It’s been a massive year for women in sport in Australia.
Our athletes have done us proud internationally and in our own backyard. Wins, losses and draws, every single competitor and teammate showed just how talented and hard-working they are.
Our athletes fought hard against sporting systems that were never designed to include them – some have won, some are still fighting, but all are role models and trailblazers for the next generation.
So many records were broken. So many barriers were ripped down. Most of all, so many people who believed women do not belong playing sport were proven wrong.
Here is a wrap-up of all things sport in 2023.
International success
Australia started off the year with a World Cup win in cricket.
This year, not only did the Australian women’s team take out the T20 World Cup in February, but they also retained the Ashes for another year, defeating England in the coveted rivalrous tournament.
Their wins have proven they are well and truly the greatest cricket team in the world.
The Diamonds, Australia’s national netball team, also had a win at this year’s World Cup in South Africa in August.
The Aussies dominated over the England Vitality Roses throughout the whole game winning every quarter, rounding out a 61-45 win.
While the World Cup wins are phenomenal for women’s sport in Australia, there was one World Cup that everyone was talking about, and it was played right here Down Under.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup was perhaps the biggest sporting event in 2023. Australia’s national team, the Matildas, were closely followed by, well, everyone.
Their performance in the semi-final of the World Cup was the most watched program on television in recorded history.
While Australia’s cricket and netball teams were able to beat our biggest international rivals, unfortunately, the Matildas fell short of a World Cup win against England.
But their failure to progress to the final of the FIFA World Cup did not smear their name. In fact, as a result of their outstanding performance in the international tournament (Australia’s best ever result), “MATILDA” was announced as ANU’s Word of the Year.
Local Competitions
National competitions in Australia are usually dominated by men’s leagues, but 2023 saw a rise in women’s competitions in several different sporting codes.
Season 8 of the AFLW wrapped up just last month, with the Brisbane Lions defeating the North Melbourne Tasmania Kangaroos in a nail-biting final.
But there is so much more to be celebrated from this year in the AFLW. Women’s Agenda has captured some of the highlights of the season in an e-magazine, which you can read here.
The 2022-23 season of the Women’s A-League wrapped up in May this year, with Sydney FC winning their fourth championship.
Off the back of the Matildas’ success in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2023-24 women’s A-League has seen a significant rise in interest. As the season continues, Perth Glory and Melbourne City are the ones to beat, topping the ladder on 17 points.
As well as the A-League, there are many other competitions from different sporting codes happening over the summer, including basketball’s WNBL, the Suncorp Super Netball and cricket’s WBBL.
If you want to support women’s sport, stream the games, tune into broadcasts, and if you can, try get to a live match!
Sport is sport
Amid all the wins in women’s sport this year, female athletes are still falling short of equal standing with men’s sport.
Remember how the Diamonds won the World Cup? Despite their colossal efforts to do so – all those training sessions, time away from work, time away from family – the players received zero prize money. None.
Not long after, the players union and Netball Australia entered a massive pay dispute that saw Australian professional netball players unpaid for nine weeks.
Netball isn’t the only sporting code to have pay problems. The NRLW, the Wallaroos, rugby union’s national team, and the Matildas all called out how underpaid and, therefore, undervalued women in sport are.
Unequal pay between men and women in sport is in spite of research showing for every $1 a corporate sponsor invests into the visibility of women’s elite sport, the organisation gains, on average, $7.29 in customer value.
That’s if you need an economic reason to take women’s sport seriously.
Money and pay aside, here’s another reason to take women’s sport seriously. Folks, I give you: Sam Kerr.
Individual wins
Team sports have had many wins this year, but so have our individual athletes. While there is a long list of names we could rattle off, there’s one name that stands out: Madison de Rozario.
The marathon wheelchair racer began this year coming second place in the Boston Marathon. Then, just one week later, de Rozario not only came first, but broke the record at the London Marathon.
The 29-year-old Paralympic gold medallist wasn’t finished there. In September, she debuted at the 2023 Sydney Marathon and, once again, came on top.
Now, de Rozario is eyeing off the 2024 Paralympics in Paris next year, and we are sure to see her succeed there as well.
What’s next in 2024?
This year has had it all – ups, downs and everything in between – for women in sport. Next year, Paris will host the Olympics and Paralympics, and we are looking forward to seeing women bringing home the gold there.
Women’s Agenda will keep a close eye on all things sport locally as well, as sporting competitions continue over the summer.
But from all we have seen this year, one thing is clear: women’s sport is here to stay.