Queensland’s top female athletes come together to champion gender equity on International Women’s Day
From a lack of resources to the barrage of sexist comments and body shaming, here Queensland’s top female athletes reflect on how far women’s sport has come but also the ongoing fight for genuine equity.
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They come from all different sporting codes but there’s one thing Queensland’s top female athletes have in common: they’re determined to make it easier for the young girls who aspire to one day stand in their shoes.
Australian swimming champion Cate Campbell, Brisbane Broncos Women captain Ali Brigginshaw, AFLW Lions midfielder Ally Anderson, Queensland Firebirds netballer Gabi Simpson and Brisbane Heat cricketer Georgia Voll came together for International Women’s Day to celebrate what how far women in sport have come but shine a light on the long road ahead for genuine equity.
Brigginshaw remembers in vivid detail what it was like the first time she pulled on a jersey for her country – there wasn’t even a coat of arms on it.
“So we’re playing for a country with no coat of arms and our game was played on the field in New Zealand, and we just had street lights to light the field, we had wooden pickets as a sideline,” she said.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL INTERVIEWS
“There’s so many things that have changed. We used to have to stay in bunks when we go to camp, so we’d have like four or more to a room, it’d be like year seven camp, and now we get to stay in a hotel or resort and have the right facilities.”
Gold medallist Campbell said that her sport was the perfect example of what women and girls could do when given the same resources.
“If you look at the statistics, the women are outperforming the men in swimming. So I think that it is a good benchmark for other sports that if you provide a model which prioritises men and women equally, it gives them equal opportunity. Women are really going to thrive in that environment, because in my sport, I receive the same amount of funding and support as the male swimmers do,” she said.
“So I hope it’s sort of an eye-opening thing for other corporations, when you look at giving women equal opportunity, look at what they can do with that. And for me (it) is a great example of that.”
But resources are one thing, respect is entirely different and the athletes spoke of the denigrating and sexist comments they often receive online.
Lions player Anderson said some of the typical bullying comment she received or sees directed at other players were: “Just the typical ‘get back to the kitchen’, and saying that we’re not capable of kicking a certain distance or with a certain accuracy”.
Body shaming is also a common occurrence with Campbell and Simpson both saying they’ve had to put up with comments about their appearance.
“I’ve had lots of comments around my physique … but actually my arms are what make me a phenomenal athlete,” Simpson said.
Campbell said she noticed after taking a year off swimming how often people commented on her appearance.
“People would look at me and say ‘you look really fit’, ‘you look like you’re in good shape’, or ‘you look like you’ve lost weight’. And it’s just conversations that I think that men don’t normally have, and it felt strange that people felt so comfortable commenting on those things when I didn’t know them at all,” she said.
For Women’s Big Bash League star Voll and the many young girls who hope to one day call themselves a professional cricketer, the future is looking bright.
“The Australian team is probably one of the best sporting teams in the world going around, so it’s special to be coming in at this age, and looking to see where we can go,” she said.
Voll said the recent WPL auction that saw some women securing $550,000+ contracts was a huge step from women having to work two jobs just to play.
“So I think it’s a really special time that, you know, you can do what you love for a living,” she said.
FULL INTERVIEWS
Cate Campbell, Olympic Swimmer
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
International Women’s Day to me means the chance to raise the visibility of women everywhere.
I think that we live in a world where women are not equally represented, and you can’t be what you can’t see, and therefore International Women’s Day is a great chance to raise the visibility of women who are doing incredible things in a lot of different sectors and hopefully inspire the next generation and give them a chance to aspire to do something great.
Have you ever experienced discrimination in your career due to being a woman?
I think I am very lucky in that my sport is very gender equal, so I can remember growing up and idolising the likes of Ian Thorpe and Susie O’Neill.
I think that where I have come into contact with discrimination or differences because of my gender has been in representation in the media or in the corporate world.
Something that really surprised me was that for women or female sports people, what gets commented on a lot is your physical appearance, and in a way that isn’t commented on so much for men.
I took a year off from swimming and people would look at me and still say, “Oh, you look really fit, you look like you’re in good shape” or “You look like you’ve lost weight”, and it’s just conversations that I think that men don’t normally have.
