Women in sport: Searching for a greater leadership role

by Julia Keith

A serious under-representation of women in sporting organisations’ boards, committees and administrative positions has led Senator Rod Kemp, Federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, to announce a National Women’s Leadership Program.

The new initiative -- to prepare women for board and senior administrative level positions -- is one of a number of ideas proposed during the ‘Sport Needs More Women’ forum’ organised by the Australian Sports Commission in Sydney in May.

The forum , attended by about 300 delegates representing national and state sporting organisations and industry groups , was held to re-energise the sports industry’s commitment to find new ways to increase women’s involvement.

In the lead-up to the forum, the ASC found during an audit of national sporting organisations, academies and institutes, that the number of women in senior positions had not changed since 5 years ago.

ASC Chief Executive Officer Mark Peters told the forum that there were many benefits to be made by encouraging more women into the sports industry. “Women are making significant gains in their representation in most other industries and it would be folly if sport failed to take advantage of the enormous contribution women can make. Men have a key role to play here. With only a few exceptions, they occupy most executive positions in sport and can therefore influence women's greater involvement.”

The viability and sustainability of sport, he said, would depend on both sexes working together for the greater inclusion of women in all aspects of sport, including officiating, coaching, participation, committee positions and administration roles.

According to the Office for the Status of Women, the number of women in board positions generally has doubled in the past five years. More than 13 per cent of board positions are now held by women - up from 4 per cent in 1995 – and 32.2 per cent of women now hold positions on Commonwealth boards.

In comparison,Sports Medicine Australia rates very well as an egalitarian organisation. The national female board representation is 50% female. The proportion of women on State boards is 35.5%, among full members 23%and among sports trainers 46%.

However, it has taken SMA 40 years to elect its first female President, Dr Anita Green -- though the International Olympic Committee took 84 years to elect its first female members, in September 1981. Despite this, Dr Green, who was elected National President in 2002, believes there are no major barriers in sports medicine for women. “Because we have the quality of training and postgraduate education is so high, we have the respect and confidence that we don’t differentiate between the genders. We are judged by our abilities.”

She suspects however that there could be barriers for female sports medicine professionals who want to work with elite teams. “In football codes which have the funds to employ sports medicine professionals,the majority of doctors are male.” She suggests that a possible reason for this is because that there are more male sports physicians than female, though apparently this is changing. Interestingly, she points out that males actively choose to see female GPs – but when it comes to visiting a specialist they prefer to see their male counterparts.

In contrast, AIS Physiotherapist Craig Purdam and veteran of five Olympic Games has seen a dominance of women in his profession. "When I was a student the ratio of men to women was 1 to 8. Today it is close to 50:50, “ Purdam said. He suggests that qualifying for positions on medical teams has more to do with the sacrifice the sports medicine professional is willing to make rather than any gender preferences.

“An enormous commitment is required and sacrifices to be made, especially to support teams qualifying to get to the Olympics. You can be travelling 6 to 10 weeks a year."

Families of physiotherapists also endure many sacrifices while they strive to reach their professional goals.

Physiotherapist Jill Cook certainly has the credentials and experience to vouch for this.

She emphasises the need for supportive environments when families are involved. “Problems don’t exist with the sport itself but rather with the social structure that sees women being the primary child carer. You just can’t drop things and travel the world [with teams] if you have kids. It is a choice, and most women want to be involved in their child’s upbringing. It is a decision that you have to make.”

She has managed to juggle both but admits it was not easy. “I have chosen to try and do both, but it’s been hard. There have been significant compromises.” Jill Cook took her 5-month old son with her to the Women’s World Cup Basketball Championships in Brazil more than 13 years ago and also made regular interstate trips for National League ( men’s and women’s games ) and for national team championships.

Though she says its difficult to give 100% when looking after a child and catering to the needs of a team, she refutes any suggestion that barriers stand in the way for women who want to achieve in sports medicine. “Barriers are not there if you want it. Barriers are what you put around yourself.”

It is encouraging to note that female medical staff representation at the Olympic Games has increased from 1% in 1988 to 34% in 2000.

Sports psychologist Gayelene Clews, while having experienced working with an Olympic team, said her six years with a Rugby League team proved the most challenging.

“Being a female in a male dominated environment – you just don’t fit in. You’re never going to be one of the boys…. and there are people who just don’t want you there,” she said. But trying to become ‘one of the boys‘ is definitely not the answer. “You cannot be a female and try to be one of the boys; you need to be on the fringe to have their trust.”

Clews managed six 6 years with the rugby league team and believes it was because the athletes respected her own background in elite sport. “Having been an elite athlete myself was a significant foot in the door. They had respect for me because I had been there, done that.”

There is no doubt that over the years sports medicine has played a significant role in encouraging female involvement in sport.

Ironically, history also highlights instances where the medical profession was more of a hindrance than a help. Warnings , for example , were issued in the 1930s by medical ‘experts’ suggesting that women were too weak and fragile to exercise and that damage might occur to reproductive systems and disturb menstrual cycles.

Such misinformation was driven just as much from the culture of the time as it was the lack of real research. The turning point was probably in 1980, when Olympic organisers refused to introduce the women’s marathon claiming that women’s health would be damaged by long-distance running. In response, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) announced that "there exists no conclusive scientific or medical evidence that long-distance running is contraindicated for the healthy, trained female athlete. The ACSM recommends that females be allowed to compete at the national and international level in the same distances in which their male counterparts compete.” Despite this, it took another four years until women were allowed to compete in the Olympic marathon.

In further support of the role of women in sport , SMA formed a subcommittee -- Medicine and Science for Women In Sport (MSWIS) -- in 1990. It comprises female sports physicians, exercise scientists, dieticians, educators and other professionals and its objective is mainly to promote research for and about women in sport and to provide professional role models, networking opportunities in medicine and science and educational material and opportunities.

To date, practical resources have been produced to assist coaches and sporting organisations to cater more effectively for women in sport, including fact sheets on exercise and pregnancy, nutrition and the sportswoman, body image, resistance training, premenstrual syndrome and osteoporosis. The resources are all downloadable or available for purchase from www.sma.org.au or by contacting the National Branch of SMA.

In addition, the ASC continues to work on the National Industry Framework on Women and Sport to provide sporting organisations with information and benchmarking criteria to help increase the involvement of women in all aspects of sport.

Julia Keith is Executive Officer of the ACT Branch of SMA