Why Diminishing Women’s Sport Misses the Point: Celebrate the Lionesses and All Athletes

Well done Lionesses! Football – coming home – for some!

A third consecutive final—and a chance to retain your title. What an incredible achievement. Spain in the Final – You can do it..

And yet… in some corners, we still hear:

“They’re not as good as the men.”
“They wouldn’t make the first team at ……”
“They’re not as fast, strong, or skilled.”
“They still kick like girls.”

It makes me mad.

We don’t compare heavyweights with lightweights in boxing – in quite the same way.
If you love motor sport you watch F1 and appreciate and celebrate the other forms of the sport..
We accept, in para-sport, a classification system—because we understand the value of fair and meaningful competition.
We don’t dismiss lightweight rowing or dismiss horse races limited to certain categories of horse.

We would think it strange if someone claiming to be a wine lover only drunk French Burgundy.

We simply appreciate the sport. The competition. The drama. The skill. The athleticism.
We get invested. We cheer. We care.

So why do some still feel the need to diminish women’s sport?

What are they really afraid of?

If you truly love sport, why not celebrate all of it?