Women Play Sport 
Thursday 7th and Friday 8th November 2013
WSFF was delighted to have been partners at Women Play Sport 2013, the first in a proposed series of annual conferences on Women’s Sport. The two day event brought together themes on coaching, sport delivery, commercial investment, education, media coverage, participation rates and role models in a series of conversations aimed at improving the landscape for women’s sport in the UK.

With a speaker roster featuring Casey Stoney (England Football Captain), Heather Knight (Ashes winning England Cricketer), Jo Adams (Head of Commercial, England Netball), Shelley Alexander (Editorial Lead on Women’s Sport, BBC Sport), Amina Gani (MD, Phase Academy), Ana Marinovic, Ali Oliver (MD, Youth Sport Trust) and various representatives from WSFF, Women Play Sport 2013 delivered raft of content to nearly 300 delegates from grassroots to executive level.

Outlining ambitious plans for the future of the conference series, Women Play Sport Chief Executive, Mark Palmer, outlined the importance of providing a forum for those best-positioned to influence the long-term impact of women’s sport at a critical point in its development. Addressing delegates drawn from an array of high-profile industry bodies including British Cycling, English Lacrosse, Cricket Wales, the LTA, the RFU and various CSPs, SSPs and other NGBs, WSFF’s Head of Policy & External Affairs, Tim Woodhouse, noted the massive strides made in the past decade and in particular since the outstanding successes of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Combining a range of keynote addresses, breakout seminars and networking opportunities, the two day conference held at the Quorn Grange Hotel in Loughborough delivered a combination of actionable insights, case studies and theoretical explorations with a core focus of addressing the major issues surrounding women’s sport across the country.

WSFF is pleased to have been able to influence and lead the topics of exploration through its status as a partner to Women Play Sport 2013 and looks forward to a continued partnership building on the excellent foundations built on this year’s conference.

Commenting on WSFF’s involvement, Tim Woodhouse said, "Women Play Sport 2013 was a brilliant event, showcasing just how strongly women's sport is supported from the national administrative level right through to grassroots sports deliverers. WSFF is pleased to have been in a position to offer our expertise and delighted to see so many passionate supporters brought together with clear, shared goals.

"Discussions around how to breakdown the barriers to participation faced by women and girls are an on-going, evolving subject which WSFF feels deserve constant attention and focus. Women Play Sport 2013 proved to be a truly valuable evolution of the debate."

Plans for the 2014 conference are well under way and WSFF looks forward to witnessing the delivery of some incredibly exciting future plans for the conference.

We will have a selection of images from the event available in the coming weeks.

Were you at Women Play Sport 2013? We would love to hear your feedback on the event! Please email us with your thoughts and any suggestions for next year's conference.