In the recent Football Victoria Community in Business (FVCIB) Half-Time Luncheon, Football Victoria Hall of Famer and Matilda cap #2 Dr Shona Bass delivered a powerful speech about the history of women’s football in Australia – before the Matildas embark on a huge step forward when the nation co-hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup with New Zealand.
The domestic and international successes have included the introduction of the W-League in 2008 as well as The Matildas becoming AFC Asian Cup champions in 2010. The women’s game in Australia is only progressing further in the current day and this World Cup will bring millions of new eyes to the Matildas team and their culture.
Shona Bass, originally from Greensborough in Victoria, was part of a group of pioneers in 1974 who started a state competition with enough teams for two divisions – western and eastern.
In 1979, history was made when The Australian Women’s National Team competed in their first ever ‘A’ international, facing Trans-Tasman opponents New Zealand. Shona Bass was part of the 16-women squad who participated.
No governments were willing to pay an expense for the women’s teams to travel abroad, one of the major obstacles that Shona mentioned in her recent speech.
She worked multiple jobs in order to pay for the privilege of putting on the Australian shirt and it was symptomatic of the troubles they faced earlier in the development of women’s football a decade earlier.
Eventually, Bass would be involved in coaching and player development and was studying for a career in teaching at the time.
“Being a full-time footballer as a woman in Australia at the time was beyond dreaming,” she explained in the speech.
Bass outlined the importance of taking a stand and progressing the game for women in order to create the current environment that has allowed them to co-host the World Cup.
“There have been key pivotal moments in Australian Women’s football, and my own journey, and its those things that bring us to the world stage right now,” she said.
Bass summarised her speech by explaining that how against all the odds and disapproval from the men in the 70’s, they were able to create a force and change for women.
She also mentioned that the courage to make mistakes, persistence to pick themselves up from major obstacles and a healthy group of advocates by her side were the main reasons for their overall success in building a foundation for the next generation of women to progress.
It’s the three C’s that were vital in her journey; Choice, Chance, and Change.
“I cherish the strong women contributors who tirelessly invested and supported the women who played the game, and the game itself,” Bass said.
“You must make a choice to take a chance, or your life will never change.”
The growth of the game has grown exponentially over the last 25 years in particular, with the 1999 Women’s World Cup marking a stepping stone in how the players were treated.
Australia still did not have much attention and respect, with the Matildas forced to train with second-hand equipment from the Socceroos, not getting paid and with very few games to play. However after that event, the 2000 Sydney Olympics provided them with a great chance to leap forward into the mainstream, and they took advantage of that opportunity.
Even in the current day, with the excitement, sold-out crowds, and parades around the country, there has been a lack of a real media push or presence through advertisements to sell the event as something even bigger than what it already is. A talking point that highlights there is still a long way to go in the progress of making the Matildas a household name in the country.
There is absolutely no doubt that the roaring success of the Matildas in this century would not have been possible if it was not for some of the amazing and inspirational people that brought the women’s game out of decades of obscurity in the 1970’s, with Shona Bass being one of them. Her hall of fame status in Football Victoria ranks as a symbol of her impact.
