An Outsiders View of WSFF
Being a Devon girl, the thought of going to London and finding the WSFF building is a scary thought when you are used to fields and cows. However I successfully found it without getting lost on my first day and was even one of the first ones in the office-score!!
Having never worked with an organisation like the WSFF I was unsure what to expect. I assumed the team would be clued up on all sports played in England, disappointingly when I explained that I played underwater hockey none of them had ever heard of it. I also expected that everyone would have a passion for female sport; this was apparent as soon as the discussion began about England going out of the Women’s World Cup. The whole team are ever so welcoming, friendly and very approachable which is ideal as many of the issues/policies that were being discussed in the team meeting I didn’t truly understand. The team is smaller than I imagined, however great things come in small packages; they all have extravagant and exciting ideas to help promote female participation in sport and with the money could change the attitude of females towards sport in the UK.
On my first day I attended a meeting at a design agency to discuss the printing of some new reports. I never realised you could spend so much time talking about font size and colour or that I would be going to a meeting with a designer when coming to work for a sports charity. Back at the office I began collating information in preparation for Tim; who is attending the European conference to discuss ‘Ensuring equal chances through sport participation as a social policy element’. One of the tasks was calculating the percent of females on NGBs board and comparing it with the percent of females participating within that sport. I was overwhelmed with the results; prior to coming to the WSFF I had no idea on the scale of the problem not only with the lack of female board members but also the lack of female participants. A shocking statistic was that only 6 out of the 35 sports have more than 50% female participants.
I was given a fantastic opportunity on my second day to go to the Southbank Centre to discuss how to make sport a meaningful part of the Women of the World (WOW) festival. We met alongside Jude Kelly, Baroness Grey-Thompson and various other faces within promoting women’s sport. Within the first few minutes of the interview it was apparent that both ladies had an extreme amount of passion and determination to change female sport, this was fantastic to hear that these high profile successful females wanted to help make a change. I was overwhelmed with the meeting, and the ideas being flown around; with the festival potentially including numerous celebrity faces, halls of fame and shame. I was very aware of being an intern and didn’t want to interrupt, however when Jude asked for my input I was thrilled to have the opportunity to tell everyone what I thought on previous comments made and the barriers in my own sporting career.
Portcullis House was the venue for our afternoon meeting with Andy Reed an ex MP for Loughborough (a big rival as I attend University in Exeter). I had expected Mr Reed to have little interest in female sport, being an avid rugby player and working for the RFU; however I was pleasantly surprised when we were discussing the problems with lack of participation and his concerns with this issue. He is very committed to making a change, listening to everyone’s thoughts about it and then creating potential solutions to resolving them. It was welcoming to hear a male MP passionate and determined similar to Jude Kelly and Baroness Grey-Thompson about female sport.
Working with the WSFF has been a massive eye opener; I have learnt a huge amount about the problems within women’s sport but also the proposed resolutions. The WSFF are working extremely hard with numerous organisations to raise the profile of these issues and to initiate schemes to get more females active. I personally am very passionate about female sport, being an athlete myself and coming from an area where opportunities are limited. I am extremely looking forward to the rest of my time here (as long as I don’t get lost on the tubes or buses or even walking), particularly to see what I can take from the Foundation and possibly implement back in Devon.
