More women to break the shackles and storm the ring | Sunday Observer

More women to break the shackles and storm the ring

9 April, 2023
Prabuddhika Lokuyaddehige chairperson Sri Lanka boxings Diversity Commission addressing the gathering
Prabuddhika Lokuyaddehige chairperson Sri Lanka boxings Diversity Commission addressing the gathering

Sri Lanka is taking a lead role in addressing gender balance in boxing by encouraging the participation of more women in the sport aligning with the policies of the International Boxing Association (IBA).

A cross section of referee and judges, coaches and boxers attended a meeting convened by the Chairperson of the Diversity Commission (formerly Women’s Commission) of the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Prabuddhika Lokuyaddehige on Friday graced by BASL president Dian Gomes and vice president Wasantha Kumara.

The new BASL Diversity Commission discussed the IBA strategic plan and changed the name of the current Women’s Commission to Diversity Commission as per the IBA regulations. Members were apprised of what transpired at the global women’s forum held in New Delhi, India on March 24 about future opportunities for female R&Js and ITOs (International Technical Officials) for international participation, future opportunities available for female coaches in international training and participation in international tournaments in addition to contentious issues such as protection against harassment and discrimination.

It was revealed that there are only 12% women R&Js and 3% women coaches in the world whereas the IBA’s objective is to increase their participation to 30%. This anomaly was highlighted by Pearl Dlamini, a member of the IBA’s Board of Directors and chair of its Diversity Commission, when speaking at the Women and Sport Conference in Delhi.

According to statistics presented by Dlamini at the meeting, just 419 women are registered by the IBA as coaches compared to 8,400 men. Dlamini insisted that more needed to be done to tackle the shortage having only seen a small number of female coaches participating at this year’s Women’s World Championships in the Indian capital.

Dlamini was speaking before participating in a panel session called ‘Level Canvas - Equal Opportunities’ which aimed to discuss how to break down the barriers to women’s participation in sport.

She said she was pleased that there was a gender balance on the IBA Board of Directors and among the organisation’s staff, but wanted policies to be put forward.

Among those include enforcing each national team to have a female coach, putting in place a woman quota on National Federation Boards, bringing back the Women Leadership Capacitation Programme and “intentionally directing” funds towards women’s boxing promotion initiatives.

“Each national team must have a woman coach, that means that they will be forced to go out and recruit women coaches and put them in training so there will be quality,” added Dlamini.

Chris Roberts, IBA development director, said IBA had recently launched a programme with the aim of certifying 1,000 new one-star coaches.

“What is interesting about it is that we have seen a lot of female applications,” said Roberts.

When asked what is holding back female boxers from becoming coaches, Roberts added: “I think it’s a bit historic. It has clearly been a male dominated environment. At the National Federations, we see a lot of female coaches but it’s about bringing them forward into the international space.”

IBA president Umar Kremlev has pledged to leave a “game-changing legacy” for the development of women’s boxing.

“This is the first formal meeting of the Diversity Commission which was earlier called the Women’s Commission. Its primary aim is to ensure women’s equality, transparency and the opportunities for women R&Js internationally, ITOs, coaches and safeguarding women athletes. Stop any harassment or take the complaints of both men and women,” said Gomes who was one of the speakers at the IBA Women and Sports Conference.

“Because they feel their voice is not really heard as women in the Executive Commission or in the sport, now they want to take formal action. They represent the views of all the women in the sport. It was attended by a medical commission lady doctor, a lawyer, a Director of Education, athletes and coaches. It was a composition of diverse individuals making a very formidable team and supported by the President of Sri Lanka boxing and vice president Wasantha Kumara,” said Gomes lauding the Chairperson of the Diversity Commission Prabuddhika for her initiative.

“One of the reasons it has moved fast is because a young team has arrived from a two-week training program in India where 40% of coaches and athletes were women. There is a huge drive by IBA to keep the minimum requirement of all commission members to 30% women. Internationally they feel there are only 12% women R&J and 3% coaches globally. They want to increase the number. It was evident this was a global problem, not a problem limited to Sri Lanka only,” he said.

He pointed out that the Asian mentality that girls should engage only in feminine sports and not contact sports is changing. “India has become number one in women’s boxing in the world winning four gold medals. It is a huge boost to a billion people. Sri Lanka has a fair number of female boxers and a few international referees. There is a lot of potential for improvement. With Prabuddhika being a member of the Women’s Diversity Commission in Asia, it would be best for her to seek more opportunities for females. We want the new team to drive this in (BASL) the Ex-Co and help any other commission regarding female issues,” he added.

“I am happy that the Women’s Commission is now called the Diversity Commission because there is no gender bias and we can get different shades of opinion. We can make a greater impact when there are diverse professionals involved. When there are diverse opinions, it makes our task easier to react and address issues,” said Prabuddhika who created history when she was elected to the Women’s Commission of the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) in February.

Acknowledging there were challenges for girls engaging in combat sports because of family and society pressures, she felt Sri Lanka was overcoming these barriers gradually.

“To overcome this mindset we have to show not only by words but with actions so others will be encouraged. It is not only by giving advice but leading by example. Referees, coaches and boxers have to be a motivation for others,” she said.

“When I joined MAS (Holdings), there was only boxing at Slimline. I was a karate black belt but there was no karate. I heard Anusha (Kodituwakku) and Nilmini (Jayasinghe) doing boxing. I went to see a boxing meet and saw the glory they got when they won. I have sports in my blood and I realised what I can do,” she recalled.

“I started boxing at Unichela in the Southern province. We have to start something for others to follow. Theoretically it is not enough. We have to do it practically to get support, laurels or criticism. We have to start somewhere,” she said.

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