Colin Sheridan: The quest for equality has had less welcome consequences

From the first moment a little girl kicks a ball, pucks a sliotar, or hits a backhand winner down the tramlines, that woman struggles for equality and equity in sport. That struggle has not always had a hashtag or a catchphrase, nor has it had joint committees and editorial backing from influential media companies. It usually begins, like most things good and bad, quietly, and at home. 

A struggle for recognition from parents. An arm wrestle for parity with male siblings. A joust for respect from coaches and teachers and friends. It often comes at a cost. Trying to explain to people you are not like them, when they are the majority, takes patience and a whole lot of moral courage. Society expects certain things from certain demographics. You would hope that we have now moved beyond a culture that once saw young women wanting to pursue elite sport — and be appropriately supported and rewarded for it — as outliers. We are not living in an episode of Mad Men, but in a world of Katie Taylor, Rashidat Adeleke and Katie McCabe.

This Thursday, the Republic of Ireland Women's team will face hosts Australia in their first game at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. You will have undoubtedly read that sentence many times before reading it again here, but its significance cannot be overstated. It's been a little over six years since the team effectively went on strike, holding the FAI to account, claiming — with some merit — that they were being treated “as fifth-class citizens, the dirt on the FAI’s shoe". 

There followed reports of the international team having to get changed in toilets, of having to hand back tracksuits after matches, and of a general ambivalence towards them that was only amplified by the almost criminal profligacy the