"Man kicks defenceless boy as he lies on the ground".

 

It could have resulted in an assault charge from the police, but the perpetrator wasn't drunk and the setting wasn't a late night bar (nor was the victim completely without blame if we are honest).  As we know this was just the latest shocking / disgraceful / over-hyped incident (depending on which paper you read) from our national game, which continues to outdo itself with off the pitch controversies.

 

As I watched it unfold I couldn't help but compare it with the England Netball victory over Australia which I had just finished watching on Sky Sports 3. The @wsff_uk tweet that "we can confirm no ballgirls were kicked at the netball tonight" racked up hundreds of ReTweets and it got me wondering why?

 

Obviously it was a (surprisingly) witty tweet, but I think it also touched on the central point that women's sport is somehow different to men's sport (and very different to men's football).

 

The quality of coaching and therefore the skill levels in many women's sports have dramatically increased over the last couple of decades, so I don't mean that the quality of the sport is different. I mean that the ethos of women's sport is different - it's less angry, less driven by money, more respectful and in many respects more pure.

 

Don't get me wrong there are instances of gamesmanship (Azarenka's emotional timeout) and occasionally outright violence (remember this hair pulling?) in women's sport too but they are much rarer.

 

And I also don't mean that women's sport is any less competitive. In fact in many respects the drive to win, just for the sake of winning, is stronger. There is no ulterior motive - fame and fortune are strangers to women's sport. What drives most sports women is a uncontaminated and unshakable desire to be the best they can be. This pure desire means that the competition can be fierce, and the pain of losing is intense. Just read Katherine Grainger compare "only" winning silver in Beijing to a bereavement, or Kate Walsh talk about being “heartbroken” after her GB Hockey team lost the Olympic semi final 2012.

 

But the purity of desire also makes it (in many ways) more enjoyable to watch, and when the impossible is achieved, the joy is even sweeter. Take a look at the Corbin sisters as they celebrate the incredible series win over Australia at Wembley earlier this week.

 

This untainted spirit that runs throughout women's sport is a hugely positive point of difference from men's sport - and means that it is incredibly refreshing to watch.

 

As a charity we are always looking to grow the fan base and raise the media profile of women's sport. Accentuating this purity of competitive spirit as a point of difference from the tainted and dirty world of Hazard et al will be a major way of doing that.

 

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT OR TELL TIM HE'S TALKING RUBBISH @wsff_uk or @tim_woodhouse