#BeAGameChanger Awards 2018

Eniola is a footballer with a global profile – she is a star striker for Chelsea Ladies FC and has received over 100 caps for the England women’s senior team.

Aluko risked her international career to challenge the racial discrimination and bullying she experienced in 2015, whilst part of the England squad. As a result of a DCMS enquiry into this situation, the way in which the government and the FA will respond to future racial discrimination cases has been changed.

Throughout the DCMS enquiry Eniola, made a compelling case that exposed both the treatment she received and the shortcomings in how this was addressed by the FA.  Eniola was thoroughly vindicated and received a full apology from the FA who conceded that she and a fellow player had been subjected to “discriminatory remarks on the grounds of race.”

Eniola has displayed courage, honesty and integrity throughout this process and in so doing set a powerful example about taking a stance and making a real difference to the culture of a sport.

Her teammate Anita Asante captures it best: “She’s shown it just takes one person willing to have courage to stand up and talk. Many who feel like this in their own sport or place of work can see there is someone who has dared to do it.”

Eniola’s purpose driven work goes beyond sport, as an ambassador for UN UK Women where she regularly commits her time to talk to other women and young women about fulfilling potential. Eniola is a notable football ambassador for The Chelsea Foundation.  She was the first female football pundit to appear on Match of the Day 2 Extra in 2014 and was also the first female pundit on ITV’s coverage of the Men’s Euros and last year she covered the Women’s Euros on Channel 4.

Link one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-wPHDEWx3c
Link two: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/21/footballer-whose-hero-is-atticus-finch-from-to-kill-a-mockingbird
Link three: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-4992964/FA-apologises-Eni-Aluko-Drew-Spence.html
Twitter: @EniAlu

Professional boxer Stacey Copeland is passionate about being a role model. Stacey has been very vocal in the debate surrounding ring card girls, appearing in the national media as a spokesperson, and has been praised for her use of young boxers as ring card holders. She has given over 50 inspiration talks on women in sport in the last 12 months including to the European Parliament.

Stacey is one of only six professional female boxers in the UK.  She made her amateur debut in 2011 and became European silver medalist and three-time national champion; she turned professional in 2017 and currently remains unbeaten.

Beyond boxing her wider impact is equally inspiring. She’s passionate about making a difference, especially for young people by ‘being the role model she never had’. Stacey has been vocal in the recent debate surrounding ring card girls in boxing.  She featured on BBC Breakfast and 5 Live, receiving praise from many but also significant abuse online. Stacey has spoken out against objectifying women in sport and uses young boxers as mascots instead of ring card girls. She has shown real courage in speaking up and acknowledging that change is complicated and rarely linear.

Wanting to inspire females to reach their full potential through sport, she developed the ‘Pave the Way’ project, this has included an inspiration day for girls, community sports sessions for local groups, domestic violence survivors, and refugee women.  Over the last year, Stacey has given over 50 talks to highlight the inequalities but also celebrate the success of women in sport. Stacey focuses on the motto ‘If you can see it, you can be it’.

Not only is Stacey one of only six professional female boxers in the UK, she’s a women’s sport advocate, grassroots boxing coach, ambassador at local sports charity GreaterSport, motivational speaker (TedX Talks) and also Head of Personal Development and Wellbeing at a secondary school.

Link one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxFzIZRIuGw
Link two: www.womanthology.co.uk/challenging-myth-femininity-strength-mutually-exclusive-paving-way-women-sport-stacey-copeland-professional-boxer/
Link three:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhCXqa7vCEk
Twitter: @scopelandboxer

Manchester City’s Nadia Nadim has navigated many obstacles in her life from being a refugee, to building a new life in a new country. Now she is a global inspiration to many and in particular Muslim women and girls. She has achieved huge success in football as a player but has always used her position to create change, whether that be by setting up a school project for disadvantaged children or in her position as a role model to others who are facing adversity.

Nadia Nadim fled Afghanistan when she was 12 years old and settled with her mother and sisters (her father was killed by the Taliban) in Denmark. When they arrived in Scandinavia, Nadia and her sisters asked to join in with the team playing next to their refugee camp. By the age of 18 Nadia had signed her first professional contract with IK Skovbakken and the family moved to Aarhus which was additionally attractive for its educational opportunities. During her school life, Nadim discovered a second dream – to become a reconstructive surgeon – and began to juggle both her football and her studies.

Having grown up playing football in the streets, she knows the importance of, and the enjoyment the football can bring. Along with friends, she set up a football school project for disadvantaged children, so they could share some of the opportunities she had.

After a spell in the USA at Portland Thorns, where she helped the club to the NWSL Shield by finishing the season as top goal scorer, Nadia is now a valued player and advocate of the game at Manchester City. Scoring in her debut match at the team proved her worth as a player, but Nadia hopes to achieve much more than goals through her profile as a player. She has been featured on both the FIFA and UEFA websites, the BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, NBC, ESPN and many regional outlets.

“I hope that at the end of my career, I have shown some people that anything is possible,” she adds. “It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you’ve been through. It just takes hard work and a belief in yourself and dreams do come true.”

Link one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=my0LWABjc8k
Link two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bszCWeB0pfQ
Link three: https://www.mancity.com/news/mcwfc/mcwfc%20news/2017/september/nadia%20nadim%20man%20city%20women%20long%20read
Twitter: @nadia_nadim

2017 was a landmark year for the England Women’s Cricket Team, they won the World Cup in front of a sell-out crowd of 24,000 at Lords, with 1.1m watching on the TV (in the UK – by far the most for any cricket match in 2017, men or women) and in doing so inspired a whole new generation of fans.

As a result, they won the BBC Sports Personality Team of the Year Award, the BT Sport Action Woman Team of the Year Award and the Sports Journalist’s Association British Sport Awards Team of the Year Award.

