womeninsport

International Women’s Day – a #womeninsport wrap up

/ katieferg89 / 1 Comment

As International Women’s Day draws to a close, I thought I would share some of the headlines specifically around women in sport that have caught my eye over the past few weeks. I had hopes of writing a clever, opinionated article, but truth be told, I was poorly prepared and ran out of time, so thought that this was a suitable alternative!

I’d love to know some of your thoughts on these articles –  I’m still not sure on my thoughts on a lot of them, particularly around gender quotas in management so apologies if my arguments aren’t always as structured as they could be…but hopefully you’ll enjoy a read! 

FA, RFU and ECB risk cuts after Women in Sport reveals lack of boardroom diversity

Ah, the quota argument. I still don’t know what I think about quotas, preferring to be there on merit rather than because of my gender ticking a box. But maybe that’s something that we have to suck up and deal with for a while to make it the new normal. We shouldn’t have to, and we shouldn’t have to use funding as a punishment – especially when those most likely to get their funding cut don’t really need the additional funding in the first place…

It also brings the question of representation matching that seen in the sport in general – should we now be getting a quota into female-dominated sports such as netball to get more men in its management? The Women In Sport board (they produced this report) is 100% female…how long until we have people clamouring that this shouldn’t be the case.

However, the more and more women we see in sport, the more we are exposed to it as the new norm – giving young girls and those early in their careers aspiration that gender shouldn’t be a barrier to getting the job they want.

#thisgirlcan? I much prefer #thiswomandoes

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A Valentine’s Day Special…dating someone sporty

/ katieferg89 / 1 Comment

The endless conundrum. Do guys like sporty girls? Do they like girly girls? Does it really matter? (Probably/not at all/who cares?) However, the media (and by that we mean the tripartite of Elite Daily, Cosmopolitan and Buzzfeed), seem to frequently give somewhat mixed opinions on it – so we wanted to to challenge it.

I’m well aware that the reason I run, hit the gym and play a variety of sports isn’t to look good and keep guys happy.  Far from it. And Kate & I  have both been pretty vocal about our opinions on this –  anyone who has sat in a pub post rugby with the two of us will very much testify that we aren’t doing anything to keep anyone but ourselves happy – but it is an interesting question that I’m pretty sure men themselves don’t even understand. I mean I could make you well aware of what a lot of guys will immediately say about girls playing rugby, however, on the other hand, they will also wax lyrical about how annoying it is to have a girlfriend who doesn’t know or care about their chosen sport and moans when their weekends are consumed by it. HOW CAN YOU WIN? Simples. The answer is do it right back at them.

(Kate and I both met our boyfriends through playing rugby. They obviously don’t have too much of a problem with that)

We constructed a bunch of thoughts and I then asked for a male opinion – and he was all to happy to oblige.

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An unabashed listicle: 5 Motivational Quotes from Women in Sport

/ Kate O'C / Leave a comment

A short post today, written more for my own benefit than anyone else…

I’m flagging. I’m having a bit of a wobble. Nothing major, just a bit of a wall, and as I’m sure all you runners can attest, a wall can be overcome with determination and the willingness to feel the burn. And boy is it burning. No, I’ve not run my first marathon, I’m knackered because of life in general. Masters Degrees are hard work – who knew??

So, in an effort to motivate myself, I’ve turned to our beloved world of Women in Sport for some motivation, inspiration and perspiration. Time to keep my chin up and power though. I hope they might bring a bit of light to anyone else who might be in need of it too 🙂

1. “Whoever said, ‘It’s not whether you win or lose that counts,’ probably lost.” – Martina Navratilova

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Sport for girls should be pink

/ Kate O'C / 4 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone! For my first post of 2016, I have been gifted a topic by a red hot (or should that be hot pink?) debate raging in Ireland right now.

[Sidenote: I wrote the first draft of this using a Bic for Her ballpoint pen… If you haven’t read the Amazon reviews I implore you to do so. For the good of your hand health.]

Whilst idly browsing Twitter this morning, I came across something posted by Her.ie magazine that made me double-take. An Irish company appear to be promoting a new product, marketed at women, to encourage the uptake of Gaelic Football by female players – enter, the Ladyball. That’s right y’all, the squidgy, pink #Ladyball.

Image from theladyball.com

Image from theladyball.com

“The all new Ladyball specifically designed for a lady’s game – soft touch for a woman’s grip, eazi-play for a woman’s ability, fashion-driven for a woman’s style. Play like the lady you are.”

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6 Things Sporty Girls are Tired of Hearing

/ Kate O'C / Leave a comment

1. “You’re playing sport AGAIN tonight?”

Yup. Bloody love it. I would genuinely rather go and run around outside with a bunch of awesome people after work than most other things.

Source: Tag Rugby 7s

2. “Aren’t you worried about bulking up?”

Er, we’ve been through this guys. Girls’ bodies don’t react the same way to strength and resistance training as guys’. Having said that, sure, I’m fairly muscle-bound and therefore a tad on the heavy side, but my body fat % and wait:hip ratio are pretty damn good. Take that potential heart disease and type 2 diabetes. #BOOM Continue reading →

10 Problems Sporty Girls Will Understand

/ Kate O'C / 6 Comments

Here’s a popular one from the archives for you peeps – still as true as ever! We’d love to hear your #sportygirlproblems in the comments below or on Twitter

1. Your bedroom is perpetually in need of hoovering.

Especially if you play anything that involves wearing studded or moulded boots… Why is it so damn hard to get rid of every last bit of mud / grass / dirt? Or worst of all, these little blighters:

artificial turf

Whoever thought 3G pitches were a good idea has CLEARLY never spent entire weeks, post-training session, picking rubber pellets out of crevasses they hadn’t realised they had.

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Girls on bikes and girly bikes

/ katieferg89 / 2 Comments

OK, OK, after my women’s rugby rant, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to do another one. This time it’s cycling.

Put “girl on bike” into Google images (potentially NSFW,depends on your filters…) and let’s see what comes out.

Apparently, when riding a bike, women should either be a)half naked draped over a motorbike or b) looking super happy, accessorised with a basket, heels or wedges and ideally a floaty dress.

I unfortunately don’t really fit into either of these categories.

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But we don’t need an advertising campaign!

/ katieferg89 / 1 Comment

So let’s tackle the big, popular topic that is ALL OVER social media and the press, Sport England’s “This Girl Can”, which has received the majority of rave reviews thus far. This is actually partly how this blog came about, following a Sunday evening discussion over a steak pie and a glass of wine (Kate’s culinary expertise)

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#isitok….to say women’s sport isn’t as exciting?

/ katieferg89 / 1 Comment

I start this post following an interesting day which sparked a few discussions around female participation in and enjoyment of sports that well, just aren’t traditionally female.

Firstly, I spoke with a well-known ex international rugby player and coach, whose first words were “sorry girls that you had to sit through all that rugby chat”. Well let’s say, it was a rugby-focused event. I like rugby. I thought it would be interesting. I wasn’t just there on a jolly to spend 45 minutes away from my desk. But why the assumption that 3 girls couldn’t possibly be interested in, or play, a game that is traditionally male?

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