And it felt strange that people felt so comfortable commenting on those things when I didn’t know them at all.
So I think that every female encounters some level of bias, I’m just very lucky that in my sport I don’t come into contact with that in my everyday environment, it’s more sort of in the broader society that that has been highlighted to me.
Do you believe equality is truly being achieved among athletes in your sport in 2023?
If you look at the statistics, the women are outperforming the men in swimming.
Eight or nine Olympic gold medals that were achieved in Tokyo were achieved by women, consistently women are outperforming men in my sport.
So I think that it is a good benchmark for other sports that if you provide a model which prioritises men and women equally, it gives them equal opportunity, and women are really going to thrive in that environment; because in my sport, I receive the same amount of funding and support as the male swimmers do, and all female athletes receive that funding and support. And we have consistently outperformed the men.
So I hope it’s sort of an eye-opening thing for other corporations - when you look at giving women equal opportunity, look at what they can do with that. And for me (swimming) is a great example of that.
Are you suggesting that when women are provided with equal resources as men, they can excel and potentially deliver better results than their male counterparts?
Oh, absolutely, I mean, women without the resources still kick butt.
But it’s just I think that it’s like a really interesting sort of litmus test for equality because I think men and women in my sport have always received the same amount of funding.
But I think that because of that, women have been outperforming them, because there isn’t that gender imbalance.
I think that currently, particularly in the sporting landscape, we’re seeing women consistently perform to the level of men, being very under supported and under resourced, so swimming is a great example of what happens when we support them equally.
From your perspective, how has gender equality evolved throughout your career?
I’ve definitely seen a change in the way that women are spoken to, or supported in the sport. Most of the coaches and most of the support staff in swimming are still male.
In that respect, we haven’t achieved gender parity.
And so I think that the way that women have been trained, which is different to men, I think that’s something that we also need to recognise is that men and women are different, we’re equal, but we are different – and therefore we need different things.
Only in sort of recent years – I’ve been in the sport 15 years, and I look at what it was when I first started, versus now – the way that we approach female athletes and the way that we train them, and the way that we support them, is very different to how we do that for male athletes.
And again, I think that the results are showing, if you go back historically, the men were very dominant in swimming, and now that we are recognising the differences and the nuances that come with training a female body, we are seeing them perform a lot better.
So whether that’s around nutrition, whether that’s around talking about women’s health issues, menstruation, issues like endometriosis, or managing your cycle and hormone fluctuations, which is something that all women have to deal with, but it’s never spoken about, and it’s only just starting to be part of the conversation.
So, in that respect, I’ve seen a lot of change, and again, I think it shows that when you recognise and celebrate women, for their differences, but you provide them with an equal opportunity, that’s when they really get a chance to thrive.
What advice would you give your 10-year-old self?
I would say make sure you try and enjoy each moment.
Even the difficult ones, you’re going to look back on more fondly in the future. And it’s the people you remember more than your achievements. So make sure that you invest in the good people that you have around you.
Ali Brigginshaw, Captain of Brisbane Broncos and Australia Jillaroos
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It just means that we celebrate the successes that women have had, not only in sport, but in life in general. Women are so powerful.
And I don’t think it’s always spoken, about the achievements or things that they’ve been able to do.
So If there’s a day that we can celebrate it, I’m lucky that I get to be a part of it and see so many powerful women.
Have you experienced gender discrimination during your career as a woman?
Not discriminated against, I guess in person, but you’re always second to the men, the male players, always second to be thought about when it comes to conversations.
You play hours where people don’t always get to watch your game … So they’re not big things, they’re not attacking me personally, but I just think there’s times where women are forgotten about and we love the sport just as much as any other player that plays rugby league and I feel we deserve the same recognition.
In your opinion, has the women’s NRL previously been given less priority and attention compared to the men’s league?
Yeah, definitely, 100 per cent an after thought.
This year was probably the first though where it’s been put front of mind of what we need to get across and that means we’re moving in the right direction.
We’ve come a very long way.
In rugby league, there’s just times when I first started playing when we weren’t at the front of mind, and we weren’t always thought of as rugby league players or playing for our country, and not so nice things that were said about the game.
