By Adam Wakefield
For the love of the game
Rene Kalmer, a former South African Half-Marathon champion, two-time Olympian, and 2012 Spar Grand Prix Series winner, feels the main difference between men and women in sport is women do not do it for the fame, publicity or money.
“We do it for our love and passion for sport. What I treasure most about sport is the opportunities it gave me to travel the world, to have global friendships and to experience life in a whole different way,” Kalmer says.
With the male-dominated sports, such as football and rugby, receiving the lion’s share of publicity, it does seem like female athletes within the sports industry do not receiving enough publicity.
“Another issue is perhaps the fact that women are seen as ‘less sporty’ or not as athletic or strong as men. Limited recourses to female team sports makes it difficult to compete in getting the same publicity as our male counterparts,” she says.
The Big Three, boardrooms and women
Lerato Gumbi, owner and founder of media and branding firm Royal Dash Media, agrees with Kalmer’s perception that the exposure women receive in sports lags behind men.
“As it stands, women in South Africa receive only 5% of the media pie, with the rest dominated by their male counterparts. This makes marketing female sports very challenging,” Gumbi says.
“Women are disadvantaged by the Big Three and all the other sporting codes are dominated by men. The bulk of sponsorship goes to the Big Three and scraps are given to women. This creates a perpetual cycle that disadvantages women who are great sport contributors.”
While there has been increased female board representation since 2009, men on average still make up 76% of all board members on JSE-listed companies, according to the report.
Asked if this disproportionate gender split affects who receives sponsorships, Kalmer considers it more an issue of team sports versus individual athletes.
“If we look at the likes of Elana Meyer, Hestrie Cloete, Caster Semenya (athletics) Penny Heyns, Marianne Kriel (swimming), Bridgette Hartley (rowing), they are all Olympic medallists that won medals in individual sports,” Kalmer says.
“Companies would rather invest in a team than sponsoring an individual sport star, where the risk is bigger to get a return on investment.”
Gumbi, however, feels this imbalance does result in women athletes receiving less backing than their male counterparts.
“Publicity for women is still largely based on sexual connotations. The appeal is still on the sexual stereotypes and less on their actual performance.
Where women can excel
When it comes to which sports Gumbi feels offer the best opportunity for female sport sponsorships, she names road running and hockey.
For Kalmer, admitting possible bias, track and field, along with road running in general, provided the best opportunities for women to excel in sport.
“Women and men get equal opportunities to compete, with the same publicity and prize money,” she says.
Beyond expanding opportunities for women in sport, women receiving greater support would also have a wider social benefit for the country at large, Kalmer believes.
“The advantages of promoting women in sport is that more role models for girls growing up are created. Today's girls need to see sport as an essential part of their lives, they need women that they can look up to, women that succeed in sports and break boundaries in a male dominated sports world,” she says.
Are you involved in women sports publicity? Let us know in the comments below.