On Friday at the Sport Ireland Campus, a gathering of Women in Sport leads and allies, CEO’s and others with a direct influence on the enhanced provision of sporting opportunity for women and girls came together and heard a speech from Lisa O’Keeffe, Director of the IWG and a former Director of Sport England.
IWG is a powerful international advocacy group with a global view of where Women’s sport is and the words she spoke contained some hope but also some depressing research, including from Ireland which showed the major challenges that remain on the road to equality.
Here are some of the highlights from here speech.
Now it’s been clear to me for some time that there is real momentum around women’s sport across Ireland. Whether that be at an elite level where we’ve been become used to stars such as Katie Taylor, Leona Maguire, Rachel Blackmore, smashing through or in some cases jumping over barriers to be the best in the world.
Or, on the rugby and football pitches, where Ireland is securing qualifying spots for Major Championships.
Ireland is visible in these places because of the effort of everybody in the sports system in Ireland and that real commitment.
And I promise you cause often when you’re in country, you don’t know what everyone else is saying and thinking, but we’re watching what you’re doing increasingly enviously. There are growing numbers of examples of the impact of sustained investment throughout the system surrounding women’s sport.
Deloitte talk of the virtuous circle of women’s sport, and you can break in anywhere into that circle, but of course what is true is that the circle requires investment. Investment which some may consider a risk, but be in no doubt, this is an investment opportunity offering the potential of significant returns.
And it’s certainly no surprise to me that attendance records continue to be broken and that women’s sport is attracting new audiences. Younger audiences and more engaged audiences, if given the right opportunities, given the right investment and given support to grow and flourish. And that growth, of course, is not confined to taking part on the track, on the pitches, in the gyms.
We mustn’t exclude the trailblazers who are leading the way as coaches, officials and administrators.
For me, as I know many of you, sport has been genuinely transformational. Not always in a good way because that’s sport. That’s the ups and downs of course, but nonetheless, I’m passionate about making sport inclusive and accessible to everyone. Whatever their level of talent, whatever their background, whether they have a disability or not, being active should be a right.
Thankfully, there is increasing recognition that sport is an essential, albeit undervalued, tool for social change. Building skills and experience that, let’s face it, are absolutely essential throughout women’s lives. Girls who play sport develop self esteem, confidence Resilience, they learn to work in teams, they tend to stay in school longer, delay pregnancy, get better jobs.
The research is there and the picture is clear. And some recent research conducted by Deloitte found that playing competitive sport often sets women up for building successful careers. Revealing that 85 percent of women surveyed who played sports, shared that skills they developed playing sports And then of course there’s the impact on the next generation.
We know, and again the research is clear, that children who are in families where mothers or female carers are active are more likely themselves to be active throughout their adult years.
So, As nations and communities look to build and expand their economies, create sustainable growth, and support growing and often ageing populations, the health and well being of the whole population is essential.
So you would think, wouldn’t you, that enabling all women and girls to enjoy lifelong benefits of sport and physical activity would be a no brainer, right? I mean, it’s just obvious, right?
This role, working for IWG, gives me the opportunity to look at the picture around the globe. And it pains me to say, there are all too many examples of slow to no progress, as well as examples of where the rights and freedoms of women are being withdrawn.
This is just a snapshot of progress towards equality within different sectors. Because often we think we can learn a lot from other sectors, but I always think it’s useful to just compare ourself with what’s happening elsewhere and around the globe. And let’s face it, the numbers aren’t great. And even worse in some sectors, they’re going backwards.
And if we look at the picture with regards to the Olympics, the Paris Olympics were a much heralded gender equal games. But if we look at the numbers of women amongst accredited officials and coaches. And leaders of international federations of sport. Again, we can see we’ve got a long way to go. And when it comes to taking part in sport and physical activity, women are still significantly less active in almost every country in the world.
And at times of national crisis, or during crisis in the home, they are the most impacted and first to give up their free time to break those sporting habits, often looking after others. So it also probably shouldn’t be a surprise that when we look at how long it’s going to take to achieve gender equity in this world, again, it’s quite a depressing picture.
The actually optimistic World Bank were forecasting it’ll take another 136 years. And for those of you who think that’s a wee bit long to wait, the UN predict it’s actually much closer to 300 years. 300 years. And yet, despite this, at times, glacial progress, research is revealing there is significant pushback to the very idea of gender equality.
The annual survey of attitudes towards gender equality in 31 countries across the world, carried out every year by Ipsos, And they’ve actually put out the most recent results two days ago. So they’ve brought this right up to date.
But what it shows us is that half of adults surveyed globally agree that when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone too far. Apparently. Looking specifically at Ireland, 50 percent of men and 29 percent of women agree that things have gone too far. That figure increases by 10 percentage points when we look specifically at younger men.
Whilst almost 6 in 10 men surveyed from Ireland agree that we’ve gone so far in promoting women’s equality that we’re now discriminating against men. Yet in the same survey There was a recognition amongst two thirds of those interviewed that without men’s support, gender equality can never be achieved.
Now, thankfully, there are many male leaders in our nations, in our businesses, and in sport who recognize that providing equal opportunity for women and girls play is not only the right thing to do, but also a smart business decision. And I’m really grateful to all the men who are in the room here today because I attend events like this all around the world and usually, honestly, I can count on one hand the number of men who would be sat in the room here today.
