Should men ever be commentating women’s sport?

It’s not often Cate Campbell and I are divided in opinion, but in this week’s episode of Here if You Need we found ourselves with slightly opposing views of whether more men should be included in the commentary of women’s sport.

Put simply, I don’t feel we need to be ‘balancing out’ commentary teams based on gender. It should come down to the talent’s knowledge and insight of the game. Now, this is NOT a license for sports bosses to then go ‘great, so we should revert to having all males in the commentary box because men know the game best’. 

It’s clearly evident through the inclusion of female commentators in the last decade or so, that there is valuable insight, analysis and opinion to be gained from both genders, regardless of the sport.

What I am saying is that I don’t feel in a scenario where you have an all-female commentary team, that one or two should be swapped out for a couple of male commentators to balance out the panel. We have fought for so long to see women get the same opportunity as men, the last thing I want to see is a talented female media personality have an opportunity taken away from them purely because of their gender.

Listen to Hayley discuss this topic with Cate Campbell on Here If You Need. Post continues after podcast. 

Does an all-female commentary team say that sport is only for women? I don’t believe so. 

I’ve watched predominantly men’s sports my whole life (because let’s be honest, there weren't a whole lot of women’s sports to watch growing up), and I have never let the gender of the commentary team affect my decision on whether or not to watch the sport. It has always come down to the talent of the commentary team, the insight and analysis that they bring to the sport.

This is not to say I don’t think men should feature in women’s commentary. 

I believe they add valuable input, in fact, it was awesome to see a mix of both women and men throughout the recent AFLW season’s commentary. I simply don’t want to see decisions based on gender. 

We have proved through the inclusion of females on sport commentary teams that we are just as good as (if not better than, in some cases) male commentators. Decisions should be made on skill, expertise, entertainment, analysis and all the other qualities that are required to bring the action into your living room. 

Image: Hayley Willis Instagram + Mamamia.