Female Netball players in Victoria are suffering from a significant gender gap in regards to pay conditions and other challenges that they are faced with when fighting for equality within the sporting profession.
It is obvious that Australia is known for its passion and love for all sports around the country.
Sporting leagues such as the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) are all primarily male dominated, and gain majority of Australia’s attention, unlike the most common women’s sport in Australia, Netball.
According to The Advertiser, in 2013, the players on the Australian Netball Team, The Diamonds are paid an approximate $200 each day they are on national duty. The captain of The Diamonds earned $10,000 for her efforts.
In comparison, the average wage for a male AFL player exceeds to an astonishing $250,000 per season.
Melbourne Vixen player, Liz Watson speaks out about the semi professional sport and the exploitation regarding male versus female wage equality.
“I don’t like the term semi professional” Watson said, “we are elite athletes who train fulltime but aren’t being paid a fulltime wage, which is not fair.”
“We work and train just as hard, why is it always about the male sports, especially in Australia?”
Watson, who has played netball for 13 years, believes that the women’s sporting industry is slowly developing due to publicity and exposure, she believes it unfortunately will never grow as large as male dominated sports.
“Being in Australia, especially in Melbourne, can be hard to compete for TV, Radio and other forms of media exposure when we are surrounded by AFL and the NRL… whom are all male dominated.”
In 2013, Holden, whom had been sponsoring netball in Australia for nine years, withdrew their sponsorship, wanting to gain more exposure through other sports such as Rugby League.
National Championship player and Australian Diamonds defender Joanna Weston recognises that netball does not have the comparable stamina required by a full time sports professional, she states, “netball is still a developing sport and will never compete with AFL which is the mammoth of the sporting culture.”
Both Watson and Weston work a second job, as their netball career cannot sustain a suitable living.
“If you think about it, when you meet someone, the topic “who do you follow in the AFL?” is quite often standard conversation, but no one really ever asks “who do you follow in netball?” Weston states.
Netballers around Australia are seeking a voice for the equality of wages within the sporting industry and are demanding recognition for their efforts.
To enable women to pursue their sporting careers on the same level as males, both professionals believe that a change is in order.
Claire Fastuca xxx
