Sophie Carrigill: Challenging perceptions for all women with disabilities

My guest today is Lisa O'Keefe, a former Scottish international rugby player who was a director at Sport England for 14 years and is now Secretary General of the International Working Group on Women and Sport, the world's largest network dedicated to gender equality in sport and physical activity. 

Lisa is responsible for leading the Secretariat while it's hosted in the UK until 2026.

A passionate advocate for women's sport and breaking down barriers to participation, Lisa led groundbreaking insight work at Sport England, which paved the way for much innovation, including the globally recognised This Girl Can campaign.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

“It’s very difficult to find venues in the UK. Teams in the USA have permanent venues where they train. We're stuck with pokey little sports halls where we're constantly fighting the badminton mafia for space.”

Today’s episode is an adrenaline-fueled journey into the world of roller derby with the formidable Kristen Dusting, a silver medalist in the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup who's seen it all. We explore the incredible history and growth of what many consider to be the most inclusive of sports - revolutionary, loudly LGBTQ plus inclusive, actively anti-racist, and women and non-binary led.

From the sport's humble beginnings in the era of the Great Depression to its punk rock-fueled resurgence and today's dynamic scene, we explore the essence of roller derby's allure. The sport has become a beacon of inclusion, championing women and non-binary individuals in a way few sports have managed.

Kristen's been playing roller derby with London since the sport's beginnings in the UK in 2006 and has been very much part of growing this grassroots women's and non-binary sport from the ground up, not just within the UK but globally. 

When not skating or coaching, Kristen owns a skate shop where she combines her passion for the sport with roller skates and the wonderful roller derby community. She continues to play for London roller derby's top team, London Brawling, who are currently ranked number one in Europe and hope to make it to the 2024 World Championships in Portland, Oregon.

We also celebrate the sport's profound impact on mental health and its proud connection to the LGBTQ+ community, fostering an environment where everyone can flourish.

As Kristen mentioned, if you’re interested in getting involved as Team Manager for England Roller Derby in the next world championships please drop an email to Englandrollerderby@gmail.com

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Today’s guest is Sabrina Pace-Humphreys, an ultra-runner, award-winning businesswoman, social justice activist, personal trainer, running coach and co-founder and trustee of the community and campaigning charity Black Trail Runners. The mother of four and grandmother of three, recently published her memoir, Black Sheep, a story of rural racism, identity and hope. 

It’s fascinating to hear how a short walk/jog in the depths of post-natal depression evolved through marathons and ultra-distance races into Sabrina becoming a torchbearer in the running community.

Sabrina opens up about the trauma she experienced growing up as a black child on the poverty line in a small town in England, the impact of her addiction to alcohol, and what led her to the Marathon de Sables aged 40.

We explore how it’s possible to mentally push yourself through the discomfort and stress of a gruelling race, why women have such success over long-distance events and her running ambitions for the future. 

Sabrina is forthright about the urgent need for diversity in trail running and the outdoors. We explore the creation and impact of Black Trail Runners, considering the obstacles that runners of colour face, and celebrate initiatives like Black to the Trails that are reshaping the narrative.

This powerful episode highlights the significance of community, representation and the collective work needed to create a trail running environment that welcomes every runner, regardless of their background.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

“The utopia of officiating should be that anybody, regardless of gender, can umpire any game”.

Sue Redfern is a much-celebrated cricket umpire and former England player.  Sue became the youngest ever female to play cricket for England when she started her career at just 16 and went on to represent her country for the next five years, including playing in the 1997 World Cup in India. Having retired from the game and moved away from cricket, Sue came back to work at the ECB and, in 2012, decided to give umpiring a go. 

Her impact over the following decade has been quite remarkable, and she's now a member of the professional umpire team for domestic cricket in England. She's also an international development panel umpire for the International Cricket Council and has umpired various international matches, including five World Cups. 

In 2018, Sue was awarded an MBE for her services to women's cricket, and last year, she became the first female to umpire in a men's first-class cricket match in England. 

I was fascinated to know what it’s like to be centre stage at some of the biggest cricket events in the world and how it’s possible to retain your focus in a sport that can last hours. 

We discuss Sue’s playing career and where we’ve seen the biggest changes in the women’s game over the past two decades as she reflects on what it was like to umpire a Women’s World Cup in 2017, having played in a World Cup 20 years before.

Sue talks candidly about how she deals with nerves before the biggest games and shares her thoughts on the disparity in payment for elite female umpires and what needs to change.

It’s exciting to learn more about the huge growth in women’s cricket for those playing and officiating from a woman who’s been such a trailblazer in the sport.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

‘The most intricate sport nobody’s ever heard of’ – Claire Taggart describing her sport of Boccia. 

With the Paris Paralympics just a few months away, it was fantastic to hear from Claire Taggart, world number one at Boccia, and find out more about this inclusive sport. 

Claire represented Paralympics GB in Rio and Tokyo and became Northern Ireland’s first-ever Boccia world champion in 2022. 

We discover more about this extraordinary sport, which has no Olympic equivalent and is uniquely open to all athletes, regardless of the severity of their physical disability. 

Claire talks incredibly openly about her diagnosis with dystonia as a teenager, its impact on her life, how she went on to find Boccia and the impact it’s had.

It’s a fascinating conversation that covers a wide range of issues, from new gender categorisation in the sport to the challenges of social care funding for disabled people.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

“The England management in place now, and the type of environment we try to create for the senior team is very different to before… the environment at England camp is a much friendlier and nicer one than it was a handful of years ago.”

