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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
WOMEN leaders in sport feel they are not appreciated.

Their hard work is ignored by critics who seem to think whatever they achieve is undercooked and a result of manipulation.

For that reason many have quit along the way without reaching their full potential.

Women have to push hard at every door that appears to be held open for men.

They have to prove themselves every day as past achievements do not seem to count as they do for the other gender.

The few who have made a name in sport feel their achievement is not recognised yet their male counterparts receive plaudits for every little achievement.

They are an afterthought.

Female sportspersons feel their achievement is belittled and society has this wrong belief that successful women benefited from sexual favours.

That belief has roots in a patriarchal society that has for long looked down on the female folk. Sport leadership was and still is a male territory.

But there are women, who have pulled the rope, climbed the ladder without aid and have shown quality leadership skills that match that of their male counterparts.

One such woman is Kirsty Coventry, the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation. There are many women in sport and they are doing well.

These women are the iron ladies of sport. They are wonder-women. They are trailblazers. They have faced gruelling challenges throughout history simply because they are women in a “male territory.” They have come closer and closer to achieving gender equality and those advances cannot be ignored.

The struggle for women to acquire sports equality has been a long and bruising battle. The first time women participated in high-performance sports was in 1900 during the Olympic Games in Paris, France. Even then they were limited to sports that were considered to be less physically demanding such as golf and tennis.

Adelaide Gumbo, who is also a sport scientist and administrator says society can be harsh on female sportspersons.

“The biggest challenge is people assume that when you get a position of power you do so by sleeping with someone. People don’t take you seriously because you are a woman, so you get silenced.

“People think women who are in sport are loose, cheap and easy targets which is not true. Society really needs to have a change of attitude, if we are to have more women taking up administration posts or even getting involved with sport,” said Gumbo, who is also Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Control Board (ZNBWCB) provincial co-ordinator.

Sport scientist and physical fitness instructor Khanyile Dlamini concurs with Gumbo.

“In sport in general, the most difficult challenge one has to overcome is being labelled as a loose woman.

When you get into administration the narrative changes to ‘you probably have a relationship with some powerful person who has placed you in that position.’

“Everything begins with a dream; you need to self-introspect and follow your heart’s desire and determine your career path and not what society prescribes for you,” says Dlamini.
Dlamini (40) is a holder of the FIVB Level 1 coaching certificate as well as a sports science degree from the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and has been applying her knowledge and expertise in different sports.

She is the Zifa physical fitness instructor for Bulawayo province and was at the Cosafa Under-17 and Under-20 men’s championship last year in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), South Africa as a referee’s physical fitness instructor and Covid-19 compliance officer.

Former Highlanders Royals chairperson and  Zifa Southern Region Women’s League board member (competitions) Sibekiwe Ndlovu says it takes a strong character to be a football administrator.

“It’s not easy. You need to be strong to stand your ground and refuse to be bullied because they seriously bully you. In our region there are 12 girls’ teams and only one is owned by a lady and some don’t like it at all and they don’t even hide it because you see these group chats where they discuss non-development things. Instead of discussing developing women soccer they discuss individuals and had it not been that I am a strong character, I could have long left like what other ladies do.

“Many want to be in football but they are being frustrated by some of these men. Some of the coaches even want to discuss administrative issues forgetting that their job is on the ground.” —  @innocentskizoe