In the year where Wimbledon offered equal prize money for men and women for the first time in one hundred and thirty years, I think it’s timely to look at the professionalism of women’s sport. In particular to ask whether it’s possible to be a woman and a professional athlete in Australia? There are a number of Australian women who make a living playing sport and a select few that become millionaires. The elite women in Australian sport are usually golfers, tennis players, Olympians or play basketball. Karrie Webb has amassed more than twelve million dollars in prize money, winning multiple “majors” and been ranked number one in golf. Tennis players such as Alicia Molik, Samantha Stosur, Rennae Stubbs and Nicole Pratt have all become millionaires and enjoyed lengthy professional careers, despite the fact that only Molik has been ranked in the top ten in singles. Lauren Jackson, our highest profile basketball playing woman, can earn a six figure sum for competing for one month in Russia.

These women are lucky that their sports are popular in the USA, Europe and North Asia. They make their living in international sports where they can capitalize on a world market. If they were limited to the opportunities that exist solely in Australia, then they would not be able to maximize their potential as athletes. This is a stark contrast to male sports in Australia where you can be a highly paid performer enjoying a professional career in the four major football codes, basketball and cricket without leaving the country. While male athletes like Harry Kewell, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Bogut can achieve superior remuneration because of the overseas marketplace, those that have less talent can still enjoy the life of a sports professional.

Sports played by men dominate the Australian sports calendar. Sponsorship and television rights worth hundreds of millions of dollars are consumed by the professional leagues that exist within Australia. In many of these sports, male domination is so entrenched that women playing the game are a miniscule element and a sideshow especially in Australian Rules Football and the rugby codes. Participation by women at junior levels is only to engender a love of the game as a future spectator or supporter of men’s events. Where a sport is dominated by women the reverse is true. Despite free-to-air television coverage, a long history, cultural acceptance, grass roots popularity and high standards of athleticism, a sport like netball can do little more than pay expenses. In 2005 over eighty percent of respondents in a survey conducted by the Australian Workers’ Union and Australian Netball Players’ Association earned less than $4,000 per season in netball’s Commonwealth Bank Trophy, despite meeting the expectations of professional athletes.

Some international sports are managed by one governing body based in Australia and in cricket, basketball and soccer women come a distant second to men when it comes to remuneration. In all these sports I doubt whether any athlete could be called fully professional in Australia. Dianne Alagich, Sarah Walsh, Heather Garriock and Danielle Small, members of the Australian women’s soccer team that will compete at the World Cup in 2007, have to maintain full-time jobs in the Australian government, a sporting apparel company, a soccer academy and as a personal trainer. Professionalism for women in their sport is only available in the leagues that exist in the USA, Europe and Japan. Lauren Jackson played for many years in Australia for the Canberra Capitals at her own financial detriment, until this year when she chose to play in Korea and Russia for ten times the amount available here.

In many of these international sports it is not the sport itself that enables athletes to compete even on a semi-professional level, but the direct action of the Australian Federal Government. Only the Federal Government’s direct intervention through Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarships and other grants can give cricket’s Southern Stars professional training opportunities and pay a number of their expenses. It’s somewhat ironic that Cricket Australia appreciate the potential to increase the participation of women in order to grow their sport, but do little to promote the accomplishments of their teams or the personalities of key cricket playing women. Women cricketers can’t even aspire to the modest payments and contracts provided to their male counterparts at state level. Their AIS scholarships expect them to “occupy themselves gainfully outside their sport to a degree and in a manner expected of them by the Institute”, not a recipe for professionalism.

Olympic athletes have been a prominent part of the Australian psyche and are amongst our most recognizable sportspeople. Only in this sector of the Australian sports market are women promoted as individuals and a few able to obtain support, sponsorship and funding to be professional. The vast majority are still only able to participate on a semi-professional level and even the loss of a modest Victorian Government scholarship can cause a well know athlete like Tamsyn Lewis considerable angst.

Will women be able to enjoy a professional sports career in Australia? The short answer is no. As long as the major football codes and cricket dominate the revenue streams there will be precious little left. Even then men playing basketball, soccer and similar sports will be supported to a much greater extent than women. Women will need to just love their sport, rely on government and manage their athletic pursuits with full-time work unless there is a major change in attitude by governing bodies, corporate sponsors and other commercial interests. Otherwise you’ll be lucky if your chosen sport has overseas opportunities and if you’re really lucky you might play a sport where women can be the focus and run by an organization like the Ladies Professional Golf Association or the Women’s Tennis Association. Only then can an Australian woman enjoy a professional sports career.