The Radio 4 programme Woman?s Hour recently published its list of the UK?s most powerful women.?
Out of the 100 women featured on the Power List, just four were from the world of sport: Clare Balding, Karren Brady, Heather Rabbatts and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The top twenty was ranked in order of power and was topped, somewhat bizarrely in my view, by HM The Queen.
The other 80 were listed in alphabetical order, and the sporting four featured in this group.
But what is power and how can it be measured?
The Woman?s Hour website?s?definition?was based on a list of questions:
?Which women have the biggest impact on our economy, society, politics and culture?
?Who has the ability to inspire change as a role model or a thinker?
?Does power boil down to having the money to make things happen?
?Has new technology changed what it is to be powerful??
The Woman?s Hour Power List, the site continued, looked at ?the achievements of British women across public life and offer some measure of the progress women have made in society?.
It hoped to ?shine a light on the top female politicians, business women and leaders in their field ? from areas as diverse as finance, education, health, engineering and the arts?.
And it asked how much power these women have in modern Britain.
Anyone could be nominated via an online form. The nominees were then judged by a panel comprising Eve Pollard, former Woman?s Hour editor Jill Burridge, Baroness Oona King, writer Val McDermid, journalist Dawn O?Porter and Priti Patel MP.
In addition to this, ?expert witnesses? could be called to advise on specific areas.
I was going to put a name forward, but I wasn?t quite sure where or if sport would fit into it.
I was glad to see four did actually make the list, but there could have been so many more.
So, if you?ll indulge me, I?d like to mention a few outstanding women from sport who I think should have made the list.
But first, a look at the four women who did make it.
They are a diverse group, coming at their roles from varying angles, but with a shared love of sport and a will to influence the future.
Clare Balding was a figure of ridicule when she started her broadcasting career.
She still has her detractors, but they are now in a minority and Balding is undoubtedly a rising star.
She has gone from being ?the horsey one? to being able to show a real depth of knowledge in everything she covers. Her stock rose greatly during the London Olympics when her hard work clearly paid off with universal acknowledgement as one of the best broadcasters around.
Since then she seems to have gained confidence and is not afraid to make comments on wider issues pertaining to women.
On the Radio 4 website Balding is quoted as saying, ?I think ?ambitious? is one of those adjectives used for women in a derogatory way.
?And, yet, I think ambition is crucial in life ? you have to know what you might be capable of and push yourself slightly beyond it.?
Karren Brady crosses effortlessly between the worlds of business and sport.
She came to public prominence when she became the first female Managing Director of a football club at Birmingham City from 1993 to 2009.
Since then she has featured on Alan Sugar?s ?The Apprentice?, while maintaining her links with football, becoming vice-chair of West Ham United in January 2010.
She has spoken out against sexism in business and in sport and continues to campaign on the issue.
In an interview with the Telegraph in 2012 she said, ?I don?t feel any shame in saying I enjoy my work.? I do.
?There are two things important to me: my children and my work.? I won?t give either up.?
Heather Rabbatts CBE is another woman equally at home in business and sport.
After spells as chief executive at the London boroughs of Lambeth, Merton and Hammersmith and Fulham she turned her attention to football, becoming Executive Deputy Chair of Millwall FC in 2006.
In 2012 she became the first female board member at the Football Association (FA).
She is also a trustee of the Royal Opera House and sits on several other boards.
She has broken through spectacularly in the notoriously male-dominated world of football.
In an interview with The Independent?following?her appointment at Millwall, Rabbatts said, ?Given football is the national game and such a huge part of our cultural life, women should have a bigger part in it.
?When you look at the people running it on the FA Council, where the average age is about 65 and there?s only one woman out of 93, you think, ?Come on guys, get real.
?More and more women are going to football. Don?t you need to embrace us??
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson competed in five Paralympic Games, winning 16 medals, of which 11 were gold.
Since her retirement from competitive sport in 2007 she has carved out a career in television.
She is also a non-executive director of UK Athletics and is on the board of the London Marathon.
She was made a life peer in 2010, and speaks not only on disability issues, but more recently has used her time in the House of Lords to contribute to the Welfare Reform and Legal Aid Bills.
So, these are the four women to whom we can look to make a difference and to fight for a greater role for women?s sport and women?s role within sport.
As for my choices, top of the list is Sue Tibballs, CEO of the Women?s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF).
Her profile is steadily increasing as she is called upon for a pertinent comment whenever the future of women?s sport or the state of women?s fitness is discussed.
The WSFF website is awash with excellent initiatives to get women more active. When searching for an ?expert? opinion, it is one of the first sources I turn to.
Commenting on WSFF?s ?She Moves??campaign, Tibballs said, ?We know that women have busy lives and often lack the time or motivation to invest in getting fit and making themselves feel good.
?Women are finding it harder than ever to prioritise exercise while they are facing the pressures of work, childcare and running homes?
??As a mother myself, I know that big life events like having a child or starting a new job can create real barriers to staying active, and we want to bring women together to motivate each other to stay fit and healthy.?
My second choice? England cricket captain?Charlotte Edwards.
Despite suffering surprise losses in the last two international tournaments, Edwards has been exemplary in her conduct both on and off the field.
She became the first woman to join the MCC World Cricket Committee, in May 2012 and will be a real force to be reckoned with when promoting women?s cricket in this traditionally conservative world.
Indeed, cricket is one sport in which women are, at last, making an impact. Things are changing with pace. I considered several candidates from cricket, who could not only have the potential to be movers and shakers in the game, but could influence policy with regard to the promotion of sport and physical activity to a wider audience.
These include former England captain Clare Connor, the first female member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket committee, and the woman who did it all first and is still influential,?Rachael Heyhoe-Flint.
Now Baroness Heyhoe-Flint, she was elected to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2010. She was the first woman to be inducted to the ICC Hall of Fame.
Hope Powell, the England women?s football manager could also have made it onto the list. She has been instrumental in the regeneration of the women?s game in this country.
And finally, cyclist Lizzie Armistead. Never afraid to voice an opinion, Armistead has shown herself to be confident and erudite when discussing the gender gap in cycling.
She has already taken on an unofficial role as an advocate for women?s cycling equality.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Armistead was forthright in her views, saying, ?The sexism I have encountered in my career can get quite overwhelming and very frustrating.?
The thing that strikes me is that not one of the names on the official list operates solely in sport. This is in direct contrast to my own suggestions and implies that excellence in one field is not enough when that field is sport.
It is a shame that this seems to be the case as this is not the impression given by the definition quoted.
However, it is good to see sport represented.
Those of us who are passionate about women?s sport and about sport in general can only follow the careers of these four women who did make the 100 list with interest.
Source: http://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2013/02/sport-given-low-profile-on-bbc-power-list/
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