Is the sports world ready to change?

Who would have thought in this day and age that sports would be still stuck in the past? Women’s sports, sexuality and there are still even traces of racism to be seen in some sports such as the likes of cricket. 

Yesterday I attended a track day in Mondello Park. I noticed a girl driving an EG civic about to head onto to track and I automatically said out loud "There's a girl driving".

Now that I think about it, why was there even a need to say that? Because woman, as much as we protest our right as equals, will never truly be considered as equals compared to men, in the world of sports.

The response I got from the 5 young men standing beside me was laughter.


The Germans find a way to stage
successful women's sports.

They joked about her ability to drive on the track and in so many words claimed before even seeing her drive that she would be slow and unable to do well in comparison to some of the other drivers, who were all male and quite possibly more inexperienced.

I personally have never picked up a news paper and noticed a story about women in sport on the front cover or even a headline indicating a story in the back.

But if I'm honest, I have never really been interested in looking for a story in regards to women’s sports because in today’s society we are trained to relate the majority of sports back to men.

You hear about girls who would love to be WAGS or date rugby players because they are seen to be macho and of course because they are in the spot light.

But being in the spot light has clearly caused problems for many pro footballers as their lives are played out on the front of every tabloid paper and gossip magazine.

I for one, love to pick up Heat magazine every week and read about how Wayne Rooney doesn't seem to be able to stop sleeping with prostitutes or how Peter Crouch cheated on his pregnant girlfriend at a fellow footballers stag. It's a guilty pleasure but most girls are the same.

Peter Crouch with girlfriend Abby

This might be the reason why out of 2000 pro footballers we have not seen one come out as being a homosexual and I am sure I am not the only one in thinking that football fans can be quite brutal on the players.

For example most will remember when David Beckham got a red card in England’s match against Argentina during the 1998 World Cup, in which England went on to lose the game in a penalty shoot out. Many fans as well as journalists blamed Beckham, who in turn received death threats for this. 

A bit harsh right? But one would be curious as to whether some fans would react similarly to a football player who was gay.

I personally think that a football player would not be as easily accepted as the likes of Steven Davis, the England wicket-keeper who announced he was gay this week.

Steven Davis

Football fans as well as players can be quite critical at times, but maybe Davis's courage to come out will make other people in sport realise that they can too. But sadly, I do not see that time for football players anytime soon.

I think football still has awhile to go compared to other sports such a rugby, as rugby legend and former captain of Wales, Gareth Thomas came out and in return gained respect and love for his honesty.

Racism is clearly not an issue in a lot of sports these days, especially football, as most of the players are from abroad. But there are some examples, such as cricket, which is sometimes dubbed as 'the white man's game'.

Hopefully these issues will change in time, as society has begun to embrace this notion of everyone being equal and have clearly become more accepting of people in today’s society. Maybe in the world of sports they will do the same.