The players understand very clearly that they have still have a duty to grow the game. They take this very seriously, so much so that the morning after their World Cup Win they were back at Lord’s running an All-Stars coaching session for girls.

The team are well known for signing every autograph, replying to every bit of fan mail and chatting to young fans whenever possible They have also appeared in the national media many times – BBC, Sky, The Guardian, Telegraph etc and there is significant evidence to suggest that young girls across the country have been inspired to take up the sport because of them.

Anya Shrubsole, whose incredible bowling turned almost certain defeat into victory against India, said it felt like a “watershed moment” for the sport.

The ECB has all the right participation pathways in place with the All Stars programme, women’s softball festivals and the Chance to Shine charitable initiative and the team are determined to attend and support as many of these initiatives as possible either in person or via social media.

 “The foundations are there already, everyone talks about a watershed and game‑changing moment, and this does feel like that. We knew it was going to be a huge opportunity, and of course it’s vitally important we make sure this success inspires and connects with talented girls and boys.” Clare Connor, Director of England Women’s Cricket.

Link one: www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/24/england-women-world-cup-cricket-triumph-india-watershed-moment-anya-shrubsole
Link two: www.dailymail.co.uk/video/sport/video-1593622/England-Womens-Cricket-Team-win-team-year-SPOTY-awards.html
Link three: www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/26/women-cricket-droves-new-lease-life-england-women-team
Twitter: @EnglandCricket
Website: www.ecb.co.uk

The GB Women’s Bobsleigh team of Mica Moore and Mica McNeill were part of the UK sport funded performance programme after becoming World Junior Champions. The team had a goal and were committed to qualifying and competing at their first Winter Olympics, but due to some challenging circumstances and claims of funding mismanagement, their dream was shattered and funding cut.

With no funding to attend the qualifying events and yet three men’s teams still being funded, Mica and Mica were determined to find another way. Through a crowd funding initiative, they successfully raised the funds they needed to quality and get to the Games. Within a week they had raised £30,000, enough to fund their World Cup season. They achieved a highest ever placing of 5^th (GB’s best result in more than eight years) which ranked them 12th in the world and also qualified them for the Pyeongchang Olympics.

When faced with adversity the two women took accountability and showed remarkable resilience to remain focused on their performance whilst self-funding their season. They demonstrated clear leadership and determination to succeed and have been an inspiration for female athletes across many sports, and at many levels.

The team went on to achieve Britain’s best ever result in the women’s bobsleigh at the Olympic Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, more than punching above their weight to finish eighth.

Seen as trailblazers for women’s sport, the team have appeared in numerous articles in both national and local press and take their position as role models very seriously,

“We wanted to fight for ourselves because we’d given so much to try to make it to the Olympics, but we also wanted to fight to make sure women’s sport was properly represented. Young girls need role models, and it’s important for sport to provide that. It’s important that girls can look at people competing on TV and think, ‘I can do that’. Women shouldn’t be pushed to the back or singled out because of gender, and we weren’t going to allow that to happen.” Mica McNeill

Link one: http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/northdurham/consett/16069877.Women_s_Day__Consett_bobsleigh_driver_Mica_McNeill_flying_the_flag_for_women_s_sport/
Link two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=rVbT6fzSJBI
Link three: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/winter-olympics/2018/02/20/power-people-propels-mica-mcneill-mica-moore-bobsleigh-medal/

Twitter: @mica_lolita   @MicaMcNeill

UWS Sirens is Scotland’s biggest semi-professional female sports team with a TV broadcast deal. Aside from being hugely successful on the court, the team have received accolades from both the UK and Scottish parliaments for their work to progress women’s sport through their #ChangeTheGame campaign and Sirens For Success programme.

Providing a professional pathway for talented female athletes, the Sirens were created to not only accelerate and enhance the strategic objectives of Netball Scotland, but to also provide direct action to tackle head on some of the inequalities and disparities, which currently shroud women’s sport.

For Netball Scotland the Sirens delivered significant growth and improvements across the board from performance, development and education, to profile, membership and participation. This has helped the national team enjoy significant success on the International stage, achieving some of its best results at World Competition and moving it to its highest ranking position of 9th in the world.

Alongside the successes on the court the Sirens launched a powerful Sirens For Success programme, which engages ‘at risk’ teenage girls and educates and empowers them to lead healthier and more confident lives. The results have been astounding with girls saying they have stopped self-harming and feel happier as a result of participating in the athlete led programme.

The team campaign #ChangingTheGame is also used to drive social change as well as promote equality in sport and empower women and girls to participate in netball and sport. The campaign tackles issues such as body image and confidence by encouraging women and girls to create their own inspirational moments, influenced by high profile champions.

Other initiatives include Walking Netball (in partnership with Age Scotland) and Netball Scotland’s Fun5z Early Years programme, targeting 2-5 year olds and work with drug and alcohol rehabilitation groups, the Muslim community and women’s prisons. These programmes have received recent Government funding as a result of initial impact and success.

Link one: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15677619.UWS_Sirens_can_challenge_for_the_Superleague_title_in_2018/

Link two: https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/sport/local-sport/top-scottish-netball-team-sirens-to-have-open-day-at-aberdeen-sports-village/

Link three: https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/sport/glasgow-netball-team-uws-sirens-14271466

Website: https://sirensnetball.com/

Twitter: SirensNetball

In 2017 Sharon Fuller and her BBC Sport team launched a new streaming service, which delivered 330 hours of new live women’s sport coverage. She also leads the BBC Sports strategy on participation with a focus on reaching women and is creating a legacy by nurturing female talent in her teams at the BBC.

Sharon has always been a champion of women’s sport – as well as reaching out to find a female audience through sport. Most recently, the BBC Sport team launched a new streaming service, which delivered 330 hours of new live women’s sport coverage.

