| Current Issues | No.43 January 2005 |
Women’s participation in National Sports Associations in Hong Kong Meelee Leung, Hong Kong |
“Kalos Kagathos” –the spirit of the ancient Olympic Games has the ideal of health and physical strength, a developed mind as well as cultural soul. (Hanley, 1987) For the harmonious development of the whole person, education remains the goal of all human beings that participated in the Olympics, whether as an athletes, coach or administrator, regardless of gender. It is based on this principle that I conduct this study on tracing the development of women’s sport in Hong Kong Women have moved into the modern Olympic Games from a position of total exclusion in 1896 to a partial inclusion in the earlier 20th century. (Stier, 1991) Although women’s participation has increased substantially since the turning of the 21st century as athletes, there is still not a total acceptance in the governance structure of the Olympic movement. In view of this, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy objectives do not only focus on sports practice, they are also highly concerned with women’s involvement in the decision making structures of sports organizations. (Stivachitis, 2000) At the 105th International Olympic Committee Session held in July 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), one of the resolutions was that the NOCs should immediately established, as a goal to be achieved by 31 December 2000, that at least 10% of all the officers in their decision making structures be held by women and that percentage should reach 20% by December 2005. The International Federations, the sports organizations belonging to the Olympic movement, should also immediately establish, as a goal to be achieved by 31 December 2000, that at least 10% of all the officers in their decision making structures should be held by women and such percentage reached 20% by 31 December 2005. (International Olympic Committee, 1997) To echo the objectives of the IOC, Hong Kong set up The Women and Sports Commission in January 2000, with the following terms of reference: To create awareness that sport activities are fundamental to ensure the physical well-being and mental health of women. To encourage women’s participation and involvement activities and sports organizations. To strive for equal opportunities for women to participate in major sports competitions and Games. To publicise the achievements of women athletes. To organize educational activities in relation to women and sport to address specific needs of women in sport. To urge the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and its members associations to fill more of their decision-making positions with women in their organizations. After its establishment, the Commission has organized one local conference every year under different themes such as 1) Creating new experiences in the new century, 2) Inside out of developing female athletes, 3) Winning formula for recruiting and motivating volunteers, 4) Exercise program called Mother and Child. (Fung, 2004) Hong Kong has progressed at a faster pace in women’s sports when comparing to many western countries. This can be seen in the participation of women in major games. PARTICIPATION OF HONG KONG WOMEN IN MAJOR GAMES FROM 1986-2004
NAME OF MAJOR GAMES | COMPETITORS | OFFICIALS
Asian Games – Seoul, 1986 Olympic Games – Seoul, 1988 Commonwealth Games – Auckland, 1990 Asian Games – Beijing, 1990 Olympic Games – Barcelona, 1992 East Asian Games – Shanghai, 1993 Commonwealth Games – Victoria, 1994 Asian Games – Hiroshima, 1994 Pacific Games – Columbia, 1995 Olympic Games – Atlanta, 1996 East Asian Games - Pusan, 1997 Asian Games – Bangkok, 1998 Olympic Games – Sydney, 2000 Asian Games – Busan, 2002 Olympic Games – Athens, 2004 | Male 138 39 43 149 28 28 28 78 4 14 28 163 19 157 13 | Female 53 10 24 66 10 31 25 40 3 9 23 50 12 61 17 | % 27.8 20.4 35.8 30.6 26.3 52.5 47.1 33.8 42.8 39.1 45 23.5 38.7 28 56.7 | Male 42 19 14 52 20 20 8 29 8 23 16 60 25 93 24 | Female 4 2 3 4 6 7 5 5 1 3 4 13 7 16 6 | % 8.7 9.5 17.6 7.1 23 25.9 38.4 14.7 11.1 11.5 20 17.8 21.8 14.7 20
As to women’s involvement in governance structures in the National Sports Associations, a survey was conducted in March 2004. A questionnaire was sent to all National Sports Association affiliated to the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China. 46 responses were received and results are as follows: A table on the descriptive statistics showing the profile of National Sports Associations
Items in Q 2-9 | Male | Female | Total | % of female
Individual member | 85121 | 57151 | 142272 | 40.2
Referees registered | 2760 | 1102 | 3862 | 28.5
Coaches registered | 6366 | 2532 | 8898 | 28.4
Year National Team begin for | 1866 | 1949 | ----- | -----
Head coaches for men’s National Team | 177 | 36 | 213 | 17
Head coaches for women’s National Team | 161 | 50 | 211 | 23.7
Members on Board of Directors | 641 | 84 | 725 | 11.6
Members on Executive Committee | 879 | 208 | 1087 | 19.1
Despite growing participation of women in sports in recent years and increased opportunities for women to participate in different sports arenas, women are still under-represented in coaching and officiating, especially at the elite level. A table showing the number of male and females involved in the governance of NSAs in Hong Kong
Items from Q 10-11 | Male | Female | Missing Data | Total | % of Female | Valid %
Gender of Presidents | 44 | 5 | 2 | 51 | 9.8 | 10.2
Gender of V-Ps | 38 | 2 | 8 | 51 | 3.9 | 5
Gender of Sec. General | 34 | 14 | 2 | 51 | 27.4 | 29.1
Gender of Delegation Head | 35 | 2 | 11 | 51 | 3.9 | 5.4
Gender of Team Manager | 29 | 6 | 8 | 51 | 11.8 | 17.1
Gender of Head Coach | 29 | 2 | 11 | 51 | 3.9 | 6.4
The case of women participation in governance in NSAs and as decision makers are still limited compared to their male counterparts. Using the SPSS 10.0 the following hypotheses were tested: There is no correlation between number of males and number of females involved in the NSAs’ participation in their respective sports. There is no significant difference between the number of males and number of females involved in the NSAs’ governance. Paired sample correlation was used to test the first hypothesis. The hypothesis was rejected and it was found that there was significant correlation between the number of males and number of females involved in the NSAs’ participation in their respective sports as individual member, referee, coach or administrator. Correlation between male and female’s participation in Sports governance for Q 2-9
Items | Male | Female | N | Correlation | Sig.
