GIANTS Netball’s motto is to #StandUnited.
United on court, with our members and fans behind us, and united with our fellow female athletes.
Tuesday, March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD). A day which celebrates women, raises awareness about women’s equality and lobbies for accelerated gender parity.
Each year brings a new theme, with the 2022 theme #BreakTheBias
IWD wants to create a gender-equal world - a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
Everyone knows GIANTS netballer Tilly McDonell as the ever-enthusiastic and passionate emerging goal keeper.
A fun-loving and larrikin character, she is driven and determined.
What you may not know, is that McDonell is in her fourth year at the University of NSW (UNSW) studying Law and Psychology (honours).
On the court she aspires to win premierships and represent her country. But off the court she wants to be a “boss” women’s sports lawyer.
“My main goal is continuing to bridge the gap between female and male sports,” McDonell said.
She points to the Equal Pay for Equal Play campaign which was started by surfer Lucy Small and journalist Kate Allman to make sporting spaces in NSW more gender inclusive.
It calls for gender equity to be made a condition for sporting organisations to receive State Government grants, funding, and tenders.
McDonell acknowledges the improvement in women’s sport thanks to the work of Small and Allaman as well as the inspirational legendary tennis player Billie Jean King and close to home - GIANTS AFLW player Chloe Dalton.
“I believe that gender equality in sport has certainly improved, yet in the same breath, there is so much more work that needs to be done,” she said.
“The example of the US Women's soccer team is particularly inspiring, with members reaching a landmark $24 million settlement as well as bonuses that match those of the men.
“Chloe Dalton posted on The Female Athlete Project that the minimum wages for women in Australian sport are considerably lower than the minimum wages for men.
“For example, the minimum wage for an AFLW athlete is $16k and the min for an AFL athlete is $85k.
“This difference is staggering and highlights the need for greater improvement and equality overall.”
IWD is about advocating for change, but also a chance to celebrate inspiring female role models. Whilst always looking to using their voice to continue to effect change, it’s a source of pride that netballers are the highest paid domestic female athletes in Australia.
But that doesn’t mean there still isn’t more work to do.
“We still have reduced funding, access to television rights, access to resources and limited opportunities for pathway progression,” McDonell said.
For McDonell the 2022 theme means:
“Working towards developing a world that is free from bias, discrimination and stereotypes that inhibit the lives of women in both the present and future.
“And it begins at grassroots. Our young men and women need to be educated on ways forward in this space with an importance on equal opportunity and access.”
Stand United with McDonell, the GIANTS and female athletes across the country to #BreakTheBias.
