It reached new heights last year, which featured a multitude of monumental moments for women’s sport in New Zealand.
The Black Ferns won the World Cup on home soil, the White Ferns hosted a World Cup, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott created Winter Olympics history, Ellesse Andrews cycled her way into the Commonwealth Games winning ranks, Lydia Ko sat at the top of the golfing world, new leagues in rugby (Aupiki) and basketball (Tauihi) were launched, and to top it off, New Zealand hosted the massive IWG World Conference on Women and Sport.
It has certainly come a long way since women were barred from competing at the inaugural Olympics, as International Olympic Committee founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin said involving women would be ‘‘impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and indecent’’.
Oh, how wrong he was.
Some of this country’s top moments have come from our women — Yvette Williams, the Evers-Swindell twins, Sarah Ulmer, Valerie Adams and our greatest Olympian, Lisa Carrington.
And there is still so much more to come, including hosting the Fifa Women’s World Cup this year.
But there is no escaping there is also a long way to go.
Tomorrow the Otago Daily Times starts a new multi-part series on the revolution in women’s sport.
Aiming to examine the transformation of women’s sport, the series will delve into the history, key issues, media coverage, progress made and what is yet to come in the future from the grassroots to the elite level.
Because while it is important to celebrate and champion the women’s game, it is just as important to challenge it, see where it can improve, hear from those who know it best in the South and make sure it has a better future.
There is no better time than now to pave better pathways — whether it be playing, coaching, refereeing, administration, media, or in the boardroom for women’s sport.
We would love to hear your feedback. Where do you think women’s sport has made the greatest improvements? What areas are still under-represented? What do you want to see for the future of women’s sport?
The revolution is here.
