Women in Sport 40th Anniversary conference

by

Kirsty Ruthven – Head of Education, Lifting Limits

I was honoured to be invited to the 40th anniversary conference of Women in Sport. As a sports fan and having worked in the equality space for several years, it was like Christmas had come early.

It was great to see an equal number of women and men sharing their passion for equality in sport.

We heard from an amazing group of people including Kelly Simmons OBE (Director, Women in Football), Lisa O’Keefe MBE (Secretary General, International Working Group on Women in Sport) and Nazir Afzal OBE (former prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service).

On tables, we had the opportunity to debate several key themes that are a focus of Women in Sport:

  • Gender budgeting: Sports organisations in receipt of public money should monitor its expenditure and work to allocate funds more equally between men and women. 
  • 50/50 leadership: Sports organisations receiving public money should target 50% female representation on their Boards and senior teams. 
  • Legislation against misogyny: Legislation and mandatory introduction of policies to tackle and prevent misogyny for sports organisations receiving government funding. 
  • Independent Regulator for Sport: A dedicated body should be established to tackle abuse by ensuring adequate safeguarding and duty of care to everyone involved in sport. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted.  (Women in Sport, 2024)

I was a little starstruck to be working alongside Paula Dunn MBE, a former elite sprinter and now Head Coach at UK Athletics. We discussed misogyny in sports and how men and women can work together to create a more equal future in sport. Paula was very generous with her time and discussions and explained her role to me as, ‘I coach the coaches!’

The day was round-up expertly by Judy Murray. She explained that both Jamie and Andy Murray had been in touch via their family What’s App to ask her ‘not to embarrass herself or to make any jokes’. Judy was far from embarrassing and shared stories of her coaching history and how she is passionate about equality in all aspects of sport.

Judy Murray closed the conference. She spoke honestly about her experiences as a coach and championing equality via all roles in sport.

Happy birthday to our friends at Women in Sport! Thank you for your important work and a wonderful event.

Links

Judy Murray urges British sport to ‘keep foot on the gas’ in equal funding push | Judy Murray | The Guardian

Women in Sport celebrates 40 years with landmark conference calling for a future of equality in sport – Women in Sport

Our Research and Insights – Women in Sport