IT was a first for me this week as I co-hosted a new radio programme aimed at women in sport at the newly launched station, RockSport.
My partner in crime for the programme is Liz Clark, who is a seasoned radio presenter and like all women we both had our fears. Liz felt that she wasn’t a women in sport and I’m not a women in broadcasting but together, helping each other, we managed to get the first programme out without a hitch.
At this point I will say, don’t despair, the show isn’t all about football, the Tuesday night programme, #letshearitforthegirls is for all sport, as is the station itself and I look forward to showcasing some of the amazing talent and extraordinary supporters we have in Scotland in a variety of sports.
We had Amy McDonald on the show who is an Uefa A Licence holder and coach of Rangers Ladies. Amy is a former national squad player and was the first full-time club based female Youth Development Coach at Glasgow City FC and currently assists the Scottish FA as assistant U15 coach.
Just back from a really intriguing visit to Saudi Arabia to deliver a coach education session to over 80 women, in what had to be a very low key event, given the culture of the country, Amy could tell us that the passion for sport in Saudi Arabia from women was no different than it is in any other country.
The women are keen to learn, to keep fit and be active and football as a vehicle for this, seems to be something that really appeals to them.
We also spoke at length about the recent FifPro research on women in football and the search for a new manager for the women’s national team down at the FA amongst many other topics.
The Fifpro study was pretty extensive in the areas that it covered, and a lot of the statistics made for poor reading:-
88 per cent of players in the English Super League earn less than £18,000 per annum
Over 90 per cent of professional female players worldwide are considering ending their football careers early
87 per cent of Super League players in England to not have a retirement fund
Just two per cent of all active players worldwide are mothers
Basically the upshot of this is that Fifpro are now throwing down the gauntlet to Football Authorities to ensure better terms and conditions for all professional female players.
Norway, or should I say Norway’s male national squad players, are leading the way for gender equality in the game as they recently agreed a pay cut to help achieve parity in their country. Prior to this agreement, the women collectively earned £366,451 which was around under half of what the mean earned at £774,341, this is despite the fact the women were achieving more on the international stage.
This is a really positive step and what we need to see next is a step change in commercial ventures that will see women players being able to supplement their income through sponsorship deals.
The life span of a female footballer is no different to that of a male and as such they need to ensure that they can support themselves after they have retired from playing the sport, so creating a nest egg to invest whilst playing is paramount. Let’s see how things pan out over the next few years, giving the speed of change at the moment, I must say I am hopeful.
ANNOUNCED in the press, just this week, was launch of the parade uniform for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and it is a cracker. Co-created by Siobhan MacKenzie, who won best new designer in 2016 for her creations, it is a blend of traditional and fashion. She can count amongst her many fans one Judy Murray and that in itself is a strong endorsement.
As always, with me, at first glance I am not sure, I was the same with the 2014 uniform, however after studying the photographs and listening to the many positive comment, I think we have got it just right.
FINALLY best wishes to all for a happy and peaceful Christmas, and an extra thought to those who can’t be with their loved ones.
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