WHILST we seem to be enjoying a bit of an Indian summer over the last couple of days, there’s no doubt that “the nights are fair drawing in” – a good Scottish phrase which probably needs bit of explanation to those not of a certain age, but for those in the know makes perfect sense.
There are many things that you can associate with the changing season: winter coat and boots, cosy nights in front of the fire, colds, flu – and let’s not forget the various award dinners that are held throughout.
For sport, October and November bring a raft of different awards as organisations look to recognise and reward those who have worked tirelessly for their sport.
Scottish Women in Sport are no different here as we have our own dinner in the GoGlasgow Hotel on Friday, November 10.
This event, which we will run in partnership with QTS, will present eight awards, from QTS Sportswomen of the year, to UWS Best Campaign and one of my favourites, The People’s Champion award.
This particular award is to recognise a mum or dad, teacher, coach, anyone who has gone above the call of duty to support women in sport, in some shape or form, over the last year. Our winner last year was Susan McDowell, from Scottish Hockey.
It was an exciting finish on the night as all four nominees received a good number of votes. However Susan, for her work in Scottish Hockey, specifically with the girls and women’s teams, took the crown.
A full table of hockey players joined us on the night, and can I just say it was a bit emotional for Susan as she was slightly overwhelmed by the reception from all in attendance.
To be fair it can sometimes be like pulling teeth to get people to submit nominations and I am not sure what the issue is.
So often we hear of good work that goes unrecognised or athletes who aren’t getting the publicity they deserve, this can be ever more so when it concerns women in sport, so why aren’t people jumping at the opportunity to submit information to highlight these successes?
Let me give you the chance to change this – have a look on our website, www.swisawards.co.uk and at the categories we have. There are eight in total and all it takes is a maximum of 350 words and a click of a button to submit your favourite.
It was heartening to hear of the response of the Danish FA male team to the predicament of their female counterparts, earlier this week.
Denmark, against all odds, made the final of the Women’s Euros earlier this year. They had started negotiations with their FA for a wage increase and after failing to reach an agreement, and after around nine months of negotiations, the team went on strike and didn’t play a scheduled match against The Netherlands.
The men’s football team have offered the women’s side £60,000 a year as their pay dispute with the Danish Football Association (DBU) continues.
Working with the Danish PFA two proposals were submitted to resolve the situation, one of which included support from the players of the men’s national team, who offered 500,000 DKK (£60,000) a year from their agreement with the DBU to go to the women’s national team instead.
It was stated that this was on the condition of the Danish FA securing the same basic rights for the women in their agreement as the men have in theirs. Unfortunately this was not accepted.
It leaves a sour taste in the mouth when you read about things like this. No player ever wants to go on strike and it takes a lot to happen before that is even contemplated.
However, let’s be honest here, if the Danish men had reached the final of the Euros, they wouldn’t need to ask, the FA would be falling over itself to pile accolades and rewards on the team.
It’s now time that they looked at their attitude towards their female players and ensured that they have the same stability recognition and reward of the male players.
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