February 2, 2022 marks the 36th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day in The United States, yet the celebration is notably absent here in the UK.
NGWSD is celebrated annually during the first week of February to recognise women’s contribution to sports and society across the country with awards and activities.
However, in the UK there isn’t a similar appreciation for our women in sports.
America frequently mentions the likes of Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe, Naomi Osaka and their impact on young women in female sports.
According to statistics in the Guardian, two-third of male football fans in this country harbour, hostile, sexist or misogynistic attitudes of women’s sport.
This highlighted the ‘openly misogynistic masculinities’ determined by a study led by Durham university based on almost 2,000 male football supporters.
But in the last decade we have seen a rise in female sports being watched across the UK.
Grace Taylor, a 20-year old cheerleader at University of Nottingham believes that the UK should have a day to celebrate female success.
‘It would be great to have a UK national women’s sports day in order to promote aware of sportswomen and the benefit of being active.
The fact that we don’t celebrate women sports highlights a more systemic issue, so we really need to look into why that is.”
With women sport continuing to gain traction in the UK, the question must be raised if the UK will take Americas lead in giving a day to highlight women’s role in the industry.