Sharon worked in partnership with the industry to enable smaller sports to produce content which could take advantage of the new platform and, with her team, actively pursued and helped organisations like Wales women’s hockey and Netball Europe to get them up to standard to be able to stream.

In the rights agreement with the British Basketball League she insisted she would only take the men’s coverage if they would also cover a regular women’s game.

Sharon was responsible for ensuring the women’s World Cup football qualifier between Northern Ireland and Ireland was shown on the Red Button.

Sharon has also continued to lead BBC Sports strategy on participation with a focus on reaching women and she is also creating a legacy by nurturing female talent inside the BBC in her teams. Both the Red Button and Live Streaming team as well as the Get Inspired team are a 50/50 gender split.

Sharon is also influential in bringing male colleagues on board inside BBC Sport to the benefit of women’s sport coverage. In the last 12 months there’s been significant impact – undoubtedly helped by her personal endeavors to ensure all this extra coverage gets well promoted.

Link one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/41853431

Link two: http://www.uksport.gov.uk/news/2017/12/15/uk-sport-and-bbc-sport-announce-live-streaming-collaboration

Link three: http://bbl.org.uk/bblonbbc/

Lorna Boothe is a former Olympic athlete who has risen through the ranks of athletics administration to become the most senior black woman in athletics management. She currently sits on the European Athletic Coaches’ Association and England Athletics Regional Councils.  She is the England Lead Speed Coach for Commonwealth Games and is enjoying a successful time coaching sprints and hurdles.

Lorna is a double Olympian and Commonwealth Gold and silver medalist in the 100m hurdles and a GB team manager for 9 years, which included being the Senior Team Manager for the Sydney Olympics.

She worked for the IAAF and was part of the Academy Management Group responsible for the setting up of the IAAF Academy and World Class Coaches Club. Lorna was also a part of the consultation team and then a development officer for the setting up and management of the Lottery Funded World Class Performance Programme.

As a member of English Sports Council Racial Equality Advisory Group, she worked with the Commission for Racial Equality to set up the now high-profile Sporting Equals programme and was the European Athletic Coaches’ Association’s General Secretary as well as on the Board of the Olympians Committee UK.

She is an England Athletics coach mentor and the Athletics Speed coach for last two Commonwealth Games.

Lorna was recently showcased as part of British Athletics’ ‘Women On Track’ COACH exhibition as a pioneering positive black female coach succeeding in a male dominated and monocultural working environment as one of the very few senior black women in sports coaching and administration.

Link one: https://femalecoachingnetwork.com/2018/02/14/women-track-lorna-boothe/

Link two: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/may/04/race.world3

Link three: http://www.londonathletics.org/lorna-boothe-hurdles-coaching

Twitter: @Lornaboothe

Clare Connor, Director of Women’s Cricket at the ECB, has been at the forefront of the game’s development in England & Wales for the last 10 years. She also influences on a global level, as the first female member of the International Cricket Council’s Cricket Committee. In 2017, the England team won the World Cup in England in front of 25,000 people at Lord’s arguably, in part, as a result of Clare’s input into the system at every level.

Clare Connor CBE spent more than a decade playing for the England women’s cricket team, becoming captain in 2000, leading the team to the semi-finals of the World Cup, and finishing her six-year spell at the helm by beating the Australians in an Ashes series – their first triumph in 42 years. Clare retired after six years as captain with more than 100 international caps to her name.

Alongside sitting on the ICC’s Cricket Committee as its only female, Clare has been Chair of the ICC Women’s Committee for 9 years.  Clare is at the very top table championing the women’s game. Her tireless work has been invaluable to England’s success on the field and she continues to strive for advances off it. Clare’s guiding principle in everything she does is to “normalize” cricket for women and girls – from the grassroots through to the international arena – to make the sport as relevant for women and girls as it is for men and boys.

Clare was at the heart of the historic ECB Board decision in 2014 to award the first wave of 18 professional contracts for the England women’s team and has further built on this platform, masterminding the introduction of the pioneering Kia Super League and restructuring the elite performance pathway.

Link 1: www.sportspromedia.com/quick_fire_questions/clare-connor-on-english-crickets-triumph-and-the-future-of-womens-sport

Link 2: www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/27/clare-connor-cricket-world-cup

Link 3: www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/376684

Twitter: @ConnorCricket

Netball Scotland is achieving its bold ambition “to be the first choice of women and girls in Scotland”. In just two years, they have seen a 38% membership growth, a 51% increase in national competition participation, have developed a range of powerful initiatives to encourage participation within diverse sectors of the community and have launched the country’s only national semi-pro women’s sports team with a TV broadcast deal – the UWS Sirens.

The introduction of the UWS Sirens into the UK wide Sky televised Vitality Netball Superleague afforded NS an unprecedented opportunity to transform the face of their sport. Entirely commercially funded in a sporting landscape where financial backing is limited across female sports, the UWS Sirens are pioneers, using their platform to inspire, engage and educate people under their campaign message of #ChangingTheGame. More than just a ‘team in a League’, Sirens deliver programmes to directly challenge the gender gap in participation and to drive real meaningful change. Their off court successes in their debut season saw this Award winning team recognised in Parliament for their positive impact on women’s sport.

Committed to leading the sustainable growth of netball and its people and the fastest growing sport in Scotland, NS has smashed almost all of its long term targets just 3 years into their 4 year strategic cycle with increased National coverage, an ever growing workforce and improved performances on the world stage including a highest ever world ranking. This NGB is not only recognised as one of the best in Scotland, but also as one of the leaders in world netball.

Link one: http://www.thenational.scot/news/15097983.Women_in_sport__Netball_Scotland_deserve_praise__but_they_are_also_in_need_of_more_financial__help/

Link two: http://sirensnetball.com/

Link three: https://www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com/news-media/news/2018/february/10/nspcc-scotland-teams-up-with-uws-sirens-netball/

Website: www.netballscotland.com

Twitter: @NetballScotland

The ECB made huge strides in 2017 to show the cricket is a game for everyone. England’s ICC Women’s World Cup triumph was a transformational moment for the sport, attracting a capacity crowd at Lord’s and a global TV audience of 180 million. The tournament made huge strides in reaching new and diverse audiences with 65% of ticket-buyers new to cricket. 

