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Wednesday, 16 August 2023

The welfare check

After an excessive number of what my friends and colleagues have described as "welfare check" during the Matildas vs. France game—given my deep emotional investment in this tournament and its outcome—I thought I should pen a journal entry. Partly to reflect on the context of the history-making 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup™, and partly to remember that regret is a powerful teacher helping us to improve, and finally because as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sport), my role is to take a strategic approach to leading, managing and coordinating projects where sport partnerships can support delivery of the goals and priorities of the University's Strategic Plan.

So here we go, a page(s) out of my journal:

Go the Matildas! Or the Tillies, or the many preferred names of our beloved National team that has taken the country by storm during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup™.

I am justifying the countless stops to chat while getting coffee, water cooler conversations, or literally every meeting having some unspoken obligatory opening agenda item of "how 'bout those Matildas" as legitimate work. To engage, discuss, and advocate for the power of sport— at various levels—as a vehicle for change, to build connection, and to drive our collective sense of belonging. What is happening right now is a big sense of relief to me (reflecting on the start of this as a series of welfare checks!).

The power of sport

The Matildas are bringing millions of people together. To be clear, more than 7 million people in Australia were watching the same match at the same time all over the nation—possibly, and quite likely, more.

The numbers are hard to nail down exactly due to our varied methods of watching, but it is stated to be the largest television event since the iconic race by Cathy Freeman during the 2000 Sydney Olympics[1].

Let that sink in for a moment.

However, it's not just about watching; it’s this feeling of deep connection—to the athletes, to the moment, to our collective will for the same outcome. We are the 12th player. We trust them, we are in awe of their talent, we are inspired by them. They capture our attention in a distracting world, we are deeply emotionally invested in a time of excessive shallow levels of engagement through click-bait and social media.

Most importantly, though, we are a "we"—a collective mass of connection.

We'd be remiss not to remind ourselves of Nelson Mandela's famed and often quoted sentiment:

"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination."

Indeed, it can—if we invest in it, if we support it.

Our repeated missed opportunity

The social case for supporting and sponsoring women’s sport is tough to deny, but the business case for women's sport has always been there too. This was never meant to be just a feel-good charity. It is both good deeds and good business. However, the business side, mired in the idea of a charity-like situation, has been incredibly poorly executed—a topic you can hear more about from the outspoken Alexis Ohanian (e.g. Serena Williams' husband) when it comes to the business of women's sport.

In simple terms, we repeatedly made excuses for why it wouldn't work instead of striving to make it work. On the social side of this argument, Australia must recognise the need to combat our troubling record on domestic violence. If watching women in sport can change the perspective that boys (and later, men) have of girls and women, then let us invest wholeheartedly. I draw this parallel as even Natalie Portman (co-founder of Angel City NWSL club) says, "Watching my son idolize players like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan the same way he did Lionel Messi or Karim Benzema, I realized that amplifying female athletes could rapidly shift culture."[2]

We have consistently failed to see women’s sport as an opportunity. We've often assessed current performance without context, disregarding the commitment shown by women within these sports, despite the limited support they receive (research findings to come; embargo until after the tournament!).

If this sounds eerily similar to research on the differences between how managers assess performance versus potential in men and women[3], I agree.  This experience is not new for women, whether their work is the business of being an athlete, an academic, an electrician, or a lawyer—all of which are laudable and appropriate professions for humans, period. Equal opportunity is deserved.

This is the uncomfortable intersection where sport meets society. Society grapples with sport revealing a different perspective, and now we must reckon with the repercussions of removing our ignorance. Our autopilot, biased response of "I'm surprised this is so good" needs to be replaced with "it's about time we recognised them." Now, we must look in the mirror and reflect.

A chance to rewrite instead of repeat history

I have seen all this before. To not repeat history, let me recount history and suggest an alternative ending.

The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup™

If you're a new fan to women’s football (soccer) or fútbol, Welcome! Wandju! ¡Bienvienidos!

In 1999, the USA hosted the FIFA Women's World Cup™, and it concluded in spectacular fashion. I remember Brandi Chastain, burying a penalty kick to secure a 5-4 win in a penalty shootout. This monumental moment unfolded in front of a home crowd of 90,185 people at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California—a blood pressure response that, even at a young age, I didn't think was possible. Just the other night, as I watched the Matildas clinch a 7-6 penalty shootout win against France, I experienced near flashbacks. Public Service Announcement: I'm running out of heartbeats!

