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‘Coming of age for women in sport’

‘We’re not scared to rock the boat anymore’ and ‘we need more women in the corridors of power’, those are some of the comments from Ruth O’Reilly. Ruth was part of the Irish Rugby team at this summer’s World Cup. She criticised the Irish Rugby Football Union on the final day about a lack of planning, commitment and communication during their World Cup preparations. This week, saw the IRFU downgrade the Women’s Head coach role from a full-time one to a part-time, 6 month casual contract. It was one of many stories that saw female athletes speak out about the actions of governing bodies. Ruth thinks women will be encouraged to speak out more about their grievances.

Don’t isolate female refs, introduce more

Finland v Norway was a record breaking rugby game. It didn’t break a record for the amount of tries scored or the number of sin bins given. The game created history because it saw Alhambra Nievas become the first female referee to take charge of a competitive men’s international. Her colleague Joy Neville will follow in her footsteps, when she referee’s a men’s competitive fixture next week and Alhambra says more sports should follow rugby by introducing several female referees at the same time. The Spaniard says more female refs will mean they don’t feel as pressured or isolated as their male counterparts.

The Blade Babe

‘Project Blade’ may sound like a Hollywood film but it’s actually a new initiative set up by Paralympic champion Marlou Van Rhijn to get running blades more accessible for children. A new pair blades costs £4,500 and Marlou in conjunction with Nike has set up a station in their Amsterdam store, where children can buy their own blades like they can running shoes. The Blade Babe as she likes to be known hopes the success of the store in the Netherlands will lead to it being available across the world.

Is Europe not that kneedy?

Hertha Berlin became the first sports team outside of the North America to adopt the take a knee protest. Not many European athletes or teams have followed their American colleagues and adopted the take a knee protest. Doctor Kehinde Andrews from Birmingham City University says European teams and athletes aren’t following suit because they’re too scared of the repercussions.