And in the way we were, the people we were, I guess it doesn’t affect me now, because I just think we’ve come such a long way, and it’s, I guess, sticking it to those people who doubted that we’d ever make it.
But I get to pull on an NRL jersey now and I get to do that proudly.
Can you provide specific examples of the derogatory comments or remarks directed towards you or your teammates?
Just that we didn’t deserve to be here, we didn’t deserve to play on the stadiums, our games aren’t the same, lots of people doubting the way we played rugby league.
And like I said, we’ve come a long way now, but there were a lot of people at the start that doubted the way we played it.
And it’s the same sport on the same field, with the same ball, it’s the same rule, so I don’t understand how people could say it was different.
As a prominent figure in your field, what message would you like to convey to those who have previously expressed negativity or criticism towards you?
I kind of don’t buy into too much of it, because we just show what we can do.
I guess you watch our game and the comments are, ‘what a great game of football’, ‘I love the way it’s played’, ‘I love the how tough your girls are’, ‘I just love that it’s rugby league’, and yeah, there’s nothing too much to be said, because the girls that play the game are just showing you exactly what it is.
As you reflect on your career, what are the most significant advancements you’ve witnessed in terms of gender equality in sports?
At my first test match for Australia, we got our jersey and it had no coat of arms on it.
So we’re playing for a country with no coat of arms.
And our game was played on the field in New Zealand and we just had street lights to light the field, we had wooden pickets as a sideline.
And there’s so many things that have changed; we used to have to stay in bunks when we go to camp.
So we’d have like, four or more to a room. It’d be like, you know, Year 7 camp and now we get to stay in a hotel or resort and have the right facilities.
Sometimes we didn’t even have jerseys. We’d have to borrow jerseys from another team to wear. And it wasn’t that long ago. That was in 2009.
In your opinion, has gender equality been achieved for women in your sport, or is there still a significant way to go?
We definitely still have a long way to go, but like I said, we’re moving in the right direction. Girls are getting profiles through the game, we’re being recognisable faces around for playing the game that we love and that’s what it’s about. It’s about, you know, growing the game as much as we can and we’re definitely doing that.
There’s still times where it isn’t equal, but we’re a big, big step ahead of where we were.
What is your opinion on the NRLW’s new collective bargaining agreement, particularly concerning the aspect of pay? Do you think this is a step towards improvement?
Yeah, well, we’ve got there, and we’ve got an agreement six months late, but this was the first time that we’ve been put first.
We had a discussion and they said, “We’ll deal with the women’s problems first”, and a joint discussion, and normally, because our season starts later that they deal with hours later, but they said, “No, we want you girls to be secure contracts and stuff and so we can sort out our other work” which was huge.
We can now plan out the rest of our year. Whereas if that wasn’t done until June, we probably have girls without jobs.
So it’s come a long way in that side of things.
As a player in the women’s league, how do you feel about the fact that the issues facing women’s sports are no longer being brushed aside and are now at the forefront of people’s minds?
Well, it just shows that, you know, we are going in the right direction. People want the best for our game.
And we have some people that work really, really hard in our space in the RLPA with Clint Newton and Lina and without those people, I don’t know where we’d be.
The boys, they buy into what we need ... and we’re fighting for them just as hard as they’re fighting for us.
So if anything, male and female players in the NRL are very united at the moment and it’s a great feeling to be so supported by both.
What advice would you give to your 10-year-old self?
I have my advice I tell everyone; I was told probably too late on in life these three things, but it was: be on time, use your manners and be in uniform.
And I think in those three things, if I would have done them when I was 10, and at school, I wouldn’t have had so many teachers chasing after me.
So if I could go back, that’d be one thing, and I pass that message on to anyone that if you can follow those three things, you go a long way in life.
Gabi Simpson, Queensland Firebirds and Australian Diamonds netballer
What does International Women’s Day mean for you?
I think for me, it’s about celebrating the amazing women that we have around us, and also acknowledging the people that have come before us that have really fought to get women to where they are today.
But also to acknowledge that there is a huge gap still, there is huge inequality between men and women, and that we need to keep fighting to make sure that that gap continues to close.
