Joanne O’Riordan: If one can sit at the table and eat, then there’s room for more

You’d have to really love your job as a woman working in sport sometimes, but gradually, year by year and International Women’s Day after International Women’s Day, I notice attitudes are shifting.

The first question I’d usually get when talking about work is how much I like sport. Spoiler alert - I really like sports to be involved in sports. Now, I’ve noticed people want to ask about a whole other topic – the Meath Ladies Football Team. As a Cork woman, it’s refreshing with a lovely sour taste that is masked by my sheer delight to just talk sports.

But, we need to look at the challenges posed to women who want to get involved in sport. In a recent survey by The Athletic, out of the 20 Premier League teams, 17 have women on their staff, but each club averages about one woman in the club (Tottenham Hotspur lead the way with 5, followed by Manchester City and Liverpool with 4).

Throughout the survey, women responded anonymously about their careers and what’s it like to be a woman in sport. Many face casual sexism and don’t report it as it’s not blatant enough and feel it’s not worthy of an investigation. Additionally, the male culture within dressing rooms makes it hard for women to feel part of the squad. Former Manchester City photographer Sharon Latham infamously was part of the team during her tenure, getting pranked by Mario Balotelli, dealing with Micah Richards and just being part of the team.

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But football, across all leagues in England, failed to meet their targets in terms of diverse hiring. Only 19.8 per cent of senior recruits and 25.5 per cent of new employees in operations departments were women, according to the 2020-21 Football Leadership Diversity Code.

It’s the same situation in Ireland. Although Sport Ireland has set a target of all NGBs having 40 per cent gender representation on their boards by the end of 2023, it is mind-blowing what sports can realistically hit the target.

The IABA, whose main role models are women, have no women on boards in their organisation. The GAA, looking to get the ball rolling with an amalgamation with the Camogie Association and LGFA, come in at 20 per cent. The IRFU, who impressively apologised to the women’s team for their failings, has 13 per cent representation on their boards, while the FAI comes in at 17 per cent.

So, what do we need to do?

We need to look at other sporting bodies and see what they’re doing, for starters. According to the Gender and Racial Report card conducted annually by Tides, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the NBA saw some notable improvements in gender hiring categories this year. There was a significant increase in the percentage of women in team senior management positions from 33.0 per last year to 37.9 per cent this year. Women held 23.5 per cent of referee roles, an increase of 1.1 per cent from the 2019-2020 season. By comparison, women only represented 1.6 per cent of all NBA referees in 2017-18. Women in NBA team vice president roles reached 27.8 per cent, the highest percentage amongst the NFL, MLS and MLB.

Some may cite how younger executives or general managers see the need to bring on women from what women bring to the table. Add to that constant dialogues between women in power and those trying to get up the ladder, plus fellowship programs and diverse hiring practices within the organisation. Another thing is looking to the WNBA regarding how the NBA can hire more women.

So, while some organisations drag their feet and are happy to do things the traditional way, why not mention some of the best women in sport and ask people, not just girls and women, to look and aspire to replicate what they do?

From Tracey Kennedy climbing through the ranks of Cork GAA and becoming the first Cork female chairperson to Joanne Cantwell, Gráinne McElwain and those in TG4 who continue to push women’s sports unapologetically. From Michelle O’ Neill to Joy Neville, shattering the ceiling for women and girls wanting to be officials in the game, to Lisa Fallon and every female coach in the men’s game, who deal with casual sexism and misogyny every single day. We love to applaud the outliers who have leapt over hurdles and broke down every barrier possible, but it’s time to remove all these barriers.

It’s time to understand that if one can sit at the table and eat, then there’s room for more. Instead of hiring women, investing in women and paying women continuing to be a slogan or a mantra, let’s put some real action into it.

At the end of the day, if the aim of these assigned days, months or slogans isn’t to become redundant because women in roles become the norm, what was it all for?