I HAVE to admit that I thought when an athlete became ‘professional’ that was it – problem solved. In most cases they had spent a long apprenticeship as an amateur, learning from the best and now it was time for them to go out into the big world, make their mark, and their money. Well, nothing could be further from the truth, that is generally speaking, if you are a woman in sport in Scotland.

A case in point is Alyson McKechin, a 23 year old professional golfer, from Paisley. Alyson turned professional in March 2015 and is feeling the financial strain of this bold move already. Whilst amateur, Alyson worked under the auspices of Scottish Golf and that meant that she had access to Strength & Condition, Nutrition, physiotherapy and golf coaching etc. as part of the programme. However when she turned professional all that ceased, there was no transitional support and she had to find her own way.

Alyson is now on the look-out for sponsorship and is finding this an extremely difficult task. Where do you start, who do you speak to, how do you get access to the decision makers? This is not just an issue for Alyson, but for most young athletes.

Her father told me about the gender inequality that still exists in golf. Take for instance the recent Dunhill Championships at St Andrews where Tyrell Hatton won 1st prize and became 711,00 euros richer. On the same day Beth Allen won the Lacoste Ladies Open in France and received a paltry 37,500 euros in comparison. In fact the man who came in 31st at Dunhill earned the same as Beth Allen.

Now Alyson has been very productive here, finding various ways to interact with business, one being organising a golf tournament to include a round of golf at Fairmont St Andrews Bay Golf resort. This package included many extras, such as, a golf clinic, a visit to their workplace by Alyson, a photo-shoot etc. Read more about Alyson here at alysonmckechin.co.uk/biography.

Here is another scenario, this time involving the world of football. I am led to believe that there is a player who features regularly in the the Scottish FA Women’s National squad, who could not attend Thursday night’s friendly against The Netherlands. Now this absence wasn’t through injury, it wasn’t that her club did not release her, it was because she could not get the time off work! Representing your country at the highest level and combining that with work, isn’t an easy task. You would think that a company would be proud to endorse their employee playing at this level and that they would clearly understand the benefits this type of support could offer them in return.

Currently out of the twenty named players in the squad for the game against The Netherlands, fourteen are playing outside Scotland, where they all get paid to play football at the highest level. Isn’t it time we thought about bringing these players back here and supporting them. Wouldn’t this be one of the best ways we could show our young girls that sport is inclusive and for them?

Whilst I know that women in sport are consistently breaking down barriers, we still have a long way to go.

So let’s keep talking the conversation going.

Finally it is true, diversity does matter and if you are involved in football you might be interested in the next Women in Football event that is being hosted at Firhill on October 27, called Diversity Matters. You will have an opportunity to hear from various guest speakers, who individually champion diversity in football. Jacqui Low, Director of Partick Thistle FC, Hala Ousta who is the Diversity and Inclusion Manager at the Scottish FA and Jodie McEwen, Street Soccer Scotland Women’s co-ordinator. Book your tickets through at eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-football-tickets-28314532529.