BBC Sport discovers women have personalities

BBC nominees for Sports Personality of the Year 2012

That's a great picture to share especially in light of last year's sexist line-up which didn't even include one woman. 

This year voters can chose from Jessica Ennis, heptathlete/ Nicola Adams, boxer/ Ellie Simmonds, swimmer/ Sarah Storey, cyclist/ Katherine Grainger, rower

Curiously this year's batch were selected using a different method - last year's was done by sports editors from various British newspapers. It bothers me that they had to dump the media who should be more aware than anyone of the talent out there to make a representative list. 

The Beeb posted earlier on how divisive last year's panel was, so this year's is broader. 

*Barbara Slater,  Director of BBC Sport (Chair) /*The BBC’s Head of TV Sport (Philip Bernie)/*The Executive Editor of BBC Sports Personality of the Year (Carl Doran)./*A representative from BBC Radio 5 Live - this year, Eleanor Oldroyd./*Three national newspaper sports editors (to be rotated annually) - this year, Mike Dunn (The Sun), Lee Clayton (Daily Mail) and Matthew Hancock (Observer)/*Three former nominees (to be appointed annually) - this year, Sir Steve Redgrave, Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson and Denise Lewis OBE/*A pan-sports broadcaster/journalist - this year, Sue Mott and *Baroness Sue Campbell, Chair of UK Sport.

At least now when the public vote takes place on the overall winner, there is a fair chance of a woman winning if she deserves it. 

For a look at the Irish equivalent, the RTE Sports Person of the Year, pop over to Action81 and this post 'From Derval to Katie and how we ought to use surnames'. 

When women's magazines make you fat

When I lived in Sydney my favourite sports mag was 'Women's Health'.  So when I moved back to Ireland, it was sorely missed.

The buzz when I saw a new UK edition launched recently was mighty as they say in Ireland, only mighty ... until I opened it.

Models so thin they clearly have never worked out in their lives, no muscle defintiion, stories about sex lives and chocolate with a singer on the cover. Oh, and a banner across the top proclaiming: ' 7-day gym pass for every reader'. Well, that's alright then.

Aside from telling me I perhaps should have stayed in Sydney, the mag just disappointed me so much. Is this really what Irish and British women want from a sports magazine? I mean, 'Women's Running' is nothing like this - it's great. But is only about running, ahem obviously.

I was really looking forward to WH - the Aussie edition is brimming over with nutrition advice - not diet, nutrition - training tips, gear and equipment advice, new sports you might not have heard about before and it made me feel healthy just reading it.

Then this morning I hear that the Irish government is thinking about introducing a Sugar Tax to force people to stop eating crap. Our obesity levels are the 4th highest in Europe.

Is there a connection I ask myself? Oh yes there is - get out do sport, real sport not just wearing an expensive tracksuit in your high heels and you won't be obese.

Too simplistic a message? Sorry. (I'm not really) 

Wordless Wednesday

Popularity of Self Defence classes for women growing in Ireland PIC Ces the Day

  Wordless Wednesday is a group of bloggers who give words a rest once a week - click here for more pics

Running for Life after a Kidney Transplant

This article on Transplants and Sport first appeared in the FIT magazine of the Irish Independent.


Transplant success Fit Mag Irish Independent NGriffin Transplant Success (2nd pg) Fit Mag Irish Independent n Griffin

Running for Life after a Kidney Transplant

This article on Transplants and Sport first appeared in the FIT magazine of the Irish Independent.


Transplant success Fit Mag Irish Independent NGriffin Transplant Success (2nd pg) Fit Mag Irish Independent n Griffin

Running for Life after a Kidney Transplant

This article on Transplants and Sport first appeared in the FIT magazine of the Irish Independent.


Transplant success Fit Mag Irish Independent NGriffin Transplant Success (2nd pg) Fit Mag Irish Independent n Griffin

It's Pure Magic kiting over the waves

Every now and then I get to mix work with sport. I have a piece in this week's FIT magazine about kite-surfing, and spoke to Catherine Etienne, one of the few female riders in Ireland. That's Etienne in the pic below, with her part of the article underneath that again. 

And this is what I learned from her: 

On Dollymount Strand in Dublin, Frenchwoman Catherine Etienne explains the kite has to be at 12’clock on that semi-circle shape when you start. The kite hangs there – parked as Roche says – and only picks up power when you drop it down. Into the ‘power zone’, obviously.

The next lesson is just called ‘body-dragging’. Etienne says the key to having fun here is keeping warm.