The team received numerous accolades as a result of their success winning Team of the Year awards at BBC SPOTY, BT Sport Action Woman Awards and the SJA British Sport Awards.

The tournament made huge strides in reaching new and diverse audiences:

• 65% of ticket-buyers were new to cricket
• 32% of tickets for Under 16s
• 45% of ticket-buyers were women

The ECB used the World Cup to inspire more young girls and women to play, support and watch the game. They ran 250 soft-ball cricket festivals for 9,500 female players, 60% of which over hadn’t played any form of structured cricket previously.

800 kit bags were sent to clubs and teams allowing women to play the game at times that suited them. The rise of the recreational club game continued with 543 clubs running a women’s section in 2017, a yearly increase of over 30%.

The next generation were also inspired as more than 37,000 children aged five to eight took part in the first year of All Stars Cricket – a new entry-level programme. Over 70% of the children taking part were new to their local cricket club.

Funding to the Chance to Shine programme doubled, which helped the schools’ cricket charity go from strength to strength. 415,000 young people took part in 2017 – with a massive 48% of school participants being female.

Domestic competitions reached record crowds with the Kia Super League seeing an increase in attendance of 44% compared to its inaugural year. The competition also saw women’s domestic cricket broadcast on TV via Sky for the first time.

Link one: www.ecb.co.uk/video/422649

Link two: www.ecb.co.uk/video/443876

Link three: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYPI3VRxKuc

Website: www.ecb.co.uk

Twitter: @ECB_cricket

Tracey Crouch MP, announced Parkour UK, as an officially recognised National Governing Body in 2017; heralding the first recognition of Parkour/Freerunning as a sport and making it the first recognised NGB for Parkour/Freerunning anywhere in the world. 

Parkour UK is determined to change the game for NGBs and define what an NGB of the future truly looks like through governance, leadership, raison d’être, diversity and inclusion.

Parkour UK have several female Independent Directors on the Board, and some incredibly inspiring female practitioners across the community who are leading pioneering work in mental health, movement for older people, physical literacy, the #ThisGirlCan campaign as well as providing strong role models for girls and women.

Aligned to their community movement and a number of female traceurs, Parkour UK have committed to change the game for female participation and exploration by offering discounts for female coaches wishing to get qualified. Additionally, they are supporting and championing their community by celebrating and showcasing female participation and achievement in their community – such as high profile TV shows like Ninja Warrior UK.

Parkour UK have lobbied for members of their community to be positioned across leadership work in the Sector and continue to work with (for example) lunchtime supervisors and female teachers to embed Parkour/Freerunning in the curriculum.

Parkour UK are in the early stages of developing a VR intervention to support and encourage new female participants and bust myths about what Parkour/Freerunning actually is. The project will specifically focus on areas that they know make any sports participation restrictive for women and girls.

Website: www.parkour.uk

Twitter: @ParkourUK

Instagram: @ParkourUK

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ParkourUK

Investec’s role in the continued growth of women’s hockey in this country simply cannot be understated. As sponsors of the Great Britain and England women’s international hockey team since 2011, they have helped contribute to two Olympic medals including an historic first ever gold.   

In 2017, Investec invested in the Investec Internationals, the two biggest hockey fixtures hosted in this country since the London Olympics. With 9,000 supporters on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the space of two days, and the games live on BT Sport, these inspirational events would not have been possible without Investec’s support.

At grass roots level, Investec employed a digital strategy to maximise their sponsorship of the Investec Women’s Hockey League, investing in a creative agency to film a number of games every weekend and stream a highlights package live on their social media channels for the first time, reaching more than 540,000 on Facebook and 105,000 on Twitter.

At youth level, they also invested to sponsor the Girls Schools Finals, England Hockey’s elite competition for girls of school age, which took place at the Olympic legacy venue, the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, with 400 of the country’s best young girls participating over two days.

 Link one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvzFOATUTGU

Link two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihqioBXauH8

Link three: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNx2-D7CBaw

Website: https://www.investec.com/en_gb/welcome-to-investec/about-us/sponsorships/hockey.html

Twitter: @Investec

As part of a three-year partnership to increase the role of football in girls’ lives up and down the country, Disney UK and The Football Association teamed up in 2017 and have since launched two initiatives together.

The most recent campaign, in support of FA Girls’ Football Week (April 23^rd-29^th 2018), aimed to encourage girls of all experiences and abilities to take part in football, get active and raise the profile of the female game.

FA Girls’ Football Week was supported by a multi-platform campaign, aimed to reach 5.7m parents and kids in the UK, including a film featuring three young female players from Coalville Town Football Club playing football interspersed with clips from three well-loved female characters from Disney films Moana, Tangled and Zootropolis. The film featured in cinemas, across kids’ TV channels, prime time terrestrial TV and on Disney’s owned platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

To further inspire a new generation of girls and parents to take an interest in football, drills inspired by Rapunzel (Tangled), Moana and Judy Hopps (Zootropolis) were featured in the packs being distributed to schools, clubs and homes by The FA.

In 2017, the first initiative of the partnership was the #DreamBigPrincess campaign, which saw the England women’s football team challenge the clichés of what it means to be a modern Princess in an effort to get girls into football and inspire them to fulfil their potential.

The photography campaign was shot by celebrity photographer Scarlet Page and launched ahead of the Euro 2017. England Lionesses Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze, Ellen White, Nikita Parris and Siobhan Chamberlain were pictured sharing their advice to girls including BE CONFIDENT, BE DETERMINED and BE FEARLESS. They also starred in a series of short films talking about the attributes they share with Disney Princesses and the barriers they have overcome to realise their dreams.

