The Abbey Parent IP Parent Talk Series launched on Tuesday with a compelling discussion about women in sport.  Building on the success of the Lionesses, Anna Kessel MBE from Sky Sports was in conversation with Head, Will le Fleming to consider the opportunities and challenges ahead.  

The conversation tackled some of the big issues – from historic gender inequalities such as the FA ban on women playing football between 1921 and 1971, current debates on transgender athletes and the lack of ethnically diverse players in the England Euro 22 squad.

Anna praised inspirational women changing attitudes, from sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman on record, to Sarina Wiegman for her visionary leadership.

Anna has been described as a ‘fearless adversary of sexism” in the list of 50 Most Influential Women in Sport.  

Looking to the future, she told the virtual audience of parents, students and alumnae that she is an optimist.  Step change will require increasing opportunities for girls and women to participate in sport, improving visible diversity and building attendance at women’s games, citing that crowds remain small in the Women’s Super League.

The Abbey Ideas + Passion Programme (Abbey IP) is a platform on which we will celebrate innovative thinking, ideas and curiosity across our community.  Talks will be broad in their range and explore interesting and valuable ideas.