The Tayla Harris kick challenge that is everything: #TaylaKickChallenge

The Tayla Harris kick challenge that is everything

A kick, quite literally, kicked off one of the biggest news stories in Australia last week. The incredible photo of AFLW star Tayla Harris, shared originally by 7AFL, mid-flight has been shared and re-shared hundreds of thousands of times after Harris was mercilessly abused online.

Trolling is the umbrella term that has been used for the torrent of vicious abuse Harris faced online but as sports reporter and author, Sam Lane, said on TV yesterday it’s not sufficient.

“There is a problem with violence and women in this country and this is a case study of why it is so important that we stand up and speak out and call it what it is,” Lane said. “Trolls doesn’t do it for me. This is sexist, it’s misogyny, it is hatred and it needs to be stamped out.”

She’s right. It does.

But there is a giant silver lining to this dark cloud and it’s what has happened since.

After the outpouring of support Tayla Harris received she put out the #TaylaKickChallenge: replicate her kick, share the picture online and she’ll pick a winner to receive a free pair of Nike boots.

Almost immediately social media was flooded with images of kids, men and women attempting to match her athleticism.

https://twitter.com/LAMcCormick/status/1109356185948315648

How good. The image of Tayla Harris will be immortalised not because of the ugly misogyny it revealed but because of the celebration it inspired. Turns out alot of Australians, of all ages, have a lot of time for a female athlete nailing her job.

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