Link one: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/03/19/disney-and-the-fa-target-parents-ongoing-drive-get-more-girls-involved-football

Link two: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4692642/Lionesses-team-Disney-promote-women-s-game.html

Link three: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdGVM6A6GBM

Website: forgirls.thefa.com

Launched in 2009, OVO Energy challenged an industry dominated by the Big Six suppliers to become the largest independent energy supplier in the UK today. In 2017, OVO Energy selected the Women’s Tour, Britain’s leading professional women’s cycling race, as its first major sports sponsorship agreement.

The company is passionate about powering a more sustainable future that is better for everyone through the use of smart technology. Cycling is the ultimate, sustainable mode of transport accessible to people and a sport obsessed with watts and data-driven technology to improve performance.

“We believe in making a difference, being a force for good and supporting positive change. We’re proud sponsors of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour and see women’s cycling as the perfect vehicle to promote our progressive company,” said Chris Houghton, CEO Energy Retail, OVO Energy. “We believe that women’s cycling provides an incredible spectacle for sports fans up and down the country.”

As part of their sponsorship activation, OVO Energy set up a virtual reality experience complete with a stationary bike at each stage of the Women’s Tour, challenging fans to complete a hill-climb in the fastest time possible to win a replica OVO Energy leader’s jersey. The challenge featured a 360-degree video and featured professional cyclist Jessie Walker narrating the ride with tips, tactics and encouragement.

OVO Energy have since signed a multi-year extension as title partner of the Women’s Tour and men’s Tour of Britain, as well as extending their portfolio to include SweetSpot group’s Tour Series, Britain’s leading televised cycling series for domestic women’s and men’s teams

Link one:www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_6qQVFRfhg

Link two:www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2x3ziktWwc

Link three: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/06/09/ovo-energy-offers-cycling-fans-the-chance-test-themselves-the-womens-tours-most

Website: www.ovoenergy.com

Twitter: @OVOEnergy

Opening Boundaries is a not for profit grassroots organisation using the power of sport as a platform to raise awareness of and promote gender equality and peace. Our mission is to use sport as an educational engagement platform to inspire more people to reach their full potential equalling the playing field when it comes to sport.

The most significant achievement for Opening Boundaries was its recent recognition and being given the opportunity to launch its “BowlingOut campaign at the House of Lords with many influencers from the sporting industry attending.

Opening Boundaries, I support Bowling Out initiative was set up to showcase women in sport, whilst highlighting the importance of challenging Gender Inequality and Gender Based Violence which increases during sporting events.

The initiative aims to encourage women and girls from different cultures and backgrounds to safely participate in sport becoming healthier and stronger whilst developing a greater ownership of their own bodies translating into building self-belief and confidence in themselves.

Over the last year the organisation has made the following impact in the UK:

• Delivered 6 projects over 170 hours to 50 women and 180 young women
• Developed 20 coaches and activators.
• Campaign backed by 200 people in the UK with a social media reach of over 1 million.
• Full backing of the ECB and UK Armed Forces.
• Their influencing has also led to its bowling out campaign been delivered with Kenya cricket in 2017 and will be taking it to the Caribbean in 2019.

Link 1: www.asianimage.co.uk/news/15201979.National_cricket_events_aiming_to_Bowl_Out_Domestic_Violence

Link 2: http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2017/08/22/historic-win-for-women-in-cricket/

Link 3: www.openingboundaries.org/awards

Website: www.openingboundaries.org

Twitter: @ OB_0fficial

The Crawley Old Girls was set up in 2015 by Carol Bates to enable older women to learn to play football.  Set up with help from the Crawley Town Community Foundation and funding from the EFL Trust, the COGS include the “missed generation” of women who weren’t allowed to play when they were younger.

In the last year COGS has seen numbers significantly increase and are extremely passionate about promoting the new phenomenon of “Women’s Recreational Football”.

COGS also have women coming back into the game who want to play recreationally.  From having 10 ladies on the first night, they now run Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced player sessions with over 100 recorded attendees.

In 2017 COGS were lucky enough to be featured on a BBC1 programme as well as on the Radio and these shows had an amazing impact on inspiring other women to start up their own groups, especially in the South East.

Aside from exercise and fun, COGS have seen many women gain in confidence because they feel comfortable in an environment where they aren’t judged, especially on their appearance. Many friendships have been made and they have felt privileged to help the FA promote the FA People’s Cup.

Age or ability should be no barrier to learning football and the COGS really can play! Last year they were nominated for 3 Awards, winning 2 of them and coming Runner-Up in the other one.

Link one: www.crawley-cogs.co.uk/st-georges-park-the-fa-peoples-cup-2018-launch-12th-january-2018/

Link two: www.crawley-cogs.co.uk/winners-of-the-best-inclusive-project-sussex-county-fa-community-awards-21st-september-2017/

Link three: www.crawley-cogs.co.uk/the-rise-and-rise-of-ladies-socialrecreational-football-july-2017

Website: www.crawley-cogs.co.uk

Twitter: @CrawleyCOGS

MSA aims to increase the number of BAME females participating in sport, either through coaching, volunteering or participation. MSA has grown organically and is now delivering 11 activities in Redbridge and Enfield and has a core coaching and volunteer workforce.

Starting with an FA Level 1 Coaching course, MSA worked in collaboration with Essex FA, London Sport, Vision Redbridge, and BACA to offer a bespoke FA Level 1 coaching award aimed at getting more Asian female coaches in the sport. MSA were able to advise the other partners of the barriers faced by Asian females in achieving their coaching awards. Essex FA and the FA provided female tutors for the full course.

Feedback received from the tutors was positive and they gained from the course as much as the learners did. These small changes saw the course fully subscribed with 16 Learners attending; of which 15 were Asian/BAME females. Offering an all female environment meant learners could express themselves more freely and be more confident.

