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The Ageas Bowl Hosts Inspiring Girls Into Sport Event
The Ageas Bowl Hosts Inspiring Girls Into Sport Event
Olympic Gold medalist Dani King welcomed some 100 school girls to the home of Hampshire Cricket
Olympic Track Cycling Gold medalist Dani King and Louise Minchin of BBC Breakfast welcomed some 100 Hampshire school girls to the The Ageas Bowl on Wednesday 25 November, to learn from a group of Hampshire-based women with successful careers in the sports industry.
The ‘Inspiring Girls Into Sport’ conference was designed to showcase a whole new field of career aspirations for young women, as part of the Inspiring Women campaign by educational charity Education and Employers. It was organised by Hampshire County Council as part of its London 2012 legacy activities and its Hampshire Futures Service, which supports young people to participate in education, training and employment.
Women have not traditionally been well represented in the wider sports industry, and while there is still some way to go to close the gap, this event is designed to help inspire the next generation of career women to aim high, by offering insight into real career paths, and highlighting how some of today's successful career women have overcome the barriers they faced.
The event has also demonstrated that you don't need to be a world-class athlete to have a rewarding and a successful career in the world of sport - and the pupils at this event have enjoyed a fabulous opportunity to learn about careers they knew little about, or are even discovering for the first time.
Councillor Andrew Gibson, Hampshire County Council's Executive Member for Culture, Recreation and Countryside
Louise Minchin and Dani King were joined by professionals from the sports industry, including the The Ageas Bowl Cricket Sales Manager Emma Portlock, a former GB Olympic Team physiotherapist, the Regional Manager of England Athletics, a physiologist, a diving coach and a PR director among others.
These professional guests, drawn from organisations such as Physical PR, Active Nation, Eastleigh College and Gosport Marine Scene, were invited to share their stories and inspiration with individual school pupils through a 'speed dating' Q&A round table session.
I love sport but I didn't realise it was something I could get into until quite late on. Competing in Team GB in my age group in Chicago, in the World Triathlon Championships, has really inspired me to take part in sport - but I feel it's a shame I came to it so late, and would encourage girls to seize the opportunity to get involved as early as they can.
Louise Minchin, BBC Television news presenter
Around 100 girls from year 8 attended, coming from schools across Hampshire including: Park Community School, Havant, Portchester School, Fareham, Hounsdown School, New Forest, Purbrook Park School, Havant, Hamble College, Eastleigh, Redbridge Community School, Southampton, Kings School, Winchester, The Mountbatten School, Test Valley, Henry Cort, Fareham and Toynbee School, Eastleigh.
I never had this sort of opportunity to learn about careers in sports, and I think it's great that these girls have this chance to talk to people in the sports industry. Hopefully it will inspire the next generation of sports professionals!
