IT has been difficult recently to find good news on women in the sport front. However, I’m delighted to say there are brilliant things happening at Netball Scotland which, under the leadership of CEO Claire Nelson, has fought its way through this pandemic and come out stronger for it.
One of the highlights for the many young girls who follow netball is the “dress” reveal and this year the excitement was turned up as it was produced by one of the world’s most famous brands, Nike.
Irn-Bru has become the official hydration partner of our professional netball team, Strathclyde Sirens, for the 2021 Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) season. Capital Scotland will be their official radio partner and will support the Sirens on and off the court through on-air promotional activity, digital competitions and match-day entertainment.
And of course there was the news that Sky Sports will broadcast every match of VNSL across Sky Sports TV and digital platforms in the largest media partnership in the sport’s history. This is the kind of news you want to read, women’s sport making a breakthrough with great sponsorship and strong media partners.
It will be so interesting to watch how this will impact on participation levels as Netball Scotland continues to work hard to increase awareness of and participation in the sport.
Governing bodies must lift the spirits of others to promote women’s programmes, knowing interest is there and that the imbalance that has existed for many years may be starting to level out, ever so slightly.
The other good news story is that organisations are starting to take action against those who continue to undermine women’s place in sport.
The swift action taken against Yoshiro Mori, the now former president of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee, for his sexist comments against women in the boardroom is testament to that.
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