Sport & Gender: Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Sport Administration

Debbie Jeavons

Normally when interviewing prominent figures from the world of sport there are two givens.

The first is that their back story will be available online so there is no need to ask about it. The second is that there would not be enough time anyway.

Debbie Jevans, the chief executive of next year’s England 2015 Rugby World Cup was different – is different – which perhaps explains why the Guardian named her the most influential woman in British sport earlier this year.

A cynic might say that sounds a bit like topping a list of famous Belgians, Welsh World Cup heroes or English lacrosse legends, and Jevans would probably agree.  More

‘Poppy Hijab’ to Mark Muslim Soldier’s Victoria Cross 100 Years On

Poppy Hijab

A fashion designer has created a ‘poppy hijab’ to commemorate the centenary of the first Muslim soldier being awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery.

Tabinda-Kauser Ishaq, a final year student at the University of Arts in London, also hopes the piece of clothing will give Muslim women a new way to mark Remembrance Day.

Born in what is now Pakistan, Sepoy Khudadad Khan was one of 1.2 million Indian soldiers and 400,000 Muslims who fought alongside British troops in 1914.

He was the sole survivor of a team assigned to defend vital ports in France and Belgium from being taken by German troops. More

Afghan women’s cycling team dares to pursue Olympic dream

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Six mornings a week Zahra Alizada is on her bike long before 5am, slipping through the grey pre-dawn in a small pack of women savouring the brief peace on Kabul’s normally hectic, dusty streets.

Afghans rise early, and many of them are still scandalised to see a woman in sports kit speeding past on a racing bike. The Afghan women’s cycling team know this because, as the traffic swells towards the end of their morning training at around seven, men and boys start hurling insults and sometimes stones or chunks of rubbish at the women as they ride past.  More

Arthur Wharton: the World’s First Black Professional Footballer

Arthur Wharton

A 16ft statue of the world’s first black professional footballer will be unveiled at the FA’s national football centre in Burton on Thursday.

Cast in bronze, it depicts goalkeeper Arthur Wharton flinging himself backwards to tip a ball over the bar.

The story of how it got there involves Sepp Blatter, Stevie Wonder, Rio Ferdinand and a 53-year-old Darlington artist called Shaun Campbell.

And it all started seven years ago in Middlesbrough Town Hall.  More\…

Hermaphrodite Snail Named after Marriage Equality

Snail

A new species of hermaphrodite land snail found in Taiwan has been named in support of marriage equality.

Biologists christened the species Aegista diversifamilia, referring to a diversity of family types, because it “represents the diversity of sex orientation in the animal kingdom”.

The snail is widespread throughout eastern Taiwan, but was previously mistaken for a closely related species.

Its discovery is reported in the journal ZooKeys.

“When we were preparing the manuscript, it was a period when Taiwan and many other countries and states were struggling for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights,” said Dr Yen-Chang Lee, who first suggested the snail might entail its own species.  More\…

The 1940s Bandleader who Braved Virulent Sexism

Ivy Benson

Band leader Ivy Benson was as famous in the 1940s as Glenn Miller and Dame Vera Lynn, yet her name has not lived on in the public consciousness. Former Spice Girl, Melanie C, wants to make sure her legacy is remembered by a new generation.

British Band Leader Ivy Benson was a gutsy and glamorous woman. Fifty years before Victoria, Mel B, Emma, Geri and myself were talking about Girl Power, Ivy and the members of her all-girl band were risking their lives entertaining Allied troops in war-torn Europe, and fighting the battle of the sexes back at home.

Ivy started her dance band in 1939. She wanted to prove that women could be good musicians. It seems strange now, but before World War Two, the main orchestras and bands in the UK were filled entirely with male musicians.

Ivy worked herself and her girls very hard. To begin with, people went to see them out of curiosity because they had never seen women playing trombones and trumpets before.  More …

Stonewall launches new ‘coming out’ guidance for young people

Stonewall today launches a new guide for young people who think they might be lesbian, gay or bisexual. Launched today ahead of Saturday’s National Coming Out Day, Coming Out: Answers to Some of the Questions You May Have discusses in plain English issues including religion, having children, getting married and bullying at school.

Stonewall’s Wayne Dhesi joined TOWIE’s Charlie King and the Daily Star’s James Ingham on This Morning to discuss the importance of coming out and some of the issues that young people still face.  More\…