The Importance of the W-League for Female Sports

 

The Importance of the W-League for Female Sports

 

Women betting

Intro

It would be fair to say that sports in Australia have been rather male-dominated up until recent times. In fact, there was no professional soccer league in Australia until 2008. This was when the W-League enjoyed its first season as a recognized and professional soccer league for female players. And interestingly, it has been widely accepted and enjoyed by fans all across Australia. Although the league still consists of just 9 teams, it has been built up enough to attract lucrative sponsorship deals, TV rights, and much more.

While we believe that this is fantastic for women's sports in Australia, we’d like to look at why the W-League has had such an impact around the country. There are a few factors to get through in this relatively short post, so let’s get started.

Fantastic for equality

Arguably, the most standout factor since the introduction of the W-League is the campaign for equality among male and female athletes. Although there are many sporting events and leagues around the world where equal pay has been a major talking about recently, the W-League has gone above and beyond. That’s because it isn’t just equal pay that the league draws attention to - it’s also the fact that female athletes can attract just as much attention as male athletes. This, of course, relates to the popularity and general interest in the W-League vs the male counterpart, the A-League.

Up until recent times, it was likely not even considered that female sport could potentially start to rival interests in male sport. And this would definitely be true for a sport that is perceived as being quite a masculine sport like soccer. But as we’ve noticed in recent years, the 9 teams currently involved in the W-League have drawn large crowds, boosted the soccer industry in general, and they have shown that female players can put on a show as the guys can! These days, you can even find quite a bit of sports betting online activity for the W-League!

Inspiring for young female athletes

Naturally, there are many sports in this world where female athletes participate, yet some are more accepted than others. Some prime examples would be athletics, tennis, golf, and many others. However, soccer is a sport that is just starting to make its breakthrough for female participation. And for that reason, we feel that the W-League serves as fantastic inspiration for young females looking to go down a career path of professional sports. After all - why shouldn’t this door be open to young dreamers all across Australia?

When young girls turn on the TV or go to the stadium to watch their favorite athletes from the W-League put on a show, we are sure that they will start to feel that they can achieve such great feats. Of course, with the W-League now being recognized as a professional soccer league, there is also justification for wanting to pursue this career. Up until 2008, this would be just a pipe dream for young female athletes, but today, it is a reality.

More soccer action year-round

Besides the obvious rise in attention for equality for female athletes, we also feel that the W-League is great as it supplies us with more soccer action throughout the year. While the A-League obviously hosts a bunch of games during the regular season, the W-League adds a whole new realm to the world of competitive soccer in Australia. Although there are just the 9 teams currently competing, this adds plenty of soccer action both throughout the week and on the weekends.

As it happens, this drive for fans to be able to watch all of the W-League games did not become a true success until 2018/2019. This is the very first season in which every single one of the W-League matches would be broadcast by the major sports channels in Australia. The games have even popped up on streaming sites such as YouTube too, which shows that even the major broadcasting companies are now taking the W-League seriously, as they should.

Difference in gameplay

This is a factor that probably flies under the radar for many soccer fans in Australia, but we feel it is actually a pivotal one. As you may know already, the A-League can be quite a forceful and quick style of play, with many challenges and set formations regularly seen. However, the women's style of play is quite different - in a good way. When you watch a W-League game, there is much more fluidity in the game, it is more open, and it takes a different approach when looking to score goals.

While the players obviously won’t have the same force or aggression when playing, the league has shown us that this isn’t necessary for entertaining soccer. In fact, some of the patterns of play and the tricks that these athletes can do is super exciting to watch, which is another contributing factor to the increased interest in the W-League.

Final Thoughts

While the W-League has only been around for just over a decade, there have clearly been so many benefits for both sports and female athletes in Australia. As the league continues to expand and grow, we hope that this interest and acceptance in female soccer players grow with it. Who knows - the W-League may even overtake the A-League one day, but at the very least, we hope they emerge as absolute equals.