As a female athlete, have you ever experienced discrimination due to your gender?
In general, I think across the board, when you look at the amount of money that comes into netball from broadcasts or sponsorship, I think that’s always been a really big gap between men and women.
Individually, I’ve had lots of comments around my physique, like “your arms are too muscly” or those types of things, which just isn’t up with the day and age. My arms are what make me a phenomenal athlete, but also I can physically do anything I want in the whole world.
So bits and bobs like that, I think stand out to me.
In your view, are female-dominated sports and male-dominated sports truly equal in 2023?
So no, I wouldn’t say that netball is equal, I would say that there is still quite a huge inequality in terms of payment, the amount of money that goes into netball compared to male dominated sports.
As a female dominant sport, it is extremely hard to get money invested into our sport, where a lot of the other female leagues that are coming up, are being invested back in by their own sport.
So that’s a really interesting thing that we face at the moment and a really cool challenge, I guess that we want to, as a sport really tackle.
I think in terms of where we’ve come from, like in my 11 years of playing as a netballer in Queensland, we didn’t have a stadium, when I started. We would train at different schools all around the place, and we didn’t even have a place that was our locker room or our change room, so huge progress in that space.
I think high performance-wise, women’s sport is now taken far more seriously, and it’s really lifting at this stage.
It’s probably just more the monetary and the investment in it that hasn’t really lifted with it.
Reflecting on the past 11 years of your career, how has equality progressed in your sport?
I think it’s the main point are high performance-wise, there’s been a huge shift in creating facilities that we can train at and play at that are consistently available, that’s been a huge shift.
I think there’s just a bit left behind in the monetary in terms of investment in the sport.
What advice would you give your ten-year-old self?
I think the biggest piece of advice from the tenure is make sure your priority is enjoying what you’re doing.
There will be times that you’ll be challenged in that space. But always come back to “why do I love playing this amazing sport”, and really hone in on that and everything else will come from that.
Ally Anderson, Brisbane Lions player
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
I don’t like to sound cliche but to me, it’s just about celebrating the women and especially for us in sport, celebrating all the achievements that women have contributed to all our individual sports.
Have you experienced gender discrimination during your career as in the AFL?
I’ve been very lucky to grow up in a household where they were very supportive of any sport that we played.
I think the discrimination comes more from the social media side of things, so you’re always reading the comments, and it does sort of impact you, but you just got to learn to roll with it and build on something and be an inspiration for younger girls and other women and boys. And just to sort of show that we do belong here and we can do anything the males can do too.
What do you mean by the “social media discrimination”?
The typical “get back to the kitchen, and that we’re not capable of kicking a certain distance or with a certain accuracy” just commenting on our overall ability and how we play the game.
It’s just, like, general things like that, that’s commented quite frequently.
It’s getting better but it’s still obviously a problem.
I personally have to, like, when I start seeing those comments, stop reading them, just because it’s just not nice and their opinions don’t mean anything to me, so why would I read much into it?
In your opinion, are female athletes in the AFL achieving equality in 2023?
I think every year it just gets better and better for us.
And we’ve come so far in the last seven years, and just to see it keep getting better, it’s just really good.
You have these young kids coming in now who are able to almost do this full time. So I feel like the gap is definitely closing.
How would you describe the most significant changes you have observed in terms of gender equality in AFL since you joined the club in 2017?
I think we just get a lot more, I guess, attention in a way, and more people are interested and we’re constantly growing new fans.
Even for us, our team just got this new facility that was built for us, basically, and it’s completely equal to the men.
To have somewhere to train and to have all the equipment that we need and to be treated as equals, it’s such a massive difference.
Was the team not properly equipped prior to getting this new facility?
It wasn’t bad, we just trained out of a local club, and we did what we could with the facilities that we had.
Just to be able to have ice baths that we can all fit into and not have to wait around because it was only like, two spots and then having the availability to the gym.
It’s just become much easier for us to access to a lot of things, including our trainers, and our physios and all that kind of stuff as well.
What advice would you give your, your 10-year-old self?
