I make this
appeal in a week where history will be made when a Female officiates for the
first time as a central umpire in the top tier of the Australian Football
League. (AFL)
Eleni
Gloufisis, a school teacher from Adelaide has been
appointed to adjudicate Sunday’s contest between Essendon and West Coast. This
is no “gesture”. Eleni has earned her stripes the same way all top level
umpires do, working her way through the development programmes. In a true reflection of the adoption of the sport by different cultures, Eleni's Father was born in Greece.
She was
identified some years ago as an emerging talented official however her
endurance was not up to standard, until now. Her hard work will be rewarded on
Sunday and whether she wants to be or not, instant role model status will be
thrust upon her.
I have two
related hopes for the future.
Firstly, I
look forward to the day when news of a referee making their debut will be gender
neutral, in all sports because the best, most talented individual will earn the
opportunity and their gender will not be a news item.
Secondly, I
want to see more “Men” in our sports.
We have two
thriving Big Bash Cricket competitions. One is called The Big Bash, the other
called Women’s Big Bash.
We have the National
Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball League
We have the
AFL and the AFLW – guess what the “W” stands for?
Surely, we
must standardise naming.
Our National
Hockey Competition is the Australian Hockey League (AHL). This is expressed as
AHL Men and AHL Women.
It is well overdue for all sports to follow the example of Hockey e.g. AFL Men and AFL Women, Big
Bash Men and Big Bash Women.
The same
needs to apply internationally. Basketball, Football (Soccer in Australia and
USA) as a start.
The rules
the Men and Women play under are as good as identical. Let’s give them equal
and consistent billing.
I wonder
which of the predominantly Male Administered sports will have the foresight to
set the example?
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