Many of the learners are now delivering at local schools and youth clubs, as well as in the football league coaching the local girls’ team. This achievement was celebrated on various media platforms including the local newspaper, showing BAME females in a positive light and furthermore increasing participation in the sport.

MSA has been able to replicate this toolkit across other sports. Working with British Fencing, MSA delivered a two-day Level one course which had 7 Asian Females qualify. Again, the course was delivered in a female environment with the coach travelling from Lancashire to deliver the course.

Championing more Asian female engagement in football, MSA has created a pathway for Asian females to lead more physically active lives. These coaches will now act as role models and inspire females of all ages to experience the many benefits of participating in sport.

Link one: www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/project-to-boost-participation-in-football-sees-redbridge-women-score-1-5357132

Link two: https://domorercl.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/fa-level-1/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/MuslimahSportsAssociation/

Twitter: @MuslimahAsso

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), England Hockey and England Netball launched TeamUp in 2016 to maximise the legacy of three consecutive home World Cups between 2017-2019 and are supporting schools to give thousands of 7-13-year-old girls across the country the chance to play team sports.

It is currently a unique moment in time for women’s sport following the remarkable success of GB Women’s Hockey winning Olympic Gold, England Cricket team winning the 2017 World Cup and England Netball’s recent Gold success at the Commonwealth Games. TeamUp is capitalising on the unprecedented opportunity for women’s team sports with England hosting three consecutive Women’s World Cups between 2017-2019.

The rationale behind TeamUp is to reduce the gender gap in sport participation between boys and girls, which begins in the late years of primary school and widens into secondary school.

With an ambitious target to get thousands more girls experiencing the benefits of team sport, the initiative provides teachers with the training, tools and resources to deliver high quality team sports for girls. TeamUp includes a novel rewards scheme for schools to access money can’t buy experiences to help inspire girls, such as tickets to events, athlete appearances and even opportunities to be flag-bearers at a World Cup.

Following its launch TeamUp was awarded over £600,000 by Wembley National Stadium Trust which is currently being invested in schools in the London area.

To date 1586 schools have signed up, this equates to an estimated figure of 24,000 girls in London alone benefiting from TeamUp, a number which rises to 155,000 nationwide.

Link 1: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/37574768

Link 2: www.skysports.com/more-sports/hockey/news/29877/10604267/kate-richardson-walsh-backs-womens-sport-collaboration

Link 3: www.youthsporttrust.org/news/youth-sport-trust-%E2%80%98teamup%E2%80%99-three-national-sports-transform-women%E2%80%99s-sport

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/teamupengland

Website: www.teamupengland.com

Twitter: @teamupengland

The Silk Series was launched to address the lack of female jockeys in racing. A series of nine races with a prize fund of £100,000 was created with the tagline ‘Pioneering Women. Inspiring Achievement.’  In total 36 women took part and over 50 pieces of media coverage were generated with a total broadcast reach of 12 million and online readership of 803 million.

Women were banned from riding in races until 1972. Despite some progress, over the last 20 years, females have accounted for just 4-5% of jockeys, with only a 2% rise since 1990.  Arena Racing Company (ARC), the UK’s biggest racecourse group tackled this issue head on by creating The Silk Series in 2017.

The Silk Series comprised of nine races for female jockeys across Ladies’ Days at ARC racecourses between May and September, with prize fund of £100,000. The Silk Series gives female jockeys a unique chance to showcase their talent.

On all metrics the inaugural year proved a huge success:

• 36 professional and amateur jockeys took part.
• Feedback was positive with jockeys saying it gave them opportunities to ride for new owners and trainers.
• Jockeys collected points for being placed in each race with Megan Nicholls winning The Tufnell Trophy (named in honour of Meriel Tufnell the first female jockey to win a race in Great Britain).
• Leading female jockey, Hollie Doyle, wrote a regular blog on thesilkseries.com on life as a jockey.
• Over £46,000 was raised for the charity partner Cancer Research UK.
• Over 50 pieces of media coverage were generated including BBC Sport, Sky Sports and the Racing Post, with a total broadcast reach of 12 million and online readership of 803 million.
• All 9 races were shown on At the Races with an average viewership of 355,000, with the final race at the St Leger Festival at Doncaster Racecourse shown on ITV Racing
• The Silk Series is being expanded for 2018 and will be worth £150,000 – a 50% increase – and include 13 races, as 4 non-ARC racecourses will also support the initiative.

Link one: www.womeninsport.org/news/the-silk-series

Link two:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/43310254

Link three: https://www.thesilkseries.co.uk/news/2017/hollies-blog-the-silk-series-final

Twitter: @SilkSeries

Inner Warrior is England Rugby’s major women and girls campaign to encourage new female players into rugby. Initially, it was part of a four-year strategy to grow female participation from 15,000 to 25,000 by July 2017. Thanks to Inner Warrior this target was exceeded one year ahead of schedule.

An aspirational brand, Inner Warrior focuses on empowering women, with a strong identity and voice in local communities and appealing to the inner toughness within all women. The campaign is spearheaded by an emotive film, asking 18 to 35-year-old women to challenge themselves with a fun and social fitness alternative by signing up to nationwide Warrior Camps – taster sessions for rugby.

The campaign has significantly increased the number of females participating in rugby, smashing the target of 25,000, creating 41 new registered women’s teams in the 17/18 season alone.

Many more women playing

• Exceeded overall Women and Girls participation target by over 10% (30,000 and rising)
• Over 500 Warrior Camps nationwide attracting 12,600 participants. 4,200 first-time players (correct as of February 2018)
• 41 new female contact rugby teams formed in 2017

Many more women aware

• 22 million digital and print campaign reach (incl. 1,756 pieces of PR, incl The Times, Sky Sports News and ITV News)
• 300,000 online audience engagement received (likes, shares and comments)
• The campaign’s brand film attracted 121,000 views within 24-hours and over 250,000 to-date
• Political support – Amanda Solloway MP, Derby, stated in Parliament   “Having recently discovered my ‘inner warrior ‘by playing rugby with England Rugby and my local Derby team – what are we doing to encourage more women to play sport like this?”

