Although these numbers are better than nothing, Matheson discovered there is still more work to be done on the execution of such schemes.
“Clubs go, ‘We’re really proud of the fact we’ve got 40%’; I go, ‘Why wouldn’t you be proud of having 50%?’; ‘Oh, well, we can have more, but that’s the goal we’ve set’.”
“And then I look at the clubs and you find that the club captain, the president, the chairperson, whoever it is at the top there and the club captains particularly, they’re all men, so within the leadership structures of the sport, there are women involved, but it’s still a bit of a they’re there to make the tea.”
“They [women] don’t have that decision making power.”
Events like ones at Auckland Archery Club only show a “sliver” of the best quality of archery’s inclusivity but further campaigning is what is needed should full gender equity be achieved in archery and the world.
“It’s not a matter of just it will happen; it won’t happen unless we get out there,” added Matheson who also has a background in event management and political activism. “I don’t want to lie on my deathbed thinking there was something I could have done, and I didn’t do it.”
“It doesn’t have to be a fight, but if you’re not talking about it, if you’re not at the table, then that change is going to take so much longer.”
