Sport goes well with a lot of things — meat pies, loud cheering, smelly change rooms — but unfortunately social distancing isn't one of them, leaving sport lovers with a big game-shaped hole in their lives.

COVID-19 has caused unprecedented upheaval for all levels of sport, from local clubs all the way to the AFL, Australia's most profitable league, which suspended the men's season and prematurely concluded the women's season.

With all the doom and gloom, it's important to remind ourselves that we will get through this.

Sport, like most things, will look different post COVID-19 but this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The road to a new league: Redefining success

Redefining success Different resourcing

Different resourcing Click on the links to navigate through the story

This pandemic may give us the clean slate we need to re-establish a level playing field for women's sport which is sorely needed.

In Australia, before we all retreated inside, women comprised only 24 per cent of chief executives across 63 national sport organisations, 15 per cent of coaches, 10 per cent of media representation, and 42 per cent of participation.

But, things were starting to change. In the last five years, there was significant growth in professional women's leagues globally. The most notable example in Australia is the Australian Football League Women's competition (AFLW).

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In its first four seasons, the AFLW has consistently grown its audience, number of matches, number of teams and player salaries.

Thanks to the increase in representation at a professional level, there was a huge 75 per cent rise in grassroots women's Australian Rules football participation in the three years after the AFLW was announced in September 2016.

It's surprising women's professional leagues have struggled to establish a foothold when we know the presence of a viable league is a huge factor in increasing women's involvement in sport.

AFLW games were played behind closed doors, then the season ended early. ( AAP: Richard Wainwright )

After the pandemic, when our collective doors are thrown open again, we need to take the opportunity to rewire women's professional sport leagues in a way that actually reflects their priorities.

The silver lining for women's sport is that we have a chance to move beyond the notion that women's professional leagues should be a copy-paste of men's leagues.

This idea is as pervasive as it is restrictive because it means the distinct barriers facing women in sport are not properly considered.

We have a chance now to do better. There are three main principles to consider when re-establishing women's professional leagues in Australia that have been drawn from the evolution of the AFLW.

Redefining success

"I think the athletes, and the way that they were able to perform, and what it did for [women's Australian Rules football] has been amazing. It's a different game; it's a different audience. What it's done culturally for the sport, I think it's been amazing" - AFLW team manager

For men's leagues, success is often defined by profit, but bear in mind men's leagues have had decades to achieve commercial success. Success for equivalent women's leagues will look different in the short term.

Success could be increasing health and participation, inspiring new fans, increasing women's sport media coverage, and being a vehicle for social change.

For AFLW, success can be measured in its ability to inspire more women and girls to take up Aussie Rules. ( AAP: David Mariuz )

Importantly, these contextual indicators of success may lead to profit, or new opportunities for growth in the long-term.

For the AFLW, success has not been defined by profit, which is a difficult message to sell when compared to the highly profitable men's league.

Instead, success has been about giving opportunities to over 400 women in an elite environment and inspiring a new wave of women and girls to participate in Australian Rules football.

With an economic downturn on the horizon post-COVID-19, it's even more important to think about what success beyond profit looks like.

Different resourcing

"[Investing in the AFLW] is a bit of a chase-your-tail situation in that the better the coaching, the more and the longer the preparation, and the more enhanced the performance makes for a more marketable product. But which comes first?" — AFLW coach

Women's professional leagues, in the early days, will have a smaller pool of resources to draw from.

The financial crunch facing sport means equitable salaries for women's players are an unlikely prospect. ( AAP: David Mariuz )

This means that it will not be possible to fund all the trimmings enjoyed by the men's leagues, such as elite level coaching and development opportunities, wide-reaching broadcasting options, equitable salaries, and experienced staff.

Instead, resources should be allocated to a few key areas, in line with what the players and managers value.

This shouldn't be seen as the women's league not doing well. Instead, they're prioritising what's important.

The main priority for the AFLW has been having all matches broadcast on free-to-air TV and available for streaming.

As the AFLW has continued to grow, priorities expanded to address player priorities such as salary increases and access to development opportunities.

With the inevitable tightening of the purse strings following COVID-19, every spend will have to be justified. Following the pandemic, the luxury of resourcing different areas may be put on hold.

But it will remain integral to prioritise what's important to the players and managers to get them through to brighter days.

Development opportunities

"We're making sure that there are opportunities for female coaches and female umpires, and that girls that come and play the game have a good experience." — AFLW manager

There are often limited professional opportunities for those who were fundamental in pushing women's sport towards a professional league.

Those individuals who've dedicated themselves to the amateur level of a women's sport need worthwhile opportunities to grow in their professional careers without risk.

Without upwardly mobile pathways for ambitious individuals, working within women's professional leagues will be seen as higher risk, and less valuable than in the equivalent men's league.

AFLW clubs were already grappling with the best way to keep their staff long-term as there has been a high turnover which is expected in growing leagues.

To address this concern and ensure more women are included in the AFLW coaching ranks, the AFLW introduced a Women's Coaching Academy.

But development opportunities like this could become scarce in the post COVID-19 era, meaning that all skill sets will need to be valued, particularly those who know the ins and outs of women's sport.

These people will be key to rebuilding confidence in the long-term viability of women's professional sport leagues.

We need to use this period of uncertainty to reassess what's important in sport, and women's professional sport leagues in particular. When we put COVID-19 behind us, sport will look different.

Let's make sure it looks the right kind of different.

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Kim Encel is a sessional academic in Sport Management at Deakin Business School and a Sports Programming Specialist at UNESCO.