Announced on International Women’s Day, England Rugby has exceeded its overall Women and Girls target by over 10% – 30,000 and rising.

Link one: www.englandrugby.com/my-rugby/find-rugby/play-rugby/womens-rugby/pitch-up-and-play/

Link two: www.englandrugby.com/my-rugby/find-rugby/play-rugby/womens-rugby/

Link three: http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/rugby-union/10725369/meet-your-inner-warrior

Website: www.englandrugby.com
Twitter: #InnerWarrior

Karen Yeomans’s photo project “Standing in the Light” is an on-going investigation from a female perspective, celebrating women and the embodied femininity that comes with the empowerment from sport and exercise. This on-going project examines the representation of women in sport and seeks to present an inspiring stage to encourage women to follow their dreams.

Karen was shocked by a recent statistic which reported that women are under represented in photography, with only 5% of the pictures used by leading photography publishers taken by women, and just 2% of female photographers represented by commercial agencies. She notices that within the sports/fitness genre of photography her peers are predominantly male. A situation similarity to the representation of women in sport and questions could this impact how women are presented in sports imagery?

Karen began the research for “standing in the light” with short interviews, and she now has an archive of women’s account of their expectations, motivation and challenges. An empathetic investigation of these stories drives her to uncover what motivates a woman to succeed in elite sport.

This ongoing work continues to be a powerful photo documentary, challenging the presentation and representation of women in sport. Celebrating women from all walks of life in becoming part of a movement to “Stand in the Light”

Link 1: http://www.karenyeomans.com/sports/fencing-kate-beardmore/

Link 2: http://www.karenyeomans.com/sports/rebecca-heyliger/

Link 3: http://www.karenyeomans.com/sports/boxing-1-lisa-moore/

Website: http://www.karenyeomans.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Karen_Yeomans

Liv Cooke is the 2017 World Female Champion in freestyle football, traveling the world to perform at some of the biggest events. Recognising her power to influence via social media, Liv has worked hard to create innovative and engaging content and is now reaching over 8 million people per month through her video content.   

At just 19, Liv is completely self-taught, but has one of the fastest growing social media channels in sport. She is regarded across mainstream football as well as the freestyle football world as having some of the best skills on a ball globally.  Most recently being recognised as an ambassador to drive participation and healthy lifestyles in youth by UEFA and the FA. She is most active on Instagram, Musical.ly, Twitter and Facebook, with content being produced daily. She can be followed at @LivCookefs.

 Liv has also starred in some major campaigns such as the Channel 4 Women’s 2017 Euro’s ad, where she showed off her skills using various objects, Lidl’s new advert for The FA Girls’ Football Week and more recently travelling to Doha in Qatar to perform as the main entertainment act during their national sports day celebrations.

Link one:  https://www.youtube.com/user/MrMidgemc/videos

Link two: https://www.instagram.com/livcookefs/

Link three: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42564562

Website: www.livcookefreestyle.com

Twitter: @ livcookefs

Just over a year ago the Volvo Ocean Race announced a rule change that not only surprised the sailing industry but, by incentivising teams to take female sailors onboard, could end up changing its future. To support this initiative, the Volvo Ocean Race has created an Image Bank of incredible shots from the race which will serve as a legacy of this momentous decision.

The rule change is simple: by including women on their crew teams get a numerical advantage. The 2017-18 edition of the race inherited the legacy of Team SCA, the groundbreaking, perception changing, all-female team from 2014-15. However, when it became clear that the team would not be returning with the same sponsor, the race was faced with a tough decision – consider a major rule change or face the prospect of a race with no female competitors.

Sailing is one of the few sports where women and men can compete side-by-side at the highest level but, before Team SCA, you have to go back to 2001-02 for the last time there was a significant female presence. The race’s global scale and the way it acts as a platform for businesses in B2B, B2C and B2E terms means it can be a powerful tool for companies looking for much more than just a logo on a backdrop.

The more inclusive the race is, the more powerful it is. It didn’t make sense to stay in the past, so the rule was pushed forward – making the Volvo Ocean Race one of the most progressive sporting platforms for women in the world.

The race is eight months long and currently halfway through, there are female sailors onboard every team, meaning for the first time in history – a female sailor will win the Volvo Ocean Race.

With global media coverage (featured on CNN, BBC, The Times, TIME Magazine and The Wall Street Journal) and major international corporate corporations, onboard the Volvo Ocean Race is hoping to influence other sporting events from the inside out.

Link one:  http://images.volvooceanrace.org/assetbank-volvo/images/assetbox/517914bf-28c2-4743-98ba-84ddeb44b4b5/assetbox.html

Link two: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/women-making-waves-in-volvo-ocean-race_us_5a453441e4b0d86c803c7579

Link three: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/sports/new-rule-opens-up-jobs-for-female-sailors-at-the-volvo-ocean-race.html

Website: www.volvooceanrace.com

Twitter: @volvooceanrace

Channel 4 provided comprehensive coverage of UEFA Women’s Euro 2017, taking the perception of women’s football to a new level. The campaign featured a high-impact opening film and was the first ever UK presentation of a major overseas Women’s Football tournament entirely on location.  It attracted the biggest ever UK audience for a women’s football match at 4.3m, up 65% on the previous high. 

There was a national billboard, newspaper and television advertising campaign all for women’s football.

The presentation was led by Clare Balding who also fronted a C4 documentary chronicling the development of women’s football, which preceded the tournament coverage.

