There were some big announcements in women’s sport this week. First up, Gemma Lewis and Natalie Lawrence were announced as head and assistant coaches of the Wellington Phoenix’s women’s team, just the second club after Canberra United to have women in both the head coach and assistant positions. NZ Football also announced the team that will be taking on Olympic gold medal champions Canada on the 24th (8am) and 27th (12.30pm) October. Drawing only on players in U.S. an Europe, the team includes 6 uncapped players. I’m looking forward to some exciting women’s football in the coming weeks!
Sport NZ announced this week that media coverage of women’s sport in the first six months of 2021, has increased two points to 17%. The announcement was made on the third anniversary of the government’s announcement of the Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation strategy. It comes on the eve of the women’s cricket and rugby world cups in March and October 2022 respectively, so let’s hope that number continues to grow exponentially to reach equity for those pinnacle events!
An area I’m particularly passionate about is inclusion, not just in terms of gender but for everyone. In the spirit of inclusion, I highly recommend the video and story on Te Ao with Moana on the experiences of referees in Aotearoa. Spoiler alert, the article is called ‘From breakdowns to death threats — the reality of referee abuse from the sidelines’. It’s an open and honest glimpse into what our referees experience, both men and women.
This week in 2018 the review into Cycling NZ was released, confirming a toxic culture. In 2019, Sport Manawatū hosted their first week dedicated to supporting girls and women in sport, and in 2020 the RFU cleared trans women to keep playing domestic rugby in England.
Check out all the media headlines in women’s sport for the week of 15th October right here.
Alida Shanks 