The Melbourne Boomers are shining a light on issues yet to be fully addressed in women’s basketball – and women’s sport in general – in a new documentary.
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Watch ‘Sidelined’ on Kayo.
When Adam McKay embarked on directing the new Kayo sports documentary ‘Sidelined’ chronicling last season’s WNBL championship success of the Melbourne Boomers, he had a line of thought of how he would tell the story, but it soon became apparent there was a lot more to be told.
Each and every issue raised in the documentary – from racial discrimination, inequality, pay to balancing a sporting career with other work – has its unique importance in modern society, but it was the universal problem of gender disparity that struck a chord with the director.
“The extra layer of work and effort, the commitment and dedication that the female athletes have to give on top of what would be expected from male athletes,” McKay said.
“(Not) only are they doing the same amount of training, the same amount of commitment in terms of hours and effort, but a lot of them are having to balance other work, a lot of them are having to balance things like raising a family and everything that comes with it.”
“Even myself, gaining a greater understanding of those challenges, I have huge respect and admiration, and just a sense that things are not okay, we need to be better.”
When McKay started out on this journey in October last year, he “was looking for more of a longer form piece to do,” but did not expect “the breadth and the scope of what was to come”.
Sponsored by Melbourne’s Deakin University, McKay’s Undefeater Films raises the numerous issues female athletes across the country battle with every day of their professional lives.
Australian Opals Ezi Magbegor and Boomers captain Cayla George, among others, provide personal insight on their lives as players.
Even before the camera started rolling, during pre-production chats McKay realised how much there was to tell.
“Definitely naively sitting down at the start of all of this, what do we want to touch on, things like race and identity, pay disparity and gender gap was definitely a theme, (but) if I look back at those conversations now, well we didn’t really know anything at the time,” he said.
“I guess the nature, the breadth and the scope of what was to come, was probably unexpected.”
Adam spent 10 years as the Founder and Executive Director of Helping Hoops – a charity running free basketball programs for underprivileged children across Melbourne.
That’s where Adam learnt the power of storytelling through engaging creative – the type of engaging creative that shines such an in-depth light on the issues revealed throughout the six months of last season’s WNBL championship.
“(I) really wanted to tell a story and do something with a bit of substance and meaning,” McKay said, who was familiar with the Boomers and the Women’s game, having a great appreciation for both.
“When things started to get back to some sense of normalcy (after COVID lockdowns), I started to reconnect with the Boomers a little bit and from everything else, hearing from them, the season (that was) to come was going to be a pretty pivotal one.”
“In terms of recognizing the female athletes, giving them more visibility and ideally reaching a situation where they are paid and recognized for what they’re worth because right now, there’s still a way to go.”
Michelle Timms – Australian Opal, WNBL, WNBA legend and FIBA Hall of Fame player – supports this. The point guard said of Sidelined: “The series shows that while we call the girls professional players, we still have a long way to go to be truly professional in terms of payment, recognition and support.”
You can watch all four episodes on Kayo Sports to be downloaded anytime.
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