The broadcasts were supported by a high-profile team of analysts featuring lead figures from both the women’s and men’s game. They included Eni Aluko, Kelly Smith and World Cup winner Heather O’Reilly, plus Michael Owen, Ian Wright and Jermaine Jenas. There were additional contributions from Gary Lineker, Sir Geoff Hurst, Alan Shearer and Harry Kane.

A strong social-media and digital campaign was delivered with 16 dedicated “Euros Daily” programmes and a range of shareable short-form content which created new characters and role models such as Jodie Taylor, Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Bronze.

For the first time a broadcast of women’s football has received nominations for Best Sports Programme at the prestigious Broadcast Awards, the Royal Television Society and Bafta.

Channel 4 research indicates “positive perception” was increased by 150%

Link one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_jZd2MUXbc

Link two: www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/fsq845/when-football-banned-women/

Twitter: @Channel4

Sarah started the Tough Girl Podcast in August 2015 with 4 episodes and the sole aim of increasing the amount of female role models in the media. Sarah has now interviewed over 150 female explorers, adventurers, athletes, and everyday women, who have overcome great challenges. The Tough Girl Podcast has been downloaded over 500,000 times and is listened to in 174 countries.  

In 2017 – she started “7 women – 7 challenges”, where she followed the adventures of 7 ordinary women of different ages, from different background, going after different goals. Throughout the year, we got to go behind the scenes, as these women went after their goals.

On the podcast, Sarah talks to the women about their fears, challenges, failures and successes, and asks for practical tips and advice. Sarah is informal, friendly and helps to share the stories that matter.

The Guardian named Sarah as one of the top 10 contemporary adventurers to follow and Red Bull recently included Sarah in a list of 21 adventurers to follow on Instagram.

Sarah not only talks the talk, but also gets out of her comfort zone and takes on big challenges to motivate and inspire other women to do the same. In 2016, Sarah ran the Marathon des Sables, 6 marathons in 6 days across the Sahara Desert, which is known as the world’s toughest footrace. In 2017, Sarah thru-hiked solo, the Appalachian trail, 2,190 miles in 100 days, while daily vlogging.

Sarah is currently studying for her Masters in Women and Gender Studies at Lancaster University and continues to be a huge source of inspiration for women and girls.

Link one: www.toughgirlchallenges.com

Link two: wwwyoutube.com/c/SarahWilliamsToughGirlChallenges

Link three: www.facebook.com/ToughGirlChallenges

Website: www.toughgirlchallenges.com

Twitter: @ _TOUGH_GIRL

In January 2018, Manchester City launched Same City, Same Passion – a video led social media campaign to promote women’s football and showcase that the foundations of football are unchanging, regardless of who is kicking the ball. 

The idea for the project was sparked by FIFA research that found only 13% of its member associations believed women’s football was perceived as a quality sport. In addition to this, persisting misconceptions about the game were still prevalent across social media despite performances on both the domestic and international stage demonstrating how much the game had developed over recent years.

To combat those misconceptions, the campaign video highlights that the similarities between men’s and women’s football are far greater than the differences, and that women’s football is a high-quality sport that offers the same skill, passion and excitement as its male equivalent.

To date, the campaign video has generated over 3.4 million views and 74,000 interactions across the club owned social media platforms. As part of the campaign, Manchester City decided to merge its men’s and women’s social media channels to increase the visibility of the women’s game and bring greater attention to the quality of the product on the pitch. In doing so, the women’s team now reaches a combined Facebook audience of over 32.8 million and an Instagram following of 6.6 million.

On Twitter, women’s content is accessible to the club’s 6.1 million followers, though the original @ManCityWomen account remains active as a matchday resource to which all 6.1 million followers are directed each time the women’s team plays.

Within two weeks, engagement with women’s football was already on the increase with a female players contract signing generating a 400% increase in likes from the previous one which was announced on the women’s only Twitter channel.

Link one: www.mancity.com/citytv/features/2018/february/same-city-same-passion.

Link two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue9Wl-5kUIA

Website: www.mancity.com
Twitter: @ ManCity

Over the past decade, Sky’s commitment to women’s cricket has grown tenfold. Sky has invested time and money into the game, which means that in 2018 it will broadcast 12 matches from the Kia Super League, culminating in finals day from Hove on 27 August, England Women’s ODIs and the T20 Tri-Series double header against South Africa and New Zealand.  

Clare Connor, ECB director of England Women’s Cricket, said: “We are proud to continue working with Sky as we strive to raise the profile of women’s cricket off the back of an amazing 12 months, culminating in that unforgettable day at Lord’s. With two home international series on Sky this summer along with standalone Kia Super League games being broadcast for the first time, we are seeing the game continue to go from strength to strength.”

The women’s World Cup drew audiences of over 1.1 million. This was not only the highest viewing figure ever for women’s sport on Sky, but it was also the highest for a cricket match on Sky in 2017. Additionally, Sky became the first broadcaster to show the Kia Super League finals day with an all-female commentary line up and a female producer leading behind the scenes action.

In partnership with the ICC, Sky Sports showed all 31 fixtures from the World Cup for the very first time. The matches were available on TV or across Sky Sports digital platforms – skysports.com and the mobile and iPad apps – making Sky the first UK broadcaster to show every game of an ICC Women’s World Cup.

Women’s sport viewing was up 23% in 2017. The Sky Sports cricket team worked tirelessly to create engaging content and promos ahead of the World Cup, to give women’s cricket the platform it deserved.

Sky featured the build-up across all social and digital channels, resulting in the highest women’s sport engagement figures to date.

Link one: wwwskysports.com/cricket/news/12123/10921105/icc-womens-world-cup-watch-all-31-games-on-sky-sports-platforms
Link two: www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/cricket/10959234/highlights-england-win-womens-world-cup
Link three: https://www.sportindustrybiz/news/sky-sports-show-more-women%E2%80%99s-cricket

Twitter: @ SkyCricket