“There are different thickness of wetsuit but generally people wear the 5mm all year round and in the winter add a neoprene vest underneath. In the summer the water can be quite warm so when it’s eight degrees like now, you don’t feel the cold as much as you think in the water,” she says.

Eight degrees – yes, welcome to an Irish summer. But she says the wind always blows and that’s what counts.

Etienne came to Ireland on Erasmus six years ago but fell in love with the winds on Dollymount and never left.

“It’s probably not the image of the Caribbean but it’s actually the perfect spot. Flat water, shallow water, good wind all year round and a very good community,’ she says, in the Pure Magic shop which doubles up as a meeting-place for Dublin’s riders and wanna-be riders.

One of the sports unwritten commandments is talking to other riders to find out about wind currents or water hazards. This gives a real communal feel to the sport says Etienne.

The third lesson is when you get introduced to the board. And this is where it gets fun.

Yes, lots of fun but lots of hard work too. Holding the kite upright requires solid core-strength, instructors tell you to relax your shoulders so the power comes from your core.

Your legs are working as hard as on a surf-board to stay balanced while your arms are at full-stretch against the wind. But don’t rush to the gym to load up on weights as Mother Nature expects high levels of flexibility.

And like most sports, the more you do the more you will build up the physical skills you need. Swimming is pretty important for beginners as you do spend a lot of time rescuing the kite and starting over … and over and over. 

Find out more about Pure Magic here. 

Watching "London Calling"

And keeping with the London 2012 theme from yesterday, an Irish TV station is showing a great series at the moment called "London Calling". They've been following a group of athletes from different sports for almost two years as they creep closer and closer to qualification.

Marian Heffernan, 400m runner features in a few episodes with her walker husband Rob  - yes, that's two people in the same household gunning for the Olympics. Plus they have two young children. Heffernan is on the 4 x 400m relay team - blogged about here - with Joanna Cuddihy  - interview here - who just qualified this week for London.

pic from Helsinski credit: SportFile

Paralymic cyclist Catherine Walsh was up last week, interview with her here and a great post from her biking partner Fran Meehan here.

Tonight's episode stars triathlete Aileen Morrison.

And in the next few weeks they talk to Orla Barry preparing for the Paralympic Discus and equestrian Camilla Speirs. 

Doco maker Darragh Bambrick got in touch and said: "We tried to do a 50:50 split gender-wise but in the end more men said Yes than women." 

But considering there are more men than women going overall, it's a great balance really. Unfortunately this can only be seen on RTE (so far?)  but if you reading this from here, it's well worth a watch. 

You can get in touch with Bambrick on twitter.com/darraghbambrick

Have you seen any other good Olympic documentaries? 

Playfair 2012 in Indonesia

For thousands of workers in countries like Indonesia the Olympics just mean longer hours and more work - the factory floors are a world away from the London glam. But Playfair 2012 recently reported conditions for some staff are slowly improving ... 

Today's post is from Playfair 2012: 

Pic: Playfair 2012

Indonesia: how are leading brands doing on respecting workers’ rights to join a union?

Promoting workers’ rights in Indonesia, The Freedom of Association Protocol supports the rights of women and men producing for global brands in Indonesia to join unions and bargain collectively for better working conditions making a change.

On June 7th 2011 an historic protocol on freedom of association was signed by Indonesian trade unions, employers and multinational sportswear brands including Adidas, Nike, Puma, Pentland, New Balance and Asics.

The Freedom of Association protocol gives companies a practical set of guidelines on how to uphold and respect the rights of workers to join together to achieve decent pay and better working conditions.

Play Fair calls on all footwear and garment brands
sourcing from Indonesia to endorse and sign the protocol.

To date, Nike, Puma, Adidas, Pentland, New Balance and Asics have all signed the protocol. These brands source their products from more than 100 Indonesian factories, which employ hundreds of thousands of workers.

Find out how the brands are doing

Jennifer Byrne stays safe with Karate

Continuing the series on women in Karate in Ireland .... Jennifer Byrne's love of Karate is spilling over into her college projects as she designs better protective gear.  

Jennifer Byrne (left) pic: CestheDay Photography

After 14 years of training, Jennifer Byrne, 20 says a few bumps and bruises are the most serious injuries she's had

So with no injuries to worry about, travelling abroad with the ONAKAI Senior Squad is the highlight of her year.

“It’s great to get new people to fight against, see the moves they do,” she says. “The whole adrenaline is part of how you fight, I love it. It’s just part of my life.”

So much part of life is karate that her final year project at DIT is on protective fighting gear.