I guess my big message to you is please talk to your peers about the importance of this. And every time you, you find an opportunity to do so. Now more than ever, please be supportive of women’s role in sport and society more broadly because there are a lot of people who are in positions of power and the ability to speak loudly at the moment who really are challenging that assertion.
So we need you guys to step up more now than ever before. Journalists talk of tipping points, record breaking revenues and record attendances in women’s sport. In 2024, women’s elite sport revenue globally is predicted to top one billion U. S. dollars, and I suspect when we get the final figures in it will surpass that easily.
Women’s sport is a growing business, and we’re increasingly understanding the different behaviors of the fans of women’s sport, who are more loyal to the brands that sponsor their teams. And more likely to purchase merchandise products and services from those those sponsors and whether as advocates or investors, men need to be encouraged to act to speak out because in so many industries and nations, they still hold the key to change.
But continued growth is not guaranteed. The pandemic exposed the fragility of women’s sport, the first to be shut down when lockdown then happened and the last to be restarted. In many countries around the world, women and girls have simply not returned to sport and physical activity in the same numbers experienced pre pandemic, whilst the rate for men and boys have largely recovered.
And the message to me is very clear. What we need is deliberate action and sustained pressure if we’re to see sport and physical activity playing its part in creating a world where all women and girls can thrive. Deliberate action is set out in your national sports policy and in Sport Ireland’s women in sport policies.
And I’ll be honest, during my time at Sport England, I questioned for way too long whether we needed a women in sport policy. And since taking on this role and genuinely having the opportunity to look around the world, I am convinced that it’s essential, and that here in Ireland, you are genuinely showing many countries how it should be done.
Setting a clear direction, resourcing clear actions, learning, and adapting. And if you’re sitting here today wondering if you should have a specific policy or action plan for women and girls in your organisation, I would simply encourage you to do so. Really important, and now more so than ever. We of course all know that progress is not linear, and that access to opportunities to be active and to play sport can be impacted by factors way outside of the control of the sports sector.
But I hope you would also agree with me that sport does have the power to change lives. It can create opportunities and places for women and girls to be active, to take on leadership roles. and demonstrate the value and impact of creating the right opportunities for audiences of women and girls. I don’t say this lightly.
Personal experience has taught me that to create an inclusive and accessible culture in sport requires serious change, unpicking centuries of built in barriers and bias, a legacy of ancient games and 19th century codification But this shouldn’t be viewed as a threat. This is an opportunity to truly embed sport in the heart of our communities.
Now I’ve blathered on for a while and I guess if you were to remember one message from me today, please let it be this one.
One of the biggest and most impactful changes we can all make is to stop inadvertently focusing on fixing the women. and fix the system.
I say this having literally read hundreds possibly thousands of funding bids and program proposals over the years focusing on behaving on changing the behaviours of women and girls as if they are the problem.
I reckon there’s nothing wrong with the women and girls. Inequalities exist because the system around them is not meeting their needs. Why? Because we don’t live in a vacuum. There’s a complex system around us which shapes our attitudes, our behaviours and our experiences of sport. Only focusing on the barriers and motivations of the individual will not enable us to form a full understanding of the issues driving inequalities and the potential solutions available to us.
Think about the system. around you in your sport or in your place. What’s the culture in that sport? What are the social norms? Is there discrimination or inclusion, exclusion? What does that look like? To what extent do the organisations and institutions so essential to the delivery of your sport create appropriate opportunities, make all women and girls feel welcome and included?
Or do they? Possibly inadvertently make them feel unwelcome or even unsafe. What about the physical environments in which those activities take place? And finally, what impact are policies having? Are they helping or hindering opportunities for women and girls? I often see examples where policies actually work against each other or are not being applied as intended.
So, What we’re also learning when it comes to system change is that you don’t need to tackle all parts of the system at once. Because often when I put this diagram up, and you think about the complexity of the sports system around you, you think, goodness, it’s me, Lisa. Where am I starting, and how do I make this happen?
This all feels really hard. But what we’re learning increasingly by, by thinking about the problem in this way is that you go to where the energy is. You go to where you can get two or three parts of the system literally in a room together to discuss how you might work together to achieve change. So, that’s why I’m thrilled to be here today.
Because I know many of you in this room are driving innovative and impactful work in this space. That you are collaborating, and that you are collaborating with other elements of society. I’m genuinely excited by the prospect of the work here and the lessons learned being shared throughout the IWG global network.
And I’m sure many of the examples of what happened here in Ireland will feature at the Global Summit on Women in Sport, which will be held in Birmingham next summer. Do mark the date in your diary, as this is only the third time that the Global Summit has been in Europe in 30 years. a genuinely unique opportunity to engage with 1200 international delegates from across the world sharing what works and if anything I’ve said today resonated or sparked an interest please be part of the global network because now more than ever before we need you to join together with others to become part of that system.
A system where all women and girls can thrive and where the sports system is one where everybody thrives. Thank you very much.
Further Reading for Sport for Business members: Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference Reviewed
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
60 per cent of young men feel that the advance of women in sport and other areas of society has gone too far and now they feel threatened. Really. Ask at home and see if we can arrest this before it becomes a revers accelerator on what has been achieved.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
FAI Head of Women’s and Girl’s Football is our guest on the Sport for Business Podcast next Tuesday, March 11th
MEMBERSHIP AND EVENTS
The 12th Annual Sport for Business Women in Sport Conference will take place in November 2025.
The Sport for Business Membership comprises over 300 organisations, including all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies.
