at Chelsea. One of my favourites was require all coaches coming into their women’s team environment to undergo unconscious bias training. They had to unpack their reckons about coaching women before they were allowed on the pitch. This is very cool and good and can we please also make administrators, broadcasters and the blokes in the comment section do the same?
Or at the very least, we could stop giving folks the grace of learning on the job and appoint those with experience relevant to the position they are taking up. IMAGINE.
Now, I’m going to go pretend I’m still on holiday and go for a dip in the river. Happy New Year my friends!
With you,
Alice