Members | 85121 | 57151 | 46 | .953 | .000
Referees | 2760 | 1102 | 46 | .714 | .000
Coaches | 6366 | 2532 | 48 | .823 | .000
Head coaches for men’s team | 177 | 36 | 32 | .755 | .000
Head coaches for women’s team | 161 | 50 | 33 | .808 | .000
Numbers in the Board of Directors | 641 | 84 | 44 | .402 | .007
Numbers in the Executive Comm. | 879 | 208 | 46 | .816 | .000
Paired sample t-test was used to test the second hypothesis. The hypothesis was rejected and it was found that there was significant difference between male and female’s participation in the NSAs’ governance whether they be executive members, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Secretary Generals, delegation heads or managers. Paired sample t-test between male and females participated in Sports Governance Q 2-9
Items | Mean | SD | std. Error Mean | t | df | Sig (2-tailed)
Members (male/female) | 608.04 | 1496.53 | 220.65 | 2.756 | 45 | .008
Referees (male/female) | 36.04 | 55.79 | 8.23 | 4.38 | 45 | .000
Coaches (male/female) | 79.88 | 107.27 | 15.48 | 5.16 | 47 | .000
Hd. coach (male/female) for men’s Nat. team | 3.82 | 4.43 | .782 | 4.88 | 31 | .000
Hd. Coach (male/female) for women’s Nat. team | 3.18 | 4.29 | .748 | 4.26 | 32 | .000
BOD (male/female) | 12.66 | 22.94 | 3.46 | 3.66 | 43 | .001
Ex.Comm.(male/female) | 14.59 | 24.54 | 3.62 | 4.03 | 45 | .000
Hong Kong is determined to make its contribution to ensure that the 21st century will be the beginning of a new era for women in the Olympic movement. Accompanying what Hong Kong has done in the past, the following measures are recommended in order to achieve the 20% target set by the IOC in terms of women’s participation in sports governance: To create a conducive environment in which women can participated in sports governance by setting an example in the NOC. To identify women role models in the area of sports leaders and setting examples ourselves. To develop and implement leadership courses through sports education for women. To encourage women to serve on committees so that they are involved in the decision making process on all sports policies and all levels. To raise the profile of female athletes, referees, coaches and administrators through media and other sources. References Fung, V. (2004) Report of the Hong Kong Women’s Sports Commission presented at the 2nd Meeting of OCA Women’s Committee in Doha, Qatar. International Olympic Committee (1997). Women and the Olympic movement. IOC,http://www.Olympic.organ/efwom.html. Hanley, E.A. (1987). The role dance in ancient Greece: Education, religion, and the Olympic Games. Proceedings of the USOA XI (p.93), Indianapolis, Indiana Leung, M.L. (2000) Women and Sport in Hong Kong. Women’s Physical Education and Development of Asia in 21st Century. Proceedings of the 2000 Seoul Asian Physical Education Symposium for Girls and Women. Korea, Korean Physical Education for Girls and Women. 115-119. Stier, W.F. (1991) Women in the Olympics – The role of education. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 62(11) , 62. Stivachtis, K.M. (2000) Women’s participation in the Olympic Movement:: IOC policy and strategies. Olympic Review XXVI-31. Lausanne, International Olympic Committee. Dr. Meelee Leung meelee@hkbu.edu.hk http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-january2005.htm Women’s participation in National Sports Associations in Hong Kong Meelee Leung, Hong Kong