We start a new series with a fabulous conversation with Jess Carter, a professional footballer with England and Chelsea. 

Jess was one of the Lionesses that won the Euros in 2022 and went on to win silver in the World Cup in 2023. 

Surprisingly, representing England was never an ambition for Jess as a young player. 

She talks candidly about how the shift in intensity as a Chelsea player impacted her, the challenge of her early games for England and the positive change she’s seen in the England set-up under the leadership of Sarina Wiegman, which has enabled players to flourish and the national team to fulfil its potential.

We explore the real issue around diversity in the national team and WSL, why Jess is so comfortable talking publicly about her sexuality, and how she personally deals with negative comments on social media.

It’s a refreshingly open conversation with a high-profile England player.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Welcome to The Game Changers. It’s hard to believe this is series 16 of the podcast, which celebrates the trailblazers in women’s sport exploring critical issues around equality in sport and beyond.

We are so pleased that again this season of The Game Changers is supported by Sport England through a National Lottery Award. We’re incredibly grateful for their ongoing support, which enables us to share the stories of these inspiring women working across the sporting landscape.

My wonderful guest list for this series includes: 

Jess Carter, an incredible professional footballer who was part of the Lionesses team that won the Euros in 2022 AND silver in the World Cup in 2023. Jess also plays for Chelsea in the WSL.

Claire Taggart - ranked number one in the world at Boccia, Claire represented Paralympics GB in Rio and Tokyo and looks all set to medal at Paris 2024.

Sue Redfern, a former England Cricketer who is now a blazing a trail as a much respected cricket umpire in the men's and women’s games.

Sabrina Pace-Humphreys – an ultrarunner, author, social justice activist AND co-founder of the community and campaigning charity Black Trail Runners. 

Lisa O’Keefe – former Scottish International Rugby Player and director at Sport England who is now  Secretary General for the International Working Group for Women in Sport

Kristen Dusting – a silver medallist for England in the 2014 Roller Derby World Cup and multi-medal winning skater for London Roller Derby. 

Steph Harries - Managing Director at Women’s Sports Group, who was formerly Controller of Production for BBC Sport 

And 

Mo Hunt – a legendary England rugby player who’s won a World Cup, numerous Six Nations Championships and represented Team GB at the Rio Olympics. Mo’s now captain of Gloucester Hartpury, leading her team to victory in the 2023 Premiership. 

This new series of The Game Changers will be released on Tuesday February 6 so please subscribe now and don’t miss out on these fascinating, inspiring conversations.

The Game Changers is available for free across all podcast platforms, or you can listen directly from our website at fearlesswomen.co.uk. 

This is also where you’ll find details of all the trailblazing guests featured in previous series – there are over 170 of them. You can also listen to my book ‘Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport’ for free on the podcast. You’ll find the entire audio of the best-selling book in series 13.

The Fearless Women website is also where you can find out more about the Women’s Sport Collective, a free, inclusive community for all women working in sport. Membership includes access to networking events, regional groups, webinars, mentoring schemes, our LinkedIn Group, monthly newsletters, free places 

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Now entering its 5th year, The Game Changers continues to evolve, providing a safe space for female athletes and senior women in sport to share their stories and explore critical issues around equality and inclusion.

Ahead of series 16, which launches in February, we're sharing a special highlights episode from 2023.

Preeti Shetty, Director at Brentford Football Club, shares her shocking first experience as a spectator at a Millwall game and her challenge in raising funds in sport and tech as a woman of colour.

Paralympic legend Ellie Simmonds shares the ongoing impact of the bullying culture in Paralympic Swimming ahead of Rio 2016, and we hear from Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal FC, about the blatant sexism and misogyny she faced as the first female director at Fulham FC in the 90s.

International Football Manager Kelly Lindsey highlights what needs to change if we're ever to see more female professional football coaches, and the Guardian's Suzanne Wrack explores what we can all learn from the brave actions of the Spanish team after last summer's FIFA Women's World Cup.

UFC Champion, Molly McCann, talks of how her tough upbringing enabled her to become the fighter she is today and finally, Jeanette Kwakye, Olympic athlete turned broadcaster, says that despite loving the tiny bikini bottoms she wore to compete, she now sees the dramatic impact inappropriate sports clothing is having on girls participation in sport.

The impact of The Game Changers podcast was also recognised by Sport England in 2023, when they awarded Fearless Women a three-year grant to create a further 9 series. We're so grateful for their ongoing support and thanks also to our fantastic Executive Producer, Sam Walker.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

This episode was originally released as part of Series 3 on April 7, 2020.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest-ever female players, Kelly Smith MBE is England women’s record goal scorer and four-time Women’s Premier League winner with Arsenal Women.

Kelly talks openly about how tough it was playing football as youngster and being kicked off two teams for being a girl, how England is now the best place for any young girl wanting to play professional football and why she feels it’s so important to now talk openly about her past struggles with alcohol to encourage others to open up and talk more openly about mental health. 

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

A re-released episode originally published as part of Series 3 on May 19, 2020.

At the time of the original release Casey was Manager at Man United Women, and had been capped over 100 times for England and captained the Lionesses and Team GB during the London 2012 Olympics.  

Casey talks us about how she was bullied for playing football as a girl, her surreal first cap in front of a crowd of 45,000, what makes a great captain and leader, the difference in life as a manager versus a professional player and how she’s managing life as Manager at Manchester United Women.  

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production