To think people who say women's football & tennis isn't as skilled as men's because the men (or even untrained boys) would beat them are missing the point?

I understand it was an informal match etc but you can’t say that the senior women would have beaten the senior men - when in reality regardless of what it was they still got beat: they still should have beaten them.

it’s like when they do charity football matches the ex professional footballers come on the pitch and even though they are well passed there best they are are better than the celebrities playing and nearly always beat them.

Tennis boring? It's really not (misses point entirely!)
I do struggle slightly with equal pay for tournaments for female tennis players. A 3 set match is not the same as a 5 setter in grand slams. I'm sure the women are fit enough for 5 set matches these days

But this is minimising the levels. Smaller pitch. Smaller goals. Personally I just don’t think some sports are as entertaining - such as football when it’s women’s. I actually find women’s tennis’s much better to watch as it’s more about the skill and I would rather see the long rally’s etc.

I think if people want to compare male/female sports and the levels at which people can play should be based on sports which are all about skill such as darts; curling, pool, snooker etc.

It is explained here

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/a-dallas-fc-under-15-boys-squad-beat-the-u-s-womens-national-team-in-a-scrimmage/

Of course, this match against the academy team was very informal and should not be a major cause for alarm. The U.S. surely wasn’t going all out, with the main goal being to get some minutes on the pitch, build chemistry when it comes to moving the ball around, improve defensive shape and get ready for Russia.

They weren’t trying to beat the academy team, they were trying to improve their flaws, speed bing one of them.

Apart from the fact men/teen boys are bigger and stronger, also the fact that more boys play at grass roots level means that it's easier for them to improve/be put at the right level to be challenged.

When I watch DS1 do football training there's about 4 pitches full of boys, and 1 of girls - it means the boys can have an A and B team, and be separated better by age.

As well as gymnastics, I think women also have the advantage in ultra long distance races.

They looked at it and it would give the women sport a huge disadvantage.

Women's football needs investment. The FA banned it for so many years that it is still playing catch up.

I take it he doesn't watch a lot of womens sport then, as they are all 'slower'.

Women's football deserves the recognition on their own merit not as a comparison.

In the serve and volley days of tennis, I used to think that the top female players with more skilled than the male players. A lot of the men relied a lot on brute strength. I don’t think that is the case now.

The problem with making the pitch and goal smaller is that it reduces the number of pitches women and girls can play on.

Currently anyone can play on any pitch, changing that could limit women's opportunities.

Conversely having female only pitches could stop men/boys monopolising all the pitches.

The Lionesses are brilliant but basically playing a different sport to the men.

If you play then against each other the women will be wiped out everytime.

However training the best women's football team means training them to be the best at women's football, not training them to be as close to a male team as possible.

They wouldn’t have. USA World Cup winning women’s team played the fc Dallas under 15 boys and got beat.
boys/men are just better at certain types of sport due to development, strength. Speed etc

Well I spoke to my DH and he prefers the women's as he can always follow it and there is more skill, less brute force.

My DM prefers women's tennis for the same reason.

Personally I'd prefer no sport at all but maybe I've just been watching the men and getting bored.

Men’s cycling is far more popular to watch than woman’s cycle (road) and yet woman’s cycling isn’t televised so how can it be popular? It’s apparently that men’s racing is more skilled and interesting therefore to watch

go to any junior club level cycling race and you have 12 year old boys winning races and getting a larger cash prize than the 12 year old girls. The reason “ apparently “ is due to more boys entering the race. We talking £30 for first place boy and £15 for first prize girl

how does a parent explain that to a brother and sister both winning their race

many sports are based on physical prowess and skill. If you’ve got a man and a women equally skilled and both at their physical peak, it is likely that the man will be the better player sports like cricket / tennis or rugby because the physical side is important. All of these sports were if not invented, codified by male Victorians mind you, they weren’t exactly thinking about equality across the sexes!

Thank you for that revelatory insight into what your DH thinks, I'll be sure to consider that carefully in my opinions on women's sport from now on.

It's always been my opinion that the European Cup winning Lionesses could have wiped the floor with the England men's team of the time. Football is a game of skill not brute strength (Leeds Utd please note).

Didn't the great Billie Jean King win the tennis "battle of the sexes"?

YANBU.

I agree op. I heard Serena Williams in an interview saying that she wouldn’t play Andy Murray because she’d lose every set because they’re completely different games.

Women’s football isn’t as good as Men’s football. That’s not to say it won’t get there, it will take time, and investment, and commitment .. not just in the UK, but globally. There hasn’t been the grass routes development pathways that men’s football has had, or the level of competition needed to keep the skill level increasing.

Tennis is a bit of a snooze-fest, on all levels.