Every month, the Highlights newsletter from SLPC revisits some key sports law and policy developments from around the world. Here are some updates on women and sports relevant to the Equal Hue project from the 12th edition of the newsletter.
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“Working with Female Athletes – Common Mistakes Made by Male Professionals” is a video, part of the series titled “15 hacks for Indian sports physiotherapists and strength and conditioning specialists” produced by a sports conditioning specialist and a senior sports physiotherapist. In this video, they highlight and attempt to correct the preconceptions about working with female athletes among men working in the Indian sports environment, such as coaches, administrators, trainers, physiotherapists, masseuses, strength and conditioning experts, and yoga instructors.
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The fourth issue of Women’s CricZone, a magazine dedicated to female cricketers around the world, highlights Lisa Sthalekar’s contributions to the advancement of cricket in Australia and around the world, the story of Argentina captain Veronica Vasquez who is currently serving on the front lines during the pandemic, Ebony Rainford-Brent’s battle against racism and inequality in the game, Cricket Australia’s investments that led to ODI cricket reaching new heights and the experience of touring amidst the pandemic. The publication also includes a list of women to watch out for in the upcoming year in the field of cricket.
In her article “Supporting the Supermoms”, Karunya Keshav discusses the issues surrounding early retirement among female cricketers when deciding between family and a cricket career, and sets out how the pandemic has highlighted the disproportionate burden of childcare demands on women. The article details the perspectives of several supermoms who have fought this very war. It goes on to emphasise the importance of financial and resource support to raise awareness of the topic among players, coaches, and physiotherapists at all levels, even before a player considers pregnancy.
Sharda Ugra, in her article titled “More Than Words”, talks of how the Indian national women’s team, despite getting sufficient attention, does not get enough game time. Even though the media has attempted to draw public attention to the team’s lack of matches in preparation for the World Cup, it seems to have had little impact. The article goes on to highlight the importance of creating a social buzz around women’s cricket and bundling of media rights for women’s cricket along with men’s cricket.
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According to a new study conducted by the International Tennis Federation, it has been found that women’s tennis receives less attention than men’s tennis, with the discussion less focused on what happens on the court. The study shows that, despite having a similar public appetite for both men’s and women’s tennis, the narrative around them is very different.
According to the findings, women tennis players are twice as likely to have their age, clothing, health and medical treatment information mentioned in tennis content as their male counterparts whereas more relevant details regarding on-court battles, tennis history, physical prowess were limited to discussions on men’s tennis. Read more.