Photo Credit: Flying Cloud via flickr
When the Matildas eliminated football powerhouse Brazil to make the World Cup quarter-finals in June, they put women’s sport back in the spotlight. The win sparked national debate on female talent, interest, coverage and pay.
Over the weekend four more sports demanded Australia’s attention – netball, AFL, basketball and cricket.
Diamonds World Cup victory
The national netball team became world champions defeating arch rival New Zealand in a nail-biting final in Sydney on Sunday. The 58-55 win is Australia’s 11th world title and follows the Diamonds’ Commonwealth Games gold last year, also against New Zealand.
Origin Diamonds on Twitter: “What a feeling #WorldChampions pic.twitter.com/CM5CFR5qG4 / Twitter”
What a feeling #WorldChampions pic.twitter.com/CM5CFR5qG4
The coverage:
Network Ten and Foxsports
The interest:
- A world record netball crowd of 16,752 supporters
- Television audiences peaked at 531,000 viewers nationally
- The hashtags #netballworldcup and #aussiediamonds were trending across Australia
The message:
“Hopefully it will mean every young girl puts on a pair of netball shoes one day,” netball player Caitlin Bassett told the West Australian.
Women’s AFL
Melbourne defeated the Western Bulldogs 40-36 in this year’s second women’s exhibition match at Etihad Stadium. The match follows the AFL’s push to launch a Women’s League by 2017. Melbourne’s four-point victory over the Bulldogs was the closest in the exhibition game’s three-year history.
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The coverage:
Seven Network in a historic first
The interest:
- 7,500 fans attended
- 300,000 tuned in nationally
- A Melbourne television audience of 175,000 outdid the 114,000 who tuned into Adelaide versus Essendon the previous day
- The Melbourne audience also came close to the 193,000 who tuned into the men’s equivalent that followed
- The hashtag #aflwomensgame was trending on twitter
The message:
In a post-match interview, MVP Daisy Pearce told Seven she hoped the match would encourage young girls to pursue the sport.
Opals qualify for Rio
The Australian Opals secured their spot in the Rio Olympics after defeating New Zealand 61-41 in game one of the series and 80-63 in game two. The first qualifier was held at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday, while the second took place in Tauranga, New Zealand, on Monday.
AUS Olympic Team on Twitter: “Aussie #Opals get the win and a ticket to #Rio2016: http://t.co/ZS0SD0gZpR #GoAUS #ComeWithUs pic.twitter.com/Y1Y5g8RgC0 / Twitter”
Aussie #Opals get the win and a ticket to #Rio2016: http://t.co/ZS0SD0gZpR #GoAUS #ComeWithUs pic.twitter.com/Y1Y5g8RgC0
The coverage:
Nine’s digital channel GEM
The interest:
- 11,400 supporters attended game one
- 82,000 tuned in at home
The message:
The Women’s National Basketball League hopes the success of the Opals will help it find a broadcaster after ABC cut its television coverage last year.
Women’s Ashes
National women’s team the Southern Stars defeated England by 161 runs in a Canterbury Test match to close in on Ashes victory. Australia extended the series lead to six, which means England now needs to win all three Twenty20 matches to draw level and retain the Ashes. The series will resume on August 26.
Women’s Ashes highlights – Kia Test, Day 2
Find out more at ecb.co.ukWatch the best of the action from the day 2 at Canterbury where England were bowled out for 168 to hand Australia a healthy first i…
The coverage:
- Live coverage at cricket.com.au
- ABC Grandstand
The interest:
Anna Lanning, Victorian Spirit cricketer and sister of Southern Stars captain Meg, told City Journal the public was interested in women’s sport but just didn’t know where to find it.
“Success helps to a point … in cricket if the men are doing badly that’s when they only focus on the women, which is shocking,” Lanning said.
The message:
Lanning said, more than anything, female athletes wanted equality.
“Little steps to start with I guess,” she said. “We [the Women’s National Cricket League] play games before the men’s big bash so even just writing on the tickets that we are playing beforehand would be a massive help.”
What does it mean for university students?
RMIT sport officer Jack Arnold said the exposure of women’s sport directly benefitted the university’s sporting clubs.
“The success of events and matches like the recent AFL women’s matches between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs and Netball World Cup, which were televised, will only help to increase the levels of female participation in clubs and other programs at RMIT,” he said.
