In September, GIS announced our new Insight Series that sets out to explore the ever-evolving global sports industry, with panels led by experts in their respective fields. Hosted by Lynsey Hooper, our first session was held on the 23rd of October, where Misha Sher and Gen Dohrmann delved into the world of women’s sport.
Misha, Essence Mediacom’s Global Head of Sport, Entertainment and Culture, and Gen, CEO of Table Tennis Victoria and former President of Women Sport Australia, both gave fantastic insight into the growing influence of women’s sport and how it has changed over time.
One of the many talking points looked at which part of men’s and women’s sport should be handled the same, and which areas could do with a different approach.
On this, Misha believes that developing elite female athletes is something that should be done in the same way as men. “What's really important when it comes to women's sport is not to swing the other way and say, ‘this is totally different’.
“There are a lot of things that men's sports know how to do and they know how to do it well, particularly when it comes to elite athlete development- that's not rocket science”, he added.
“There's been years and years of innovation in why you have to start training at a certain age, why you have to build certain muscle memory, and technique, and coordination, and all those things. Those things are fundamental to being an elite athlete. There's just no getting around it.”
Gen then spoke about areas of sport that should be handled differently, one being the gender of the coaches. Using table tennis as an example, Gen sees a link between female participation and more female coaches.
“When you've got a young girl coming into the sport and wanting to have that first experience, I think there's something innate in the connection and the sense of belonging that you get with a female in the position of power as opposed to a male.
“We really want to encourage more female coaches because that will then have a bit of a groundswell in having more females come into the sport.”
Lynsey then asked both Misha and Gen about the future of the game for girls who aspire to make it as athletes.
“If you give young girls the same types of opportunities that you do to boys,” Misha said, “You can expect to have similar types of outcomes in terms of the quality.”
He also added that there is an assumption that girls should just play sport for fun, rather than to succeed. He expanded by saying that rather than simply ‘showing up’, girls should have the ability to have fun by being good at their sport, and says that, “I know if they're given the opportunity to be good, they're going to have a lot of fun, and that will translate into other aspects of their lives.”
This can be done by having these girls compete with the best of their age groups, regardless of gender. For instance, Misha’s daughter currently plays at a Premier League academy who put both girls and boys together.
Gen also felt the same, saying, “My daughter is growing up in a world where you see females at the elite competition of Australian football, of rugby, of cricket, of soccer. It's incredible that what she will grow up knowing is so different to what I saw as a young female.”
Towards the end of the webinar, we opened up the floor to some of our listeners who had the chance to ask questions of their own. One asked Lynsey and Gen about challenges they’d faced as women in their journey to succeeding in their careers in sport.
With Gen having earlier spoken about media coverage of women’s sport being behind where it should be, Lynsey touched upon the challenges she’d faced earlier in her broadcasting career.
“I came into broadcasting from being a radio presenter to begin”, Lynsey recalled. “It was all about your voice, and your delivery, and what you said, and the stark reality for me when I started getting TV jobs in sport was that I was no longer being judged on what I was saying- it was more about what I looked like.”
To round off the question, Lynsey offered a piece of advice to any upcoming women looking to work in sport. “It's a completely different environment, so I think things have changed, but I think always hold on to the essence of what you've got to give, and don't try and ever be something that you're not.”
Lynsey then took the chance to highlight some of our upcoming Insight Series sessions, of which there are plenty! Coming up on the 28th of November, we will be joined by the CEO of GROW sports agency, Thomas Freismith, for our Sports Entrepreneurship Panel. December then sees two sessions including a look at Cricket’s Evolving Landscape and Tech Innovation in Sport, alongside more action in the new year.
If you’d like to attend one of our Insight Series events, or any of the other webinars we have coming soon, click here to find out more.
Article by Zak Anani
