Edgbaston Stadium continued its Edgbaston for Everyone pledge by hosting a Women in Sport forum during The Hundred double-header between Birmingham Phoenix and Trent Rockets on Monday 15 August.
Taking place in the Chair’s Lounge, the forum – which was hosted by Archie Kalyana, Diversity Producer and Director of Cricket at BBC Sport – discussed topics such as closing the gender gap, professionalising the women’s game and what can cricket learn from other sports.
The panel – which joined Archie on the night – included Beth Barrett-Wild (Head of The Hundred Women’s Competition and Female Engagement at the ECB), Emily Defroand (Communications Officer, West Ham United and former Great Britain and England Hockey Player), Giselle Mather (Director of Women’s Rugby, Ealing Trailfinders) and Sinead Quinn (Head of Commercial at Aston Villa Women Football Club).
With representatives also from British Athletics, Commonwealth Games, the PCA, Birmingham City FC, City Football Group, Edgbaston Priory and Women’s Sport Collective (amongst others) in attendance, there was plenty of opportunity to discuss ideas through networking and the event itself, which was hosted in front of 80 sport leaders.
Stuart Cain, Chief Executive, said: “There was a real energy in the room, and it’s clear this is the moment for women’s sport. The Lioness’ Euro success, Commonwealth Games cricket and hockey gold medal have created real momentum and it’s clear that there is a new generation of female athletes and administrators that really want to seize this initiative to improve performance, drive commercial sustainability and increase participation. It was great to play a small part in harnessing this enthusiasm at Edgbaston.”
The forum follows a pledge by Edgbaston to reflect the communities we serve and use cricket to bring people together from all walks of life.
During the opening Birmingham Phoenix fixture, the Chair’s Lounge hosted an NHS heroes night to celebrate the great work the NHS have done since the global pandemic.
With two fixtures remaining, Edgbaston will also host ‘Sport4Good’ and ‘Rainbow Laces’ themed takeovers on the 19 and 28 August respectively.
