SailGP, professional sports leagues put women at the fore | Global News Avenue

With the popularity of women’s sports, professional leagues are increasingly touting the value of female athletes. New professional leagues like SailGP are being launched, with the advantage being built from scratch, with gender diversity being part of its DNA.

Non-contact and non-collision movements are leading. Equation 1 F1 Academy creates motorsport pipelines for womenaiming to increase female participation and representativeness of the racing stadium. Meanwhile, it is drawing More diverse fan bases. About 41% of F1 fans are now women According to Nielsen Sports.

Professional male and female athletes are already competing against each other United Kimchi Association’s Unified Alliancethis Global Hybrid Gender Basketball League And in Sailgp, International Sailing Alliance Founded by Oracle founder Larry Ellison and champion yacht Russell Coutts.

Founded in 2018, Upstart Sailing League involves 12 international teams participating in the high-speed, 50-foot catamaran known as the F50. With speeds of over 60 mph, SailGP is known for its reputation Formula One on the Water.

“The whole goal is to train athletes to compete on the F50, one of the most complex vessels in the world, and perhaps the hardest to compete in the world right now,” said SailGP CEO Coutts.

Kutz said the alliance didn’t keep the goal of gender equality in mind, but was just trying to create the most compelling competition.

“We believe that male and female athletes can compete with each other at the top of the sports, so when we see a difference in the level of participation, we don’t really see any logical reason – we took some steps to address this and we will take further steps in the future,” Coutts said.

To bridge the gap most female sailors face, SailGP has created programs to paint and train talents. In December, it Women’s Development Program in the DP World To date, in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, marks its largest training camp for women on water.

The league also requires each team to have at least one female athlete in the competition and sets the goal to have at least two female athletes in a key position for each team over the next five years. These key positions are the driver, who guides the ship. Strategists advise on tactics; wing trimmers, adjusting carbon fiber wing sails from 85 to 90 feet; flight controllers determine the height or low water of the ship on the water.

The next SailGP game is Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco, the second game of the second U.S. weekend game.

SailGP embeds inclusiveness and sustainability through one Impact League parallel to the Aquatic Champions. The team earned points to take action to make navigation easier to access and protect the environment to reach the podium. The winning team earns cash rewards from their partners. The Canadian team’s lead is attributed to its job opportunities, which provide training opportunities, sailing camps and demonstration days, introducing new Canadian athletes to frustrations.

“This changes the attention of very competitive people and competes in a world of influence and sustainability,” said Leah Davis, chief marketing officer of SailGP. “When you challenge the most competitive people in the world to be good at other things, they turn their eyes to that goal in a very influential way.”

In the water, 43% of SailGP’s C-Suite are women, up from 14% in 2021. McKinsey Women’s Workplace Report 2024. Last year the league launched Apex Group Accelerator program aims to increase female representation At the senior level of the company.

It also introduces initiatives designed to train more women in operations, technology and shipbuilding. For example, SAILGP Technologies in Southampton, UK offers Apprenticeship Training Program -Eight participants join the program each year, four men and four women. Today, 33% and 52% of SailGP’s directors are female.

Overall business strategy is helping to attract the league to new fans. In March, more than half of the ticket holders were women at last season’s New Zealand Championships, a trend that has remained stable this season.

“This kind of crowd has been boring in the sports field,” said Fiona Morgan, chief of SailGP. “A large part of our headwinds among fans are young fans – actually female fans – they may not consider sailing, but they like extreme sports or sustainability, or they like sports that have gender equality in their hearts.”

In June, Tommy Hilfiger was announced as Official lifestyle clothing partner of SailGP team in the United Statesjoin brands such as Red Bull, UAE, Mubadara, Rock Warrior and Deutsche Bank and join the individual team. November, SailGP announces signing of Rolex signature as first title sponsor.

“I don’t think there are many brands going to be sponsored these days, and that’s not diversity or fair at some point,” Morgan said. “Their consumers and investors will make sure they do that.”

In September, the league achieved a major milestone, announcing its first female driver. Two-time Olympic sailing champion Martine Grael participated in the 2024-25 season to create history and climb the rankings immediately with captaining the new Mubadala Brazil Sailgp team.

Teams from Spain, Canada and France led the league after the championships in Dubai, Auckland, New Zealand, Sydney and Los Angeles. Grael leads the German SailGP team and proves competitive with the experienced team USA.

“Past – still is – you see a lot of people saying, ‘Girls shouldn’t do that,'” Her answer was to assert that old way of thinking: “What shouldn’t be done?”

Grael attributes much of her early success to familiarizing herself with the boat using SailGP’s simulator, thus developing muscle memory, even on the water. Unlike traditional ships built by male sailors, Sergep’s modern foiling ship opens opportunities for women who don’t need much physical strength, she said. When to know when to press the button and develop a good feeling for the boat is equally important for more body functions, Greer said.

“Some men don’t understand that a girl has the ability to play her role,” she said.

Grael Hannah Mills, strategist for the UAE Great Britain team and Team USA’s Anna Wes – Say that although women are still in the minority, things are changing.

Women like Justine Mettraux of Switzerland competed in the Marquee, who ranked eighth in this year’s Vendée Globe one-handed, uninterrupted, non-assisted round competition, are bringing a new woman to their new associates to get a chance and get it.

“We have less restriction – I’ve never been told I shouldn’t do something,” Glar said. “There are a lot of other people looking at us and they’ll become strong.”