Chicago Sky’s Rebekah Gardner (right) drives at Minnesota Lynx’s Rachel Banham during second half WNBA preseason basketball action in Toronto on May 13, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
The first WNBA game in Canada was more than just a game — it was about the future of women’s sports.
Team sport is an important activity to explore because it provides opportunities to build community, enhance health and well-being, and counter the often unrealistic and self-sacrificing expectations of motherhood.
(Shutterstock)
Team sport provides postpartum mothers with opportunities to build community, enhance health and well-being, and counter the often unrealistic and self-sacrificing expectations of motherhood.
USA players pose for photos after winning gold at the IIHF Women’s World Hockey Championship in Brampton, Ont. on April 16, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
The presence of women and girls was on display in all aspects of the tournament and the fresh air of empowerment could signal a new dawn for women’s and girls’ hockey.
LSU’s Angel Reese reacts in front of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark during the second half of the NCAA Women’s Final Four championship basketball game in Dallas on April 2. LSU won 102-85 to win the championship.
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
For too long, Black girls and women have been made to conform to the largely white and male-centred ideas about how sports should be played and how Black athletes ought to present themselves.
The dynamism, diversity and leadership the Black Ferns display on the rugby field now needs to be matched in the boardrooms and strategies of sports organisations.
The Canadian women’s hockey team has received little financial support from Hockey Canada despite winning several international competitions.
(Shutterstock)
Canadian women’s and para hockey have long been woefully underfunded. Management changes at Hockey Canada are an opportunity to correct the unequal way the game is supported.
Too many coaches seem to believe that physical and emotional abuse creates better athletes.
imbarney22/E+ via Getty Images
The US National Women’s Soccer League was recently rocked by revelations of sexual abuse. But research shows that physical and verbal abuse is also disturbingly common in organized sports.
Fears around the masculinisation of women is central to A League Of Their Own, and reflect how women’s appearances are policed in the pursuit of an ‘ideal’ femininity.
England’s players celebrate winning the Women’s Euro 2022 at a fan event in Trafalgar Square.
EPA-EFE/TOLGA AKMEN
While things are improving for the women’s game in terms of equality, a series of depressing instances of blatant misogyny show there is a long way to go.
A new wave of women in sport science is helping us see how women can perform at their best with their menstrual cycle. But there are still gaps and silences – which is why Lydia Ko’s comment matters.
Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (L) celebrates with teammates during the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter final.
EPA-EFE/Alejandro Garcia
A trailblazing group of women sports reporters were early advocates for women’s sport in the 1930s, particularly during the first Ashes test series against England.
Some Welsh women’s rugby players have professional contracts, but many sportswomen face major funding issues.
TAR-TASS News Agency/Alamy
Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University