Nat von Bertouch: My nominations for female athlete to be cast in bronze at Adelaide Oval
As she continues her calls for a statue of a female sportsperson to be built at Adelaide Oval, Natalie von Bertouch gives her suggestions for whose should be sculpted first. CAST YOUR VOTE IN OUR POLL
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The response to my column last week about the need for a statue of a sportswoman at Adelaide Oval has been overwhelming.
To recap, I wrote about the fact that of the nine statues of our state’s sporting heroes that surrounded our beloved oval, not a single one of them is female.
And it’s time for that to change.
The majority of people I have spoken to since then, have been in agreeance and of the 80-odd comments on the article online at advertiser.com.au, there was an encouraging high number of positive comments.
For example “Bruce13” wrote: “Girls playing sports look up to the top female sports people as role models. A female statue at Adelaide Oval would help even more to inspire these girls to play sport, get fit, make friends, develop self-confidence, become leaders and enjoy competitive sport! Why not also put one in the Mall, it is about promoting sport for girls and women!”
But not all agreed.
“Adam” said: “I don’t believe it should be just about commemorating a female athlete, because they are female!!! It should be about immortalising an individual who has inspired and given the most to others. If you commemorate a female athlete at Adelaide Oval, I would prefer a SA legend who fits the brief, rather than a cricketer unknown. Anna Meares would fit, just not the Adelaide Oval bit.”
While Rob commented: “Just stop this madness. You honestly can’t see any glaringly obvious discrepancies between what has been achieved by the male athletes honoured with statues at the Adelaide Oval in their respective sports played at that historic venue as opposed to any of the female athletes proposed?”
The names I suggested for a statue were cricketers Faith Thomas, Shelley Nitschke and Karen Rolton. I stand by these picks. There are a number of footballers who could be good nominees too, including Crows co-captain Erin Phillips.
Rob’s comment — along the lines of “Why build a statue for a sportswoman when she has never achieved what these men did” — was an argument replicated to me constantly over the past week.
But I don’t see it like that. In fact, I think the women I suggested achieved great things against great odds. Often, odds that the men who have been immortalised never faced.
These women played football and they played cricket in a time when they were told they shouldn’t.
When they weren’t allowed to play on Adelaide Oval. When they were told they could train on an oval, but to stay off the pitch because they might ruin it ahead of the boys playing on it at the weekend.
In a time when if they wanted to represent Australia, they had to pay their own way.
These women kept playing football despite knowing they would never make a state team, not because they weren’t good enough, but because one simply didn’t exist.
So, I think the argument that a women shouldn’t be turned into a statue simply because she didn’t achieve what men did, isn’t valid, because you can’t compare them.
The men had all the opportunities. All the press interest. All the resources.
The stories of these female athletes deserve to be told. They deserve to be heard. And most importantly, they deserve to be recognised in bronze for generations to come.
The campaign for a female statue at Adelaide Oval isn’t just about evening up the heavily scales. It’s about showing the world that women’s achievements in sport are just as important as the men’s.
With that in mind, here are my nominees for a female statue:
1. Faith Thomas
Cricketer
Thomas played her only Test for Australia in 1958 and was the first Aboriginal woman to represent Australia in any sport. She was the first Aboriginal woman cricketer with national honours and remained so until 2017 when NSW cricketer Ash Gardner was selected for the Australian team. In the 1970s, Thomas also joined Sir Doug Nicholls in founding the National Aboriginal Sports Foundation; creating opportunities for young indigenous sportspeople.
2. Karen Rolton
Cricketer
In 2018 Karen Rolton was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. She played 14 Tests, 141 one-day internationals and 15 T20Is between 1995 and 2009, scoring more than 5800 runs and posting 10 centuries. A two-time World Cup winner (in 1997 and 2005), Rolton remains the only woman to score a century in a World Cup final, having made 107 in the 2005 decider against India. She has scored more Test runs (1002) than any other Australian and her 209 not out against England in 2001 was the women’s Test record score until last November, when Australia’s Ellyse Perry made an unbeaten 213 against England.
Wearing South Australian colours Rolton played 114 games, scoring 5521 runs and taking 106 wickets.
3. Shelley Nitschke
Cricketer
A left-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spinner, she was one of the leading all-rounders in the world, Nitschke was named as the Australian Women’s International Cricketer of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. She played six Tests, 80 one-day internationals and 36 T20Is. She has now joined the Australian women’s cricket team as an assistant coach and lives in Brisbane.
4. Narelle Smith
Footballer
Played 130 games for Edwardstown and Greenacres in the South Australian Women’s Football League, before retiring aged 39. She turned to coaching where she became state women’s coach. She coached SAWFL side Morphettville Park to back-to-back premierships and also coached the Glenelg women’s team in the SANFLW.
With help of the SANFL, Smith introduced Under 15 and Under 18 women’s leagues and, in 2015 ahead of the 2016 State Women’s program, set up an elite training program for players.
The “Rell Smith Medal” was named after her and awarded to the SAWFL best and fairest.
In 2018 she became the first woman to coach a SANFL men’s team when she took over the reins of the Glenelg reserves. She is now an assistant coach with the Crows AFLW side.
5. Erin Phillips
Footballer/basketballer
Not only a two-time basketball Olympian and WNBL and WNBA champion, but when it comes to women’s football she’s a two-time AFLW best and fairest, two-time AFLPA MVP, two-time premiership co-captain, two-time premiership best on ground and two-time AFLW All-Australian. She is still playing in the AFLW and is an assistant coach in the WNBA during the football off-season.
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