A couple of weeks ago Katie Matthews, Little Dot Sport's Partnerships Director, attended the Everything in Sport Women’s Edition conference held at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and joined a panel to discuss how we can ‘Empower Women and Girls through Sport’.
"I was able to share my thoughts as someone working with a range of rightsholders who are both looking to increase the visibility of their women’s sport content and to also reach more female sports fans through their digital channels.
The conference had an exceptional line up of speakers across the two days, with a range of topics - including perception, participation, visibility, sustainability and equality - being discussed."
Here are Katie's key takeaways from the sessions she was able to attend;
Exciting, not just inspiring.
"Tammy Parlour MBE, from the Women’s Sport Trust, emphasised the significance of perceiving women’s sport as exciting rather than merely inspiring. Whilst great strides have been made in raising the profile of women’s sport, Tammy explained how shifting the perception of women’s sport - by placing a greater focus on the excitement that it undoubtedly offers - would help to bring about a positive step change."
Participation challenges.
"Celia Roberts, representing Yonder, brought attention to the challenges still faced in encouraging girls to participate in sport. She acknowledged the fantastic growth in the visibility of women’s sport, but sounded a note of caution about the fact that this isn’t necessarily translating to more participation amongst girls at the grassroots level. For more details the white paper she talked through can be found here."
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Katie Matthews, Partnerships Director at Little Dot Sport
The importance of role models across the board.
"As part of the panel I was on, we discussed the importance of visibility, and of creating relatable role models to help girls ‘see it so they can be it’. I spoke about the significance of engaging younger female audiences through content across digital platforms, whilst my fellow panellists stressed the importance of having relatable role models in leadership and coaching positions. The key clearly being to ensure that there is visibility across all those different touchpoints in sport."
Athlete activism and legacy.
"In a discussion around sustainability, Mimi Corden-Lloyd, from Coutts bank, spoke about the power of athlete activism and the important cultural shifts driving that activism. She talked about individual athletes considering their personal legacies and how their decisions around that can be a significant driver of positive change."
From increased exposure to impact.
"Whilst the growth of women’s sport that we have witnessed over the past few years was discussed at length at the conference, it was made clear by several of the sessions that a) there is still much work to be done to ensure women’s sport gets the exposure it deserves - and needs - to continue to grow at all levels, and that b) the positive impact of that increased exposure still needs to be fully unlocked."
Inclusion and equality are hugely important to everyone here at Little Dot Studios, and we want to do everything we can to help continue to promote the growth of women's sport and women in sport. If you want to find out more about our commitments, find out more here.
