27th May 2017 was the men’s FA Cup Final in which Arsenal won 2-1 against Chelsea. The attendance of this game was 89,472 people. 13th May 2017 was the women’s FA Cup Final in which Manchester City won 4-1 against Birmingham. The attendance of this game was 35,271 people.

This needs to change.

Women’s sports, both professional and non-professional, have made enormous progress since the federal civil rights legislation designed to prohibit gender discrimination in educational institutions was passed in 1972, but the gender gap still suffers with large inequalities.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, male athletes get $179 million more in athletic scholarships each year than females do. Additionally, educational institutions spend just 24% of their athletic operating budgets on female sports, as well as just 16% of recruiting budgets and 33% of scholarship budgets on female athletes.

In tennis, Novak Djokovic, the men’s number one, earned twice as much as Serena Williams, the women’s number one, last year – although both won three of the four grand slams, the less prestigious men’s tournaments pay far more than the women’s events. In football the differences are even starker: there was £22m in prize money for the last men’s football World Cup, but only £630,000 for the women’s tournament.

Rebecca Adlington is Great Britain’s most successful swimmer ever. Two gold medals in Beijing secured her stardom – but as her fame rose, Adlington’s physical appearance became more widely discussed than her success.

The most common excuse we hear nowadays is that "women's sport is boring", which I have experienced people saying many times in my life.

Despite the fact that, over the years the popularity of women’s sports is growing, unfortunately the media coverage and sponsorship dollars haven’t necessarily followed through and gender equality in sport still remains an issue.

I interviewed Sophia Harper, who represents her county in athletics. In general, she told me that in her athletics club both the boys and girls teams are more or less,treated equally. However, she told me that “the boys got more recognition for the same achievement as us girls”. Although there are worse cases of gender inequality in sport, it is not just that women aren't getting as much recognition as men.

Personally, I participate in many sports, in which I have been told multiple times that they are ‘boy’ sports; especially football and basketball. In my school, the boys’ basketball team had an ex-professional basketball player in charge of their team. Therefore, I decided to ask if I could pay for the training so I could participate in the boys’ training; I was confident I could play just as well as them. The coach at the time’s response was no. And when I asked why he responded ‘because you’re a girl and this is a boy’s sport’. How is this fair? Adults should be teaching children they can do anything they want, not discouraging them from trying.

I hope that when I grow up and have children, they will be able to participate in any sport they want, despite their gender.