BLOG – Q&A with Liverpool University Student and Netball Captain: Tilly O’Neill – Gas2Ignition – 09/03/2018 – Sol Davies and Josh Harnett.
Tilly O’Neill is a first-year university student studying Philosophy at Liverpool. She is a keen sportswoman who participates in a number of sports and is already the captain of her Netball team at University. We decided to interview her on her thoughts and opinions of women’s participation in sport at University and in general on a larger scale.
Q: At your university how many teams are there for women to participate in?
A: Well there’s netball, hockey, football, Gaelic football, tennis, rugby, swimming, skiing and lacrosse. So, there is a wide variety of sports for us girls to get involved in even if you haven’t played before.
Q: How many do you participate in regularly?
A: 2 which are netball and lacrosse. However, next year I’m looking at potentially getting involved in hockey but at the moment I’m still recovering from a slight knee injury so I don’t want to overdo it.
Q: Are your coaches mainly male or female and do you think this impacts participation for girls?
A: Mainly female and I would probably say this is beneficial for girls as they feel more comfortable and confident when being coached by women instead of men.
Q: How did your university encourage girls to participate in sports?
A: There was a sports fair held in the student’s union for all freshers to attend with specific stations for each sport with representatives from each society.
Q: Is it very competitive to get into the first teams and are there other things to get involved in?
A: At my university it’s very competitive to get into the first teams, especially for netball but my university offers campus leagues for the majority of sports. This means that even if you aren’t the best, you can still participate on a less competitive level playing other people from our uni.
Q: Do you think there is enough media coverage and publicity of professional women’s sports?
A: No, I don’t think so to be honest, however I would say that its improved significantly since the London Olympics. I would of never of thought to take up hockey as a sport but after watching it on TV in 2012 I joined my local club and have played competitively and now socially ever since.
Q: As a woman what do you think could be improved to boost women’s participation across sports?
A: Personally, I would like to see more media coverage of women’s football as I think it could and should be just as big as the men’s game, especially as the English women’s team got to the final of the world cup. Also, they should do more for girls at grass roots participation such as after school clubs and extra-curricular activities in primary schools.
Q: Do you believe there is a stigma for girls not to carry on sport once they reach a certain age, usually around adolescence?
A: For me, I’ve always done my own thing and been passionate about sport, however a lot of my friends stopped playing once they reached the later years of secondary school.
Q: Why do you think this is?
A: Well, I think at 15/16 a lot girls usually start prioritising other things over sport such as work, exams and boyfriends! Some girls start taking up other interests such as fashion and make up for example. Also, girls start to care more about their appearance so running round a field during school hours isn’t exactly what most girls want to be doing at that age.
Q: To conclude, do you think women’s, sport is going in the right direction and do you think participation rates for women will increase?
A: Yes, I would like to think that it is, my mum would have never had the opportunities that I have been able to take, regarding being able to participate in a variety of sports that would of previously been associated with only men. However, I still think that there is a long way to go as the participation rates of men is still significantly higher than men and that needs to change.
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