«Women are the future of men ». Those are the words that from French poet Louis Aragon that Lucien Boyer, General Commissioner of the Global Sports Forum Barcelona 2011 opened the first debate on Thursday the 10th of March. An hour later, all the speakers agreed that even if women are more and more implicated in sport, there is still a long way for the equality between them and men. For that, they explained how youth needs guidance for that.
Samantha Davies, sailor (UK)
« I do not understand how on the last race of the Vendée Globe, only two women were registered for 30 participants. This is especially infuriating given that we finally classified 4th and 6th. There is no rational explanation for this. I think that it is more about a problem of communication. We always have to create a buzz and make our sport attractive to increase interest in the media and in ourselves. We must give young people, and more particularly young women, the desire to practice our sport. Allow them to believe in their dreams. It's a chance for me to be a role model for future sailors. I dream that one day a woman can win a big race. I'm sure we are not very far for that. And even more certain that this will allow our sport to attract more women”
Donna De Varona, double Olympic gold medalist in swimming, first President of the Women’s Sports Foundation and award winning journalist (USA)
«Fortunately women are increasingly present in the world of sport than in my time. But everything is about leadership and therefore we must involve them more in the institutions. The future is in our hands. When I see how the World Cup women's football 1999 has enabled women to be more involved in sport in the United States, I say to myself that even if nobody seems to believe we can with a lot of will move mountains”.
Mia Hamm, former soccer player and founder of the Mia Hamm Foundation (USA)
« My family always encouraged me. My parents always supported me and said to believe in my dreams. Today when I coach kids, they tell me they do not necessarily have time to watch sports on TV or get more involved into the practice. This can only be worrying. We need to push our children in a more comfortable position so they would like to do a specific sport. Being young, my role models were men, Michael Jordan, for example. But today it's great that women can be role models. I say to myself that my daughters are lucky. If I had one dream for women in sport, it would be for them to stop having to fight harder than men to prove their value. "
Chantal Jouanno, French minister of sport (France)
« France has 115 sport federations, including 11 that are headed by women. With my team, we seek to put more and more women in strategic positions, but it takes time. I'm not necessarily against quotas. Media needs also to be self-critical. In Europe, when you read a sports newspaper, it is very rare to see a photo of a woman. I wish we could do some pact with them to encourage promoting women's sports. In the meantime, I have already promised that some aid from the French state will go to clubs of neighborhoods and most of all those that help women develop themselves through sport. I hope that one day all women will be free to practice a sport wherever they live”.
Urvasi Naidoo, President of the l’IFNA Netball (UK)
«Women's sports in general lack of sponsors, media coverage ... This is above all what we need to work on in the aim of attracting more people. I also believe in the importance of having role models, women placed at the head of large governing bodies of the soprt world. This is especially critical for emerging countries where the sport is even more complex for women than in developed countries.”
Pernilla Wiberg, Olympic champion and former IOC member (Sweden)
«I am very fortunate to have always been treated equally in my sport. Everything comes from the federations. If they are willing to offer the same rewards, the same coverage to women than men, we cannot talk anymore about inequality. My sport has always been rather masculine. It is thanks to the arrival of women that an interest has exploded. I hope a woman will soon be at the head of a large federation. We need models. »
Katarina Witt, Olympic champion of artistic skating, producer, TV anchorwoman, actress and author.
«My sport has always been rather feminine. It is since I am retired that I do feel differences between men and women. Now working in broadcasting, I am well placed to know that sport is competing with reality TV. It is imperative that youth remember the values of sport and in particular that we do not become famous overnight, but by hard work. Rather than believing that if a woman wants a career in sport, her husband should stay home and take care of the family, I would like to think that states establish structures in which such questions no longer arise. We must work together, not either one or the other.
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