Today is a major milestone for Women’s sport in Ireland. The Irish rugby team has led the transformation over the past two years in how we as a nation view our sporting stars regardless of gender. Today they play the opening game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in France against former World Champions the United States.
It’s a must win game with the All Blacks waiting in the wings next Tuesday and only three group winners and one best placed runner up making it to the semi finals and a top 4 finish. That is the target which management and players have set for themselves and this is a team which has delivered.
17 months ago they became only the third group of Irish rugby players to achieve a Grand Slam. Six months ago they stepped out for their first international match at the Aviva Stadium. Throughout this journey they have represented themselves and Women’s team sports with purpose, humility and joy.
They have been great role models and the work put in by people like Fiona Coghlan, Lynne Cantwell and all the rest will stand the test of time as great players, and whether they fully know it or not, as leaders in Ireland of a worldwide trend to reverse decades of less respect and opportunity for Women’s sport than it deserved.
Their story has been told in mainstream media as never before. in print, on radio and on our TV screens they have been to the fore in a way which two years ago may have been seen as impossible. That is not because of a quota of coverage, or because of gimmicks. It is because they deserve to be reported on and the public want to know about them.
This afternoon at 4pm they will be beamed live on TG4 and Sky Sports, as will all their matches as far as this journey takes them over the next 17 days.
They have already impacted on the lives of players who might never have played rugby. Two thirds of the senior clubs in Ireland, once the preserve of men now field a senior Women’s team. Player numbers are growing faster than any other sector of the sport and has become a serious option for girls who want to play sport and are motivated by the camaraderie of a team and the benefit of physical fitness.
It is a want that in years to come we will recognise as always having been there but never having had the energy or the opportunity to be expressed. Like the question of voting one hundred years ago we will soon consider the right of Women to play sport and have that recognised by media and the general public as something which took too long to be exercised but which has now come about.
Last week the U19 soccer team performed way beyond anybody’s expectation in reaching the semi finals of the European Championships, beating England, Spain and Sweden along the way. Katie Taylor continues to box at the very top of the World order and Annalise Murphy in sailing will this weekend take part in an Olympic test event among the top six sailors in the world.
It is a golden ag for Ireland’s sporting Women. We should cherish the moments they are giving us and encourage those who will follow to never give up their own personal dreams of emulating them.
The beauty of sport is that there is always a tomorrow, always another chance to get out and do better. The biggest days though are few and far between. Today is one of those for a group of players that have put in the hard yards as amateurs in a way that few of us will ever be asked to do.
They deserve to succeed. We wish them every possible piece of good luck as they go about making it happen.
