WSA host successful Wales Week London event with Cricket Wales and Glamorgan Cricket at Lord’s
The Welsh Sports Association (WSA) recently collaborated with members Cricket Wales and Glamorgan Cricket to host another Wales Week London event, this time taking place at the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
With the home of cricket giving us a breathtaking backdrop, thought-provoking discussions centred around inclusion across Welsh sport, the growth of female and inclusive participation, and the revolutionisation of sport for women and girls.
Our once-again excellent host Lauren Jenkins led proceedings, engaging a captivated audience throughout as she introduced two expert panels to the stage.
Kicking off the day were Cricket Wales CEO, Barry Cawte, and WSA Chair and Welsh Sports Foundation Trustee, Lynn Pamment CBE.
Speaking of his organisation’s need to make cricket more accessible and change its image, Barry Cawte discussed the challenges that many sports have in this space. Talking about Cricket Wales’ ten-year strategy, he went on to speak passionately about how cricket has become a game for all; how the sport has managed to attract and strives to retain women and girls; and the importance of diversity within the sport.
The discussions provoked interesting dialogue throughout the room, with questions including solutions for state-school participation and late-teenage retention, for example, posed.
Lynn Pamment also laid out the importance of an inclusive sector in all aspects and delved into the role of the Welsh Sports Foundation in helping to achieve this. She illustrated this by telling the story of one girl who had her sporting hobby taken away due to her family’s financial struggles. The family chose to continue supporting her brother so that he remained engaged in something positive and avoided falling into antisocial activities. Through Welsh Sports Foundation support, both children are still engaged with their chosen sporting hobbies.
Learn more about the WSF here.
With this theme in mind, Lauren then introduced the second panel of the day which would focus on how the sector has been revolutionised for women and girls, and needs to continue to do so.
The room heard from Head of Digital & Sport News at BBC Wales Sport, Laura Kenyon, Head of Women’s Pathway at Glamorgan Cricket, Aimee Rees, and Admiral Group’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Michelle Leavesley.
Fascinating discussions around the growth of women’s and girls’ participation in cricket and wider sport ensued, with role modelling becoming a common theme; “you need to see it, to be it”.
From Laura Kenyon revealing how there were more Gareths than women at BBC Wales Sport when she arrived at the BBC, to Aimee Rees’ long-standing presence in Welsh cricket and her work in ensuring that girls in Wales have a pathway into professional cricket, to Michelle Leavesley championing the role of women in business and her varied leadership roles within sport and leisure; the panel proved thoroughly thought-provoking, incredibly insightful, and undeniably inspiring.
Following this, the room was treated to a Q&A session with cricketing royalty.
2005 Ashes hero Simon Jones took to the stage to chat with Lauren, providing insight and laughs.
He discussed feeling the cricketing frenzy and adulation courtesy of his Ashes performance in 2005, as well as battling with major injury setbacks in his playing career; he chatted over eyebrow-raising sledging tales, as well as his aspirations after taking over Middlesex’s disability side and the positivity he sees in the growth of women’s cricket.
Following an abundance of questions from the audience, lunch was served before the afternoon’s activities took place.
Delegates were afforded the rare opportunity to take part in both a cricket initiation in the Lord’s Indoor Cricket Centre as well as enjoy a guided tour of the home of cricket.
While some may not have fulfilled their true potential on the crease, the WSA hopes that everyone in attendance enjoyed the event and found great value in the day’s discussions.
The WSA would like to extend its gratitude to all panellists and our host for the day, who all provided such valuable insight on stage and ensured that those in the audience remained captivated throughout.
Reflecting on the event, the WSA forged valuable new connections and successfully raised awareness of both the WSA and the Welsh Sports Foundation Charity. Through collaboration with members Cricket Wales and Glamorgan CCC, we highlighted the inclusive nature of sport in Wales, with a particular focus on cricket and the growth of opportunities for women and girls. We would like to thank Cricket Wales and Glamorgan Cricket for such a successful collaboration, as well as Lord’s Cricket Ground and staff for their brilliant hospitality.
We look forward to once again taking part in Wales Week London next year.
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