Jo Aleh’s selection shows why quotas work in sport leadership – Alice Soper

In sport, we understand that in order to be great you must work for it. Raw talent alone isn’t enough to carry you to the top. Programming must be deployed alongside any identified potential to develop champions. Work is needed to align talent with opportunity to eventually secure results. We comprehend all of this, but still the concept of quotas seems to baffle many despite them following the same logic.

Quotas were the centrepiece of the last Government’s policy for women and girls in sport. It tied funding to compliance to ensure at least 40% of sports governance figures identified as women within four years.

Quotas were the centre of discussion again this week, with the selection of Jo Aleh as part of Team New Zealand’s America’s Cup defence.

It appears some people wish we didn’t need quotas, in the same way that I wish I could get fit by sitting on the couch. It’s nice to dream but inaction won’t lead to any material change.

If the world we lived in was the meritocracy some claim, we wouldn’t have such a monoculture. The demographic spread of our society would naturally see a greater diversity rise to the top. For the majority of our history, however, sport has been led, funded and played by men. As a result, sport has been designed for their interests and abilities. Only through direct intervention can we seek to level the playing field.

One of the most pervasive myths is that quotas give places that are unearned, when in reality these are the hardest spots to take. They are laced with resentment, from those who miss out. Loaded with expectation, from those who wish to follow. Watched closely for any confirmation of pre-existing bias. Their success and their failure will represent the collective. They may be one, but they represent the hopes and fears of many. Those who are brave enough to take up the task know they must be the best for all of us.

Team New Zealand's new additions to their America’s Cup sailing team are Josh Armit (left), Jake Pye, Jo Aleh and Seb Menzies. Photo / Dean Purcell

Some women steeped in the soup of our sporting culture will also express resentment at quotas, despite being those who would most directly benefit from their introduction. A quota says the quiet part loud, prohibiting these folks from believing in their own exceptionalism. It forces them to set aside the self-aggrandisement that has helped them succeed in high-performance sport thus far. One person’s rise against the odds should be a caution, not a celebration. It underlines how far we still have to go.

A first is always a watershed moment for a system, not an individual. It’s a reminder that structures and their rulers have finally modernised enough to allow someone from the outside in. More often than not, for women in sport, quotas are the crowbar that talent can leverage. This is how we pry open boardroom doors, break into new coaching roles or lift the resources on offer to athletes.

The sailing story this week is another win for the quota system and gives women in the sport more places to grow. Aleh will be breaking new ground when she steps on board in a sport she has already conquered more than most. Those who need to see sailors like her are not the women and girls who want to follow in her footsteps. Rather, it is the decision makers in the sport who have stood in the way of their progress. The quota, rather than limiting opportunity, offers a chance to expand our understanding of what is possible.

Its intervention, not wishful thinking, has shifted the needle for women in sport. Quotas are much despised, perhaps for how well they work. Name a goal, work towards it and shockingly, you may end up achieving the desired result.

Alice Soper is a sports columnist for the Herald on Sunday. A former provincial rugby player and current club coach, she has a particular interest in telling stories of the emerging world of women’s sports.