Leeds Rhinos Foundation continued their promotion of women’s sport by hosting athletes and organisations from across the North of England for the Women in Sport North Conference.
The conference, which was organised by Insight with Passion, continues a busy year at Headingley Carnegie, where the first netball and woman’s rugby league teams were launched by Leeds Rhinos’ official charity, creating new environments for women to realise their sporting potential in the city.
With the stadium boasting so much sporting history as the home of Leeds Rhinos, Yorkshire Carnegie and Yorkshire Cricket it provided an ideal backdrop for a wealth of speakers from sports, broadcasting, higher education institutions and sports governing bodies to provide discussion on the growing tide of women in sport.
The conference was hosted by BBC Broadcaster Tanya Arnold and included a keynote speech from British Olympian 1500m runner Laura Weightman for over 200 people in attendance.
TV Expert and Business woman, Yorkshire born Kate Hardcastle who organised the event said: “I have been on a mission since 2012 to ensure that we have even more support for the women and girls sporting movement, especially in the regions and at grass roots/ volunteer level. Activity can help us in so many ways – improve our fitness, health, our mood and even our confidence – but finding the right sport for you can take time and resources that many of us don’t have.
“The Women In Sport Conference North is an entirely voluntary run event, driven mainly by my passion as a mum and as a community supporter to get even greater support and links between all the brilliant work that is happening in the UK communities, enabling it to reach more people and places.”
Alongside Olympian Weightman, who provided an engaging insight into her journey to international athletics, speakers included celebrated Professor of Physical Education and Sport at Laval University, Guylaine Demers and Senior Producer and Director at the BBC Sally Richardson.
The first panel discussion of the day on Primary PE Provision saw Tagtiv8 Active Learning provider Bryn Llewellyn, BBC Editorial Lead for Women’s Sport, Shelley Alexander and Leeds Beckett Lecturer in Physical Education Maura Hyland discuss sporting provision for girls in school settings.
Further panels included former Rugby League international Eorl Crabtree and Lynne Preston from Jane Tomlinson’s Run for All, who discussed the role of the volunteer in sport along with a panel on breakthrough sports from two young athletes on the elite international pathway in Netball and Rugby League, Georgia Pexton and Lois Forsell.
Forsell, who is also Women and Girl’s Rugby League for Leeds Rhinos Foundation commented on impact of conferences being brought to audiences in the north of the country.
“I was honoured to speak as part of the conference, which I think has the potential to play a major part in progressing women’s position in the sporting arena.
“By bringing together all involved with sports and movement across the North of England to interact, share best practice and take part in discussions around the topic of women in sport, we are bringing the conversation to a public audience and doing it in cities in the North where women’s sport is continuing to grow is very important, so it’s been a really inspiring day all round.”
The Women in Sport North Conference will return in March 2018 at Manchester’s Media City.
To find out more and register for the conference click here