The appetite for women’s sport is strong. What’s lacking is infrastructure designed with women in mind, write hockey internationals Lily Owsley and Ashley Hoffman
2025 already feels like the year of women’s sport. The Lionesses have become a household name, women’s rugby is drawing record crowds, and across the UK stadiums are filling with people who once would have been told “there’s no audience for women’s matches.”
And yet, despite the excitement, let’s be clear: women’s sport is not “emerging.” It is underbuilt.
The demand is already here. The talent is already here. What’s missing is the right foundation.
For too long, the playbook has been copied from men’s sport; training regimes, commercial models, pathways to professionalism. But for women, the journeys look different.
Our strengths are not inferior or superior, just different. And the healthiest future for sport isn’t one where women compete with men for attention, but one where both thrive – on their own courts, in equilibrium.
A different kind of training
What does it mean to grow into a female athlete? The truth is, our development begins long before we set foot on a pitch.
As little girls, we choreograph dances at sleepovers – learning to collaborate, to lead and follow, to bring a group together around a shared rhythm.
We coordinate outfits with friends in primary school. Organising, uniting, creating identity. We whisper late-night gossip in secondary school, not frivolous chatter, but lessons in empathy, social awareness and mutual care.
By the time we are braiding each other’s hair, sharing our locations, and making sure no one gets left behind, we’ve already internalised teamwork and safety as instinct.
These aren’t small things. They are early rehearsals for the skills that define female athletes: collaboration as habit, support as survival, care as strength.
The reality check
And yet, the system doesn’t see it. Too often, women’s sports only receive investment when players reach their peak – when medals are in sight and sponsors want the spotlight. The foundation years, when girls need access to facilities, safe environments, and sustainable coaching, go unseen and unsupported.
The statistics tell the story. Less than 10% of global sports sponsorship currently goes to women.
In the UK, women’s sport receives under 1% of total commercial investment. Broadcast coverage is improving, but still hovers around 15% of total sports airtime. And many sports beyond football and rugby – hockey, cricket, netball, athletics – remain overlooked despite producing world-class talent.
The audience is not the problem. The Lionesses’ Euro 2025 final drew over 16.2 million viewers in the UK, the most-watched TV event of the year. The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England set attendance and viewership records. The appetite is there, the fans are there. What’s lacking is infrastructure designed with women in mind.
Playing on our court
So what if, instead of trying to fit ourselves into a system that wasn’t built for us, we built our own? A female athlete’s court would not be transactional or cut-throat. It would be creative, communal, competitive on its own terms. It would be designed for sustainability, belonging, and fun – not just short-term profit or quick wins.
This isn’t about saying women are “better.” It’s about balance. Men’s and women’s sports each bring unique strengths. Together, they enrich the whole ecosystem. The future of sport is not zero-sum. It is equilibrium.
The call
As we celebrate the rise of women’s sport, we must also widen the lens. Some sports are still underrepresented, waiting for their moment. If we are truly to “play like girls,” then the responsibility is collective: to ensure every sport, every athlete, every young girl with a dream has a place on our court.
Because the future is not one where women finally prove they can do it “like the boys.” It’s one where boys grow up saying, “Let’s work together like the girls.”