After Brandi Chastain buried that penalty in 1999 (like Cortnee Vine in 2023), there was rapture, all over the nation. It was the change of women's football (or sport) forever we declared!

Indeed, the 1999 moment did spark a surge of interest in women's football, likely bolstering the dominance of the USA team—partly aided by the benefits arising from Title IX, the 1972 legislation mandating equal opportunity in sports through schools. But the outcome wasn't as transformative as one might have expected. The professional league created for women found itself struggling; investment was scarce, marketing was average, and the standard of facilities left much to be desired.

It took more than 20 years to go from the "game-changing moment of that penalty kick" to finally seeing valuations of NWSL teams such as Angel City at $100 million, Gotham FC at $45 million and Washington Spirit at $35 million when first valuations were $1 to $2 million. Those teams only recently having monumental shifts in how one should invest in women’s sport.

Off the back of my clear angst of slow progress, I regularly get what could be described as crazy ideas to push things along. Like the time I asked, "Is it possible to split the men's and women's Perth Glory and take over the women's side with a new look, branding and unprecedented approach to athlete support? and ECU be the lead of it?" Clearly that didn’t happen but right now, that idea is sounding less and less crazy! (P.S. The Glory are for sale[4], you'll have to break new ground to split the license between men's and women's, but money always has a way of talking, waiting for Natalie Portman to call me, please give me credit if you take this idea up).

Remember, this is my journal entry, you must deal with random tangents and thoughts.

The most recent evidence, in the Australian context, shows why it is good business to sponsor women's sport. The research was commissioned by the Victorian Government's Office for Women in Sport and Recreation and delivered by Gemba[5] and a few of the very compelling results include:

1. Early adopters or early corporate sponsors of women's elite sport are benefitting from more than $650 million of customer value each year;
2. The return on investment for every $1 invested in the visibility of women's elite sport is a return of $7.29;
3. The sponsorship of women's sport yields greater outcomes in brand awareness, brand consideration and customer conversion.

Before I get ahead of myself and while also recognising my vested interest to make sport "front and centre", I realise that ECU isn't in the business of sport, however, we are in the business of transforming lives, enriching society while delivering an exceptional student experience that surely involves building a community and a sense of belonging. That sounds a lot like something sport has in common with education, so maybe it should be (a bigger) part of our business.

ECU is moving in the direction, to re-ignite our use of sport, particularly with our students (and staff). We are finalising our strategy under three pillars: (1) Formal sport and elite athlete program, (2) informal sport and activation, and (3) connected to and through sport in academic programs, research and industry.

ECU could be a leader in women’s sport, and we are competitive in everything else, why not this? I often think "what would Edith say/do?"

So, as I develop our strategy, what should we do now?

I've done the, what if we:

• sponsored an exorbitant number of grassroots girls sporting programs or pushed to sponsor as many women's teams in Perth as possible? Leveraging the trust that builds in ECU while also doing true good and supporting these girls at a level they have never seen?
• created specialisations in our sport-related academic fields that highlight the great work we do for women and girls in sport?
• created the next crop of broadcasters, reporters and front office personnel that know and are committed to women's sport not just trying on men's sport strategies hoping it fits?

Well, these are all my "what if's".

My request from the ECU community

I want others to share their ideas with me so I can make sure we don’t look back on this moment 20 years from now regretting not doing more.

In the meantime, if you want to invest in any of those ideas because it is your business, feel free to contact me. Waiting for that phone call Natalie Portman.

If you have an idea about sport and building a connection to ECU that is hard to find in any other way, please send me your ideas. My inbox is always open and I'm beyond happy to have a coffee chat and a watercooler conversation (but please don't share sporting scores, sometimes I watch them later and pretend it is live).

Soph

Go the Matildas! I still have some heartbeats left, I want to see you in that final!

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/13/matildas-world-cup-shootout-tv-audience-likely-the-biggest-since-cathy-freeman-race
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/mar/18/natalie-portman-wanted-to-shift-football-culture-so-she-founded-angel-city-fc
[3] https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/women-are-less-likely-men-to-be-promoted-heres-one-reason-why
[4] https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/tony-sage-out-as-perth-glory-go-into-receivership-20230722-p5dqfn.htm
[5] https://changeourgame.vic.gov.au/leadership-centre/you-can-be-what-you-can-see-report-findings