- Do Women Belong In Sport?
There is exponential growth in women’s sport; as a sector, in relation to participation and commercially. Girls and women are being inspired by the increasing visibility of world class performances and brands are diversifying their imagery and approach to promoting sport and fitness.
Broadly, however, the system remains finely tuned and optimised for men which does not cater for the physiology, anatomy and psychology of girls and women.
To enable women to optimise their health and performance, does there need to be a re-evaluation of this long-standing approach? If not, are we at risk of compromising the health and welfare of female athletes as well as their opportunity to fulfil their performance potential?
In this session Baz and Emma will explore female physiology and female-specific psychosocial factors with emphasis on injury surveillance, training and wellbeing monitoring, concussion prevention and rehabilitation and kit design.
The session will include discussion on:
• What needs to be considered when creating systems where girls and women truly belong
• Why females are up to 8 times more likely to have a non-contact ACL Injury
• How the Menstrual Cycle effects a females injury risk
• What the evidence is showing about rates of concussion and sub concussion in females
• How training and well-being monitoring can be designed with the female body in mind
- Trans Athlete Eligibility in Sports: A Snapshot in Time
Tokyo 2020 was the first Olympic Games at which openly trans athletes competed in the sports of weightlifting, skateboarding, cycling and football. While many consider this milestone to be a progressive step forward in the inclusion of trans athletes at major sporting events, others have raised concerns over safety and fairness in women’s competitions.
The debate around trans athletes in sport can be polarising. Should trans athletes be included in the sex category consistent with their acquired gender? What, if any, conditions should trans athletes have to meet? Is there a ‘one size fits all solution’ or is a sport-specific analysis necessary? Can it ever be justified to expect an athlete to medicate to be able to compete? Shouldn’t sport simply be inclusive for all?
These are some of the issues that sports bodies must grapple with when deciding their approach to trans athlete eligibility. Many sports have established rules in place, some are starting from scratch. And others are revising their approach in light of new evidence.
In this session we will look at the different approaches taken by national and international governing bodies to the participation of trans athletes and consider the factors that should be considered when regulating trans athlete eligibility.
- Latest developments and the future of safeguarding
The importance of safeguarding has been brought into sharp focus with the publication of Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson’s Duty of Care in Sport Review, and more recently the Sheldon and Whyte Reviews.
Recent legislative changes in relation to Positions of Trust have extended the scope of protection in sport to treat coaches in a similar way to, for example, teachers and social workers.
The Sports Councils have also worked with stakeholders to introduce innovative programmes and systems to improve safeguarding processes, to provide confidential channels for concerns to be raised and to support those with safeguarding responsibilities.
This session will look at the current safeguarding landscape, will provide updates on recent initiatives and explore what further improvements may be required to enhance safeguarding in sport.
- (Dried) Blood, Sweat and Data: Future Opportunities within Anti-Doping
Innovation is not just important, but crucial, in anti-doping to proactively stay ahead of continuously evolving doping practices and to instil athlete trust and confidence through embracing new approaches in areas such as testing and education.
One such example is the recent introduction of Dried Blood Spot (DBS) testing. This is a new tool that has the potential of becoming a more accessible, athlete-friendly, and complimentary alternative to traditional sample collection methods.
Another theme is how data can be leveraged in a transparent and responsible manner to provide a more tailored and efficient approach to better identify, prevent, and deter doping.
This session will provide an overview of the implementation of DBS testing, including the experiences at UK Anti-Doping, and explore the potential role of data analytics towards delivering critical insights and improving anti-doping programmes.
- Impact of sports on the environment
Studies into climate change have shown that over the past 30 years, winters are generally shorter by a month with predictions that global average temperature will exceed the 2 degree limit set by the Paris Agreement.
It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change may also negatively affect sporting competition. A study has shown that around half of the former winter Olympics host cities will not be able to hold the Games by 2050 due to a lack of snow and ice. The Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 was the first to rely almost entirely on artificial snow.
Whilst the winter sports will be among the first to be seriously affected by climate change, it is often the non-winter sports that are the main contributors to the damage caused. Another report, published by campaign group Badvertising and think-tank New Weather Sweden, found that more than 100 events, organisations and athletes were sponsored by fossil fuel companies, carmakers and airlines.
85% of greenhouse gas emissions created by major sports events come from the travel and accommodation of fans. The damage is even greater when competitions are hosted in countries where the facilities constructed will have limited future use by the local populations, including the building of new stadia, hotels, carparks and other infrastructure necessary to host the influx of fans and spectators.
At home, UK Sport recently published its Environmental Sustainability Strategy which includes a goal for high-performance sport to have a net positive impact on the environment by 2040. This ambition builds on a goal of reducing the negative environmental impact of UK Sport’s own activities and operations to achieve net zero by 2030.
Is it fanciful to believe that sport will ever have a net zero environmental impact? Should we just accept that a cost for sport is inevitable environmental harm?
In this session we will discuss the impact of sport on the environment and explore if and how that impact can be reduced.
- Impact of sports on the environment
Studies into climate change have shown that over the past 30 years, winters are generally shorter by a month with predictions that global average temperature will exceed the 2 degree limit set by the Paris Agreement.
It is becoming increasingly clear that climate change may also negatively affect sporting competition. A study has shown that around half of the former winter Olympics host cities will not be able to hold the Games by 2050 due to a lack of snow and ice. The Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 was the first to rely almost entirely on artificial snow.
Whilst the winter sports will be among the first to be seriously affected by climate change, it is often the non-winter sports that are the main contributors to the damage caused. Another report, published by campaign group Badvertising and think-tank New Weather Sweden, found that more than 100 events, organisations and athletes were sponsored by fossil fuel companies, carmakers and airlines.
85% of greenhouse gas emissions created by major sports events come from the travel and accommodation of fans. The damage is even greater when competitions are hosted in countries where the facilities constructed will have limited future use by the local populations, including the building of new stadia, hotels, carparks and other infrastructure necessary to host the influx of fans and spectators.
At home, UK Sport recently published its Environmental Sustainability Strategy which includes a goal for high-performance sport to have a net positive impact on the environment by 2040. This ambition builds on a goal of reducing the negative environmental impact of UK Sport’s own activities and operations to achieve net zero by 2030.
Is it fanciful to believe that sport will ever have a net zero environmental impact? Should we just accept that a cost for sport is inevitable environmental harm?
In this session we will discuss the impact of sport on the environment and explore if and how that impact can be reduced.
