More than four million Canadians were glued to their television cheering for red and white in the gold medal game against Sweden in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. To date, roughly “85, 000 young girls are registered in a soccer program” with idols to many of those who were playing in the final game. These young girls make up for a large percentage of Canada’s prospective athletes.
A twelve-year-old girl from Quebec spoke out about the disappointment her and her teammates felt after they were unable to find a Women’s Team Canada jersey to wear in support of their home team for the big game. However, she was able to find a Men’s Team Canada jersey who did not qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and the young girl expressed that they “thought it was really unfair”.
It is evident Canada is behind the times in comparison to many other countries who provide merchandise in support of their professional women’s teams. This was a missed opportunity to help market the women’s team and celebrate their huge accomplishments for Canada.
Female athletes constantly demonstrate perseverance and resilience to overcome boundaries created by inequality. Gender equality has been a societal issue for decades, and the masculinization of sport is a major sociological issue that women face. Women continuously experience challenges entering sport and it is evident that the Canadian women’s teams are not supported to the same caliber as are national men’s teams. Research suggests women’s sports lag far behind men’s even though women account for a large percentage of the sporting world. It is both disheartening and discouraging to see female national sports teams are not as proudly represented by Canada. But there is hope for female athletes and fans to continue pushing for what they deserve.
Morrissey, A.
Sport, Not Games ⚽ 