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Female sport participation and promotion in Victoria has progressed in the past 20 years.
But it still has a long way to go, South West Sports’ Michael Neoh says.
“I think the barriers are breaking down but it just takes time,” the executive officer said.
Mr Neoh said it was a multi-pronged issue which stretched from the top level of executives, coaches and volunteers, to mums and teenagers playing sport at grassroots level.
He believes including more women at board, administration and official level would help change culture, ensure more equal representation and participation between both sexes in the future.
Mr Neoh said work by VicHealth around equity and female participation – as well as a Victorian Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation – demonstrated the government’s commitment to increasing activity levels among women.
The inquiry found there was a substantial gap between the number of men and women in leadership positions across all Victorian sporting sectors.
In Victoria, 29 per cent of executive officers in state sporting associations and regional sports assemblies are female, while 33 per cent of board positions available in these associations and assemblies were held by women.
The inquiry noted that while the gender imbalance was not as great as in the past, and a number of sports had appointed more female board members, there was still a long way to go.
Mr Neoh said boards were traditionally male dominated and South West Sports (SWS) would host club workshops on governance this year to specifically target female participants.
He said more organisations, including SWS, wanted to increase the number of females at board level.
By involving females in leadership they would “bring to the table barriers that could be there,” highlighting areas for improvement.
Priorities needed to be around making clubs more welcoming and inclusive to improve participation rates.
The disparity between men’s and women’s sporting facilities have improved, but could be greater enhanced.
Mr Neoh predicted the number and variety of sports offered to women would continue to increase in the future which would raise participation levels.
VicHealth statistics showed that 44 per cent of females participated in non-organised activities, compared to nine per cent who opted for organised activities.
“People are looking for informal activities. They’re not wanting to volunteer or have duty. They’re looking for fast food activities. You go, play and you’re back (home),” Mr Neoh said.
