Latest news with #ABCSport
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Physios and medical staff being lost to women's sport after lack of investment
A lack of investment in physios and other support staff in women's sport is leaving players at greater risk of injury and hinders the development of female athletes, according to staff across multiple clubs. Several women's sport club sources told ABC Sport, high-quality physiotherapists, strength and conditioning coaches and high-performance managers are being lost to industry due to low pay and short contracts. This issue was cast into the spotlight last month when the Cronulla Sharks were forced to apologise after advertising for a volunteer physiotherapy position for their women's team, which involved four training sessions a week, match-day duties and rehab planning. Following backlash from physiotherapists and the NRLW community — which included the Australian Physiotherapy Association labelling the ad as "exploitative" — the club amended the role. "We can put up our hand and apologise," Cronulla chief executive Dino Mezzatesta told Code Sports. "How the site is designed, that's where they traditionally get posted, and it comes across as a volunteer role, but it's never been a volunteer role, it's always had attached to it an honorarium for that period of time." The NRL's Women's Rugby League Action Plan 2023-2027 includes the development and retention of quality coaching, high-performance, and medical staff, as a key pillar of growth. But the Cronulla incident sparked a conversation in the women's sporting community about the importance of investment in high-performance medical staff, who many argue are being undervalued. Laura Bashford, head of high-performance at the Essendon Royals NPLW and Port Melbourne VFLW, said it was important clubs had high-quality high-performance and medical staff with a deep understanding of women's unique physiology. "[Support staff] who are able to build trust and rapport with their athletes, requiring in-depth conversations that touch on sensitive topics that are unique to female bodies, like menstrual cycles, endo, PCOS, pelvic floor dysfunction and RED-s," Bashford said. "These conditions can significantly impact performance and it can be frustrating for players to have to repeat the same conversation at the start of each season when staff change over. "So having consistent support staff that have a well-rounded understanding of their athletes' history, and can empathise with athletes whilst providing meaningful support is incredibly important." Bashford added there is a greater emphasis on relationship-style coaching in women's sport, which contributes to individual and team success. "This season in the VFLW, there are more women high-performance managers than there have ever been, largely in part due to player-demand, and I think we're breaking the mould and seeing the benefits of having women represented in this space," Bashford said. "But we are at risk of hindering our athletes' development long-term through the loss of these highly qualified and experienced staff to other codes or private practice in order to sustain themselves." While codes such as AFLW and NRLW have made huge strides towards professionalism in recent years on the player front, including in pay and contact hours, resourcing and support staff have not made the same leaps forward. Many are forced to work other jobs to support themselves, which limits their time and availability with players. This is often due to clubs being hamstrung by salary caps. The reliance of elite athletes on club medical staff for body management was emphasised during the AFLW's condensed fixture last season, when 11 rounds were squeezed into 10 weeks, resulting in a heightened risk of injury. One club had five games within 19 days and another four games within two weeks. During this time, Collingwood star Brit Bonnici went down with a calf injury and North Melbourne captain Emma Kearney with a hamstring strain. Tailored strength and conditioning training is crucial in injury prevention, including of ACL ruptures, which have plagued a variety of women's codes. Deakin researcher Tess Rolley reviewed every ACL injury from the first four years of the AFLW — when figures showed women's players were nine times more likely to do their ACL than their male counterparts — and suggested a greater emphasis on prevention programs would reduce the high injury rate. Fremantle star defender Ash Brazill told the ABC back in 2021 after she did her ACL, the ramifications of season-ending injuries were far-reaching. "Long-term consequences are probably the most drastic — we're looking at early onset of osteoarthritis, we're looking at reduced quality of life and an increased risk of secondary ACL injury," she said. "We want to stop this injury before it happens."
Indian Express
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Manoj Tiwary says Rohit Sharma should have announced retirement ‘on the field after playing' instead of on social media
While Rohit Sharma is a prolific batter in the white-ball game, his Test match record has been a bit of an enigma, and 2024 has been a forgettable year for him both with the bat and captaincy. The 38-year-old has announced his retirement ahead of the marquee England five-match Test series. However, former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary opined that Rohit could have been given another game to call it a day instead of doing it on social media. 'If Rohit Sharma had retired not on social media but on the field after playing, it would have been a more fitting send-off. It would've felt better for all of us, too,' Tiwary told Cricbuzz. 'Hello everyone, I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It's been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years,' Rohit said with a photo of the Team India Test cap on his Instagram Story. In 14 games in 2024, Rohit scored 619 runs at an average of 24.76. While batting form has taken a dip, Rohit also has bagged a dubious record of getting whitewashed on home soil for the first time ever against New Zealand in November. He later went to Australia, but neither did his performances with the bat improve and his captaincy was also questioned after he lost two of the three games he led and sat out for the final game in Sydney. 'He was a very popular leader among this group of boys. If you see, even the young players wanted to play under him. We always hear them say in their interviews, 'I really enjoyed playing under Rohit Sharma's captaincy,'' Tiwary commented on Rohit's captaincy. Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar had predicted that Rohit Sharma could end his Test innings if things had not turned around. 'I think Rohit obviously will get the opportunity to play in the next couple of matches, that's for sure. But maybe at the end of it, if he hasn't scored runs, my feeling is that he himself will take the call,' Sunil Gavaskar said on ABC Sport earlier this year.
Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Rohit Sharma announces retirement from Test cricket; will continue to play for India in ODIs
Rohit Sharma has announced his retirement from Test cricket on a day it was revealed by The Indian Express that he would not be captaining the Indian cricket team for the England series. 'Hello everyone I would just like to share that I am retiring from Test cricket. It's been an absolute honour to represent my country in whites. Thank you for all the love and support over the years,' Rohit said with a photo of the Team India Test cap on his Instagram Story. The announcement comes after a wretched tour of Australia resulted in a second defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday. In the last 11 Test innings, Rohit Sharma has an average of 6.63, having managed to score only 73 runs. Rohit's longest outing was his latest hit in the second innings at MCG in a 340-run chase, facing 40 deliveries for nine runs. Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar had predicted that Rohit Sharma could end his Test innings if things had not turned around. 'I think Rohit obviously will get the opportunity to play in the next couple of matches, that's for sure. But maybe at the end of it, if he hasn't scored runs, my feeling is that he himself will take the call,' Sunil Gavaskar said on ABC Sport earlier this year. 'He's a very conscientious cricketer, he will not want to be a burden on the team. He's a cricketer who cares very deeply for Indian cricket.'
ABC News
05-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Women's rugby sevens team loses to New Zealand in World Championships final
New Zealand has pummelled Australia to claim the overall World SVNS World Championship title at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles. The two-time Olympic champions, who also won the league phase of the competition this year, jumped out into an early lead and never looked back, running out 31-7 winners in a dominant display of power and precision at the venue where, in three years, they will hope to win a hat-trick of Olympic titles. Photo shows A stylised graphic with three silhouettes of unidentified a female footballer, tennis player, basketballer ABC Sport and Deakin University have partnered to produce the first ABC Elite Athletes in Australian Women's Sport Survey. New Zealand were also on song though, thrashing hosts USA 34-7 in their semi and looked heavy favourites heading into the final, having won four of the six legs of the series and finishing second in the other two. Australia were the team who beat the Kiwis to the titles in Player of the match Jorja Miller opened the scoring for the New Zealanders in just the second minute of the match, powering past an admirable defensive effort from MacKenzie Davis to score. "It was an awesome game out here," Miller said. "We love this rivalry, so awesome to get the win." The Aussies did threaten the New Zealand defensive line through the rest of the half, but it was the championship leaders who scored next through Michaela Brake, giving the Kiwis a 12-0 lead at the break. Australia was given life early in the second half when Davis scooted off the back of a ruck from inside her own 22 to fly down and score under the posts to make it 12-7. The Aussies finished second to their perennial rivals. ( Reuters: Daniel Cole ) But a brilliant burst from Brake out of her own 22 set up another try, the double Olympic gold medallist showing a clean pair of heels down the left side before passing inside to Miller, who was able to offload to Risi Pouri-Lane to score. Next it was skipper Sarah Hirini cutting the Aussies open again, a magical offload to Mahina Paul doing the honours of completing the scoring. Then Hirini was able to score one herself, Miller getting another offload away to the New Zealand skipper, who exploded with emotion upon scoring, knowing the title was hers. "I don't show too much emotion but I think it showed how much it meant to this group," Hirini said on the pitch after the match. "Probably after the Olympic gold medal we wanted to show we are a great team. "To us, that was winning the league and winning the series, and we did it and obviously I was f***ing excited about it." The excitement was contagious, with Miller saying the prospect of coming back to LA in three years to defend their Olympic crown was at the forefront of everyone's mind. ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. "After last year in Paris, it's just made me even more excited," she said. "I just know we're going to pack out the stadium. It's going to be epic." Australia's men's team ended its season with a sixth-place finish after being humbled 33-7 by France. The men had come agonisingly close to making the semifinals, losing 21-19 to New Zealand in a match that needed 3 minutes of extra time to be concluded. Henry Hutchison thought he had scored what would have been the match-winning try in that added time, but the officials said there was no conclusive evidence of the 28-year-old having grounded the ball. The Aussies had earlier upset Fiji (15-14) and Spain (15-10) but missed out on a top-four berth by just two points on differential, with three of the four teams locked on seven competition points. The ABC of SPORT Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday. Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
ABC News
04-05-2025
- Automotive
- ABC News
F1 Miami Grand Prix live: Oscar Piastri starts fourth, Max Verstappen on pole
Formula 1 drivers' championship leader Oscar Piastri is hunting a fourth grand prix win this season in Miami, but will start behind championship rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. Follow the F1 Miami Grand Prix with the ABC Sport live blog below. Key Events 6m ago 6 minutes ago Sun 4 May 2025 at 6:35pm 11m ago 11 minutes ago Sun 4 May 2025 at 6:30pm Submit a comment or question Log in to comment Live updates Latest Oldest Key Event 6m ago Sun 4 May 2025 at 6:35pm Piastri leads the F1 championship by nine points M By Michael Doyle Oscar Piastri entered this weekend with a 10-point lead over teammate Lando Norris in the drivers' championship. That lead narrowed slightly to nine points, following yesterday's sprint race. Today, Piastri starts fourth, while rivals Norris and Max Verstappen are on the front row. (F1) React React Key Event 11m ago Sun 4 May 2025 at 6:30pm Welcome to ABC Sport's Formula 1 live blog M By Michael Doyle Good morning, Australia. Welcome to ABC Sport's live blog coverage of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Australian Oscar Piastri enters this morning's grand prix with a narrow lead in the F1 drivers' championship. The McLaren driver will start fourth, but his two main rivals are on the front row. ABC Sport will be keeping you up to date with the sixth grand prix of this year's championship. Let's go. React React ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. The ABC of SPORT Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday. Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
