When exploring what to write about this week the idea of World Cups seemed top of the list.
The Cricket World Cup is coming to the business end with quarterfinals and the weather looming in the near horizon.
Stories about the Rugby World Cup are also on our radar, especially as we start to think of excuses for why we need to travel to the UK in September, and think of ways to get tickets that are not being sold at exorbitant prices.
When browsing the net about what is happening with the 2015 Rugby World Cup, I was reminded that the chief executive is a woman by the name of Debbie Jevans.
''So what?'' you may say. This is the new millennium and women have just as many opportunities as men to move up the career ladder and take on leadership roles. True. In principle they do, and Jevans is an example of this. But let's not pat ourselves on the back just yet when it comes to achieving gender equity. Jevans is an exceptional person. She was a former junior Wimbledon champion, made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon once, reached the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles (with her future husband), became a director of women's tennis at the International Tennis Federation, was appointed director of sports for London 2012 and, in 2014, was named the most influential woman in British sport in The Guardian.
What her career progression suggests is that every now and then an exceptional, feisty, determined and talented woman comes along and manages to have the right combination of sporting credibility, business and leadership ability, and influential networks to break through the glass ceiling and glass network in the world of rugby. This doesn't, however, guarantee the floodgates will open and women in their hundreds will infiltrate this predominantly male and masculine institution. Sometimes those breaks in the system are quickly closed and it takes a while for other women to find how to access these pathways.
In 2014, six women were inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said these women were ''trailblazers for the women's game in their countries and around the world''.
It was a lovely gesture to be acknowledged in this way, but wouldn't it be even better to see more women around boardrooms and in management meetings and not only in framed photos tucked away in some hall? Often opportunities for women to advance their careers in rugby occur on the margins, and small-town provincial unions are a great way for women with career aspirations in this sport to get their foot in the door and up the ladder.
The Wanganui Rugby Union, for instance, recently appointed Bridget Belsham as its first female chief executive.
Like Jevans, Belsham is by no means ordinary, and she didn't get the job on a `gender quota'. At 38 years of age Belsham is the youngest CEO the 128-year-old union has had.
Appointing her makes good business and public relations sense. She comes with experience in law, finance, banking, sport administration and project management as the former manager of the Wanganui Greyhound Racing Club (ticks the knowledgeable about finance, legal issues, leadership and vision boxes). She also came with family connections and experiences that are important in a role like this. She has a sporting background (ticks the been there and done that box), her husband is a local horse trainer (ticks the suitably married and well-connected boxes) and she has two daughters (ticks the nurturing box).
The Wanganui Rugby Union should be commended for stepping away from the known and appointing a person who has the right credentials and cultural capital to take it into the future. The New Zealand Rugby Union recently advertised vacancies for an elected member, an appointed member and a Maori representative of its board. All five nominations for the elected member and the two nominations for the Maori representative are male. The only door left for a woman to get through is the appointed member position, and apparently competition for that is high.
If a woman was to break the remaining glass ceiling in New Zealand rugby and sit with her male counterparts around the boardroom table, she will have to be one exceptional, financially savvy, appropriately-networked and experienced lady!