What must female athletes do in Ireland and the UK to get more recognition?

SOMETHING very interesting struck me whilst I glanced at this year’s RTE Personality of the Year show that was broadcast earlier this month. Out of the ten nominees, only ONE female was represented on the list. Justifiable? I don’t think so.

What must female sports stars to do, in order to gain more recognition from their peers? To be fair, Katie Taylor was recognised for her fantastic results in boxing again this year, but what about her fellow females in their sports? One team that immediately springs to mind is the Cork Ladies Football team. They have now won six All Ireland titles in seven titles. This is simply remarkable. It got me thinking though...if this feat was won by a male team, then I could guarantee you that it would not just slip by, with the vast majority of people not even realising what an unbelievable feat that the girls had achieved.

Look at the response that the Dublin senior footballers received when they brought the Sam Maguire home for the first time in years. Their memorable, last-gasp win over Kerry in September saw them receive national media attention, as well as a slot on the Late Late Show. I’m not taking away from their success, but why couldn’t the Cork ladies have received similar attention? I honestly don’t know what female athletes have to do nowadays to be given the respect they deserve.

The lack of respect given to female sports stars isn’t just confined to Ireland though – the BBC Sports Personality of the Year was shown just last week on BBC One, and again the lack of female representation was the first thing I spotted. This time it was worse though. Not ONE female athlete was nominated onto the shortlist. In a country as big as the United Kingdom, to have no female representation was scandalous, in my opinion. However, the issue was noticed by more than I.

One of the hosts on the night, Jake Humphrey stated while speaking to BBC Breakfast that the absence of women shouldn’t overshadow the achievements of those on the list.
“We’ve got some amazing women, it’s disappointing but it is the way it is. It’s not a sexist competition.”

But how is it not sexist? It’s bad enough to have only one female representative on the Irish shortlist, but to have no female representative on the UK shortlist is just unbelievable, for all the wrong reasons.

It’s about time females were duly recognised for their achievements in their respective fields of sport. Here’s hoping the 2012 Olympics will pave the way for this.