Girls just want to play hardball — like Liz Cambage

What female basketballers do is often derided as aggressive, while males are lauded for their toughness, grit and determination.

Nariah Walsh, 15, with the ball and Tegan Hickie, 17, at Redfern Park in Sydney. Picture: John Feder

On the concrete courts of ­Redfern, in inner Sydney, Tegan Hickie and Nariah Walsh play basketball tough and hard. But the duo say there is a double standard in their favourite sport: what they do is often derided as aggressive, while male players who do the same are lauded for their toughness, grit and determination.

“Everyone sees us as girls. They see us as girls first and basketballers second,” Tegan, 17, said. “I have to try to hold myself back.”

Their approach to the sport has been thrown into the spotlight following comments made by Liz Cambage, Australia’s top basketballer in the US women’s basketball league, who yesterday ignited a contentious gender debate: are girls allowed to play as hard as boys?

A day after shooting an unprecedented 53 points in a single WNBA game for the Dallas Wings, Cambage spoke about her frustrations with women’s sport and the US league.

“We are women and we are passionate and we are playing hard,” the 203cm centre said.

“Let us play our game and try not to soften it, because it is making it boring and right now it makes me feel like they are trying to make it more ladylike.”

Cambage on the bench after scoring a record 53 points for Dallas.

Joy Smith, who coaches Tegan and Nariah and manages the Inner City Basketball club, said Cambage’s comments reflect her experience in female basketball.

Different, gender-centric approaches to sport, the 61-year-old said, start “immediately” and in the home. “We treat our daughters differently than we do our sons. I’ve been guilty of that,” she said.

“Basketball was once a male game … now it’s caught the girls. There are amazing role models like Liz (Cambage) and Lauren Jackson. Girls have adapted to it and thrived, but I think in men’s basketball, they allow far more freedom than they do with women, in terms of the physical side of the game. Women, we’re not supposed to be like that.”

Nariah, 15, who plays point guard for her Inner City Lightning under-18s team, backed up Cambage’s frustration.

“She’s like a role model,” she said. “When boys play hard it’s seen as normal. If there’s a loose ball and you really go for it they think you’re angry.”

The gender differences were played down by some of Australia’s greatest female basketballers.

Jackson, who won two championships in the WNBA and won Most Valuable Player three times, said women’s basketball had made huge leaps in her time.

“There’s no doubt women’s sport is not on par with men’s, in terms of financial resources,” she said.

“I’m not talking about equal­ity, I’m talking about equity.

“It was a battle and a slog for women sometimes, (but) we’re in a situation where it’s growing and we can make a living.”

She said different attitudes ­towards younger female players may be affecting youth participation rates.

“It’s a cultural thing. Maybe that’s the case in the lower ­leagues, and that may affect participation rates,” Jackson said.

“(Girls) are conforming to stereotypes.

“When you get to the higher ranks, though, girls go out and play their game. They’re strong, tough, and mean.”

Michele Timms, the first Australian woman basketballer to play in the WNBA, said Cambage’s achievements had been “absolutely amazing” but said she did not believe anyone was holding back anything in the WNBA. “I wouldn’t have thought it’s very ladylike,” she said.

“But (Cambage) knows better than I do.”

Jan Stirling, general manager of high performance for Basketball Australia, said she did not ­believe there was a difference in the way men and women were conditioned to play, and said the Australian Boomers and Opals were paid and treated the same.

“There is no difference,” she said.