The UK Armed Forces held its first Women in Sport Symposium

On Friday 7 July, a defence sport symposium was held at the Ministry of Defence main building to address levelling the playing field in military sport and how female athletes can be better supported and encouraged.

The event was the first-time professional women’s sports experts and athletes came together to explore the crossover with their military counterparts. 

Former Olympic netball player, Ama Agbeze, opened proceedings with an insight into life as an elite athlete and the evolution of women’s sport.

Addressing the big question, “why should male sport have to supplement female sport?” 

The answer Ama gave, “It should not. We are not asking for a hand out. Years of misconceptions around women, years of underrepresentation, lack of visibility and microaggressions have escalated the narrative to women not being good enough.

“We are good enough, strong enough, fast enough and we want to do it by ourselves.” 

Ama covered the basic imbalances of gender inequality in sports opportunities, with arguably one of the most impactful being the lack of adequate visibility and media exposure for female athletes. 

The visibility of women’s sport and the opportunities available to them was one that was resounding across the board for both the civilian and military women present. 

Fg Off Sarah Bonar is currently serving in the RAF as a police officer and elite athlete, playing representative rugby for the RAF alongside Harlequins and Scotland. Sarah sat on the panel representing elite athletes in the forces and shared her experiences balancing a career in the forces alongside one as a professional athlete. 

Sarah said, “I think events like this are so essential because it is visibility at the end of the day. If you cannot see it, you cannot be it. Women’s sport is such an important topic in terms of the benefits you get from it. From grassroots to elite level, it is so transferable into your daily life.”

Joining Sarah on the servicewomen sport panel was the Royal Navy’s AB Sophie Colebourn who is a rising star in the elite boxing world alongside her career currently training to be a physical trainer in the Navy. 

Sophie gave an insight into her experiences bringing her boxing career with her into the Royal Navy and the level she has now achieved with their support. Sophie said, “I am one of a few women who are coming through the Navy wanting to do elite sport and hopefully there will be many more in the future. We must pave the way; people look up to you. 

“People have now started recognising me for boxing and that is massive. It means everything that I have done in the last fifteen years has paid off, even if it pays off in that 1% to get someone else into a club, or to encourage them to try a sport that is positive.”

The Royal Navy’s SLt Lily-Mae Fisher also joined the panel to speak about her sporting success prior to and during her Royal Navy career, from letting go of her Olympic sports dream to being one of the very few women to earn the Royal Navy Commando title. Not to mention making her way onto the HMS Oardacious all female team rowing across the Atlantic next year. 

The incredible servicewomen were joined by other key figures in women’s sport including: Adele Nicoll, British shot putter, discus thrower and bobsleigh athlete, Dr Julie Greeves OBE PhD, the Principal Physiologist for the British Army, and Dr Carrie Dunn, a sports writer who has covered events from the Ashes to the Olympics for national and international publications. 

NAVYfit’s Emily Loftus, Sports Development Officer, and key advocate of women’s sport in the Royal Navy said, “It was great to hear the experiences of so many amazing women in sport. Both athletes and science professionals together. 

“It highlighted just how many opportunities there are available for women in defence, from grassroots to elite, across all three services. The variety of backgrounds of the elite women in sports, both civilian and military show just how important it is in all areas of life.”

The military sport symposium and all the key figures involved highlighted that, in both the military and wider sporting world, women’s sport is moving in the right direction and we are in a much better place than we once were. However, there is still a long way to go to level the playing field.