I would just say keep chipping away, because I feel like when I was 10, I played a lot of different sports. I did a bit of swimming, bit a tennis a bit of everything.
And never ever played AFL, didn’t even like the sport, really.
But I think that was sort of the age where I started to give up on those sort of sports and, and start not to play them as much and not enjoy them as much.
So I guess to get better and to pursue a sport now that I love. It was just small steps. So just keep chipping away, chipping away at it, just keep going.
What advice would you give to young girls who aspire to have a career in AFL?
Today, it’s possible for everyone.
There’s so many programs, you can get into it, there’s so many extras that you can be doing. So find someone to help, or you figure it out yourself, but just really keep looking for ways to get better, basically.
Georgia Voll, cricketer for Brisbane Heat and Queensland Fire.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
I think it’s important, especially being a woman in sport.
Obviously, sport was always looked at as being for men, and women were always workers. But I think obviously, the growth over the last couple of decades and seeing women that can actually play sport for a living, rather than having to, you know, split their time with work, as well as their sport.
So I think it’s really special that women can play a sport they love rather than sitting in an office and then going off to train at all hours of the night and really early in the morning.
So recognising how far things have come for women, it’s really special.
As a professional cricket player, have you faced any incidents of gender discrimination or inequality?
Not me, in particular, but I think I’ve come in at a perfect time, for women’s sport and women’s cricket in particular, like the Australian team are probably one of the best sporting teams in the world going around.
So, it’s special to be coming in at this age, and looking to see where we can go. And obviously, just with the women’s, the WPL, women being sold for $600,000 is quite ridiculous, especially coming from having to, like I said before, having to work two jobs, and then play the sport and, you know, train around that.
So I think it’s really special time that, you know, you can do what you love for a living.
Have you ever felt that the women’s team has ever been overlooked or disregarded in terms of resources and facilities because of being female players?
I think it’s definitely heading in the right direction. Obviously, we don’t really swap out with the men’s side of stuff. So we get pretty much the same as what the men do.
And in terms of, you know, training facilities and change rooms before the game, and stuff like that, food being provided.
So I think we’re in a really great spot for women’s cricket at the moment. And hopefully, it just keeps getting better and better.
What is your opinion on the recent surge in popularity of women’s cricket, as well as the recent successes of the Australian women’s cricket team?
I think it probably goes back to I think it was big bash, maybe three years ago, and those two semi-finals that went down to either a super over the last ball game, and I think they were two sold-out games.
I think that was one of the first games that have been sold out for a cricket match for a women’s cricket match.
And then obviously with the sellout in the final as well I think that actually pushed the women’s cricket through the roof and now you’re seeing the rewards with you know, sold out women’s crowds at the MCG for the World Cup a couple of years ago. 87,000 people go into that, which is really special.
I just think the rise in that and seeing how good the competitions are, the WNCL WBBL now, and obviously the World Cups, I think the standards and talent are really good domestically; and I think that comes back down to being able to do it for a living and not having to work two jobs and train at 5am in the morning and 10 o’clock at night.
So being able to do that through the day and you know, train, and having our skills and talent recognised.
As a female athlete, have you observed a greater emphasis on appearance compared to what male athletes encounter?
You see it on social media and stuff like that.
Usually, you get told to not worry about it, then they try and delete comments.
But yeah, I definitely see it all the time.
I think it’s hopefully going in a better direction, but I think potentially it’s always going to be there.
And I think women’s sport is very inspiring, so I think going through that, I think it’ll get better and better.
It will still probably be there, but might be less and less of it in the years to come.
How would you respond to individuals who leave derogatory comments such as “women can’t do men’s sports”?
I think you just have to look at the ratings on the TV for the women’s games, how many people are watching that and tuning in, online and on watching the TV, I think it’s definitely on the rise and potentially overtaking the men.
What advice would you give your 10-year-old self?
I’d probably tell her to keep going.
Obviously, it’s a tough grind being an athlete, but you know, it’s a lot of fun as well. And you get a lot of reward as well. It’s a lot of hard work that you have to put in.
But I’d just tell her to keep going because the sky’s the limit, and obviously with the women’s sport now, there’s actually a living you can make out of it.
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