The conference Bridges. Women and sport.
It's a tricky subject. And at the same time, it's a shame that it's a topic at all. On the one hand, it is commendable that the issue and the specifics of sports for the female part of the population are being raised, on the other hand, there are more question marks. And not only whether the setting of society is correct in this area, but also whether it is absolutely necessary to look for "solutions".
The challenging day-long program consisting of seven sessions moderated by three different individuals brought a diverse range of views on women's sports. The personal experiences of active top female athletes as well as the views of coaches and trainers were interesting. The well-organized conference had several highlights and a few points of contention. A Nepalese volleyball player and her Dutch co-coach spoke engagingly about their experiences of promoting the sport in areas where this type of activity is not widely practiced. Parallels with other areas such as business and the arts were also drawn and there were even a few notes played on the viola on stage. At the same time, in the fifth session, which dealt with women's sport and the media, there were several undertones that signalled that there is still a certain stigma over the perception of sport practised by women. The repeated emphasis (mostly by male representatives) that steps are being taken to 'straighten out' the situation is evidence of a skewed perception of both the real and the desired state of affairs. The remark that in order to achieve equality in gender representation on the media panel for the future, a female executive - a male director - would be sent to the meeting was a sad illustration of the misunderstanding of the issues being discussed.
Many thanks to the organizers who did a great job. Arrangements, graphics, organization, catering were excellent. Similar gatherings are always an important platform for debate, discussion, simply exchange of views, and if nothing else, at least the topic resonated in the sports community. It would be interesting to evaluate the real impact of the appeals that were made on sports officials, coaches and the athletes themselves.
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