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BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011: A no show for the women

By JoJo Rennie

Image: Press Association Images

There was certainly cause for celebration this year as Mark Cavendish was awarded BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY). He was a deserved winner after having a phenomenal year; becoming world road race champion, winning the green jersey at the Tour De France – the first British racer to have done so – and winning five stages of this hugely gruelling event. However, the BBC have had there fair share of controversy surrounding these awards, as previously, eyebrows had been raised at the lack of women who made the nominations list. And by lack, I mean complete absence.

After nominations were announced in late November, many top female athletes took to Twitter to discuss the news. The general tone was not of personal disappointment, but of a general disappointment surrounding the damage and the obvious neglect of British women in sport this past year. The likes of Rebecca Adlington, Jessica Ennis and Chrissie Wellington – amongst others – were overlooked. Adlington won gold in the 800m freestyle in July in Shanghai. Ennis has also had a strong year, narrowly missing out on a gold medal in the World Championships in August, and is back in training with high hopes for success at London 2012. Wellington – allegedly the most angry at the omission of women from the SPOTY short list – has arguably had the most impressive year; cementing her place in the sporting world with an impressive fourth World Championship Ironman title.

Hope Powell, coach of the England Women's football team, has waded in on the debate. She speaks more broadly about the disinterest from mainstream media in the UK in regards to women's sport. Despite acknowledging that there was some significant media attention on the Women's England team during their World Cup campaign over the summer, she concedes that this was fleeting. The England team achieved considerable success on the World stage, reaching the quarter finals. But have since been distinctly absent in the media, especially after recently having played an important qualifier match. The sporadic interest in women's sport is all too apparent.

Football in Britain has, by far, the highest participation levels of women and girls than any other sport in the UK, yet Powell highlights her belief that “sports editors don't want to read about women's football.” It's interesting to note that, in 2011 ESPN were averaging “about 60,000 viewers for each [Women's Super League] match, on a par with Scottish Premier League games.”

It is not just Powell who argues there is inconsistent coverage of women's sport in the UK. Karen Carney, a first team member of Powell's side, notes how successful the England rugby and cricket teams are. But the lack of media attention on these performers affects the public's perception of both the sports in which these women participate, and the individuals themselves. This is echoed by Nicky Ponsford, a member of the management team for England's Women rugby team, as he speaks about the omission of women from the SPOTY nominations list: “It's not recognising the performances that have taken place.”

It is easy to view the all male nominations list as an oversight of the hard work and accomplishment of British female athletes this year. To only see men is a disappointing, and unfair, reflection on the work put it by all British sports performers; men and women alike. Of course, it would be more insulting if there were women included on the short list as a means to be politically correct. Perhaps the dominance of media attention on men's sport has reared its head on this issue, thrusting the better known, highly publicised athletes to the forefront. Women have achieved great success in previous years on the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year- and it's important to remember this. It's also necessary to remember that the year ahead is going to be huge for British athletes; with the staging of the Olympics. So let us hope that there are, justifiably of course, a prolific number of women on the nominations list next year.

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