Fighting Fashion 
In one corner of the hall someone has set up a stall selling gear. Byrne says karate can be expensive with body protectors costing up to 90 euro and even the mitts as much as 30 euro per pair.

The women say new protective equipment under Olympic guidelines is very restrictive, with female fighters having to wear a chest-guard under a body protector.

“It’s quite bulky really. We find the body protector so uncomfortable, we’re trying to get used to it,” says Byrne.

McCorry adds: “Your upper body balance is changed; it cuts your arm-pits and rides up as you punch. You’re trying to tie the belt as tight as you can to hold it all. It would be better to just wear one.”

Another team-mate Emily Geraghty jokes that women fighters really aren’t delicate enough for two protectors.

Training, training and training 
Byrne instructs young children now at her club in Navan, and says keeping them tied into their gi is a funny experience. Having come up through the junior system with three junior Black Belts to her name, she’s looking forward to earning her Senior belt this summer.

Summer is easier for the commute from Navan to Dublin. She sometimes stays well into the evening for karate with her mother roped in as a chauffeur when buses let her down.

Byrne says: “People don’t understand how hard training can be. There’s definitely no room for partying or student life.”

Interview with teammate Sorcha McCorry is here, with one more to follow on Emily Geraghty.

From fashion to football at the Fair Play Cup in Dublin

A team put together from the fashion industry to raise awareness of women's rights took part in their first tournament as part of the SARI/UNHCR annual Fair Play Cup in Dublin at the weekend. 

pic: Eleonora Gatti SARI

Captain Kamilla Angulska (Poland) said playing soccer was a way for her to get fit and put the human rights on show. 

"This is a way to play against other teams and encourage people to look at Female Genital Mutilation and show that we are all the same. On this team we are all different nationalities but we can play together on one team," she said after their final game. 

The team - made up of players from Ireland, Poland and Somalia - have been together since January, training once a week with Adam Zdebiak, also from Poland. 

Angulska said they were pretty happy with their results - playing three games, drawing two and losing one. And relieved that in spite of some nasty-looking clouds, the sun hung on for the day. 

Somali player Ifrah Ahmed, an active campaigner against FGM in Ireland, said: "We want to show the possibilities to everyone, many Irish people might not know why someone is a refugee, might not know why a refugee exists. We are Irish too." 

Smiling broadly, Angulsksa said the week was a special one for them. 

"On Friday we went to the Mansion House (to meet the Lord Mayor) and celebrate the bill against FGM, and now we're playing so this weekend is very important for us."

Coach Zdebiak, his arm in a sling, joked that back in January he had to explain to the team what a football was. 

"The girls started as beginners so it wasn't difficult for me. They were completely new, if you have had some experience it can be more difficult to train people. Maybe in the future we can play in the league."

The SARI teams male and female pic Eleonora Gatti SARI

For

For more information about the day - and more pictures, go to the SARI Facebook page.

Listen to possibly the largest football lesson ever ....

So you know there is a Guinness World Record for pretty much everything. But did you know there is one for the largest Gaelic football lesson ever? Nope, me either. Turns out there is not only a record -  held by a club in Antrim - but a challenger - na Fianna in Dublin.

I went to their record effort on Monday for NearFM and this was the result ...

Joanne Cuddihy has her eye on London 2012

pic Athletics Ireland

UPDATE: Cuddihy ran 51.54 to dip under the qualifying A-standard on May 3rd and joins the London-bound team.

400 metres isn’t very long but to get to the starting blocks in London 2012 Irishwoman Joanne Cuddihy has gone all the way to Canberra, Australia. And a few stops like Japan, Europe and America in-between.

“It’s not all glamourous, you do get jet-lag,” she says over Skype. “You have to put most normal stuff on hold and you live a hermit’s life.”

But as she talks you realise Cuddihy thinks the sacrifices -  leaving family and boyfriend in Ireland, putting her medical training on hold – are more than worth it.

She says she loves the big events – the World Championships, the Europeans, but she’s also four times Irish champion at 400m with a Personal Best of 50.73. And this month took the Australian National Championships title in a time of 51.69 as well as running with the successful Irish 4 x400 metres relay team.

Training Schedule

But all those titles come at a price. Her typical training week with the Australian Institute of Sport would leave most people behind on the track.

Cuddihy says: “AIS is class. I’ve trained in the UK and North America. I definitely think this is the best, the coaching facilities and whole set-up are perfect. It’s quite relaxed too, Australians do that very well – intense but laid-back.”

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – at the gym

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday – Cardio, jogging, core work

She lists out some of the work they do on the track - lactic tolerance work meaning long runs with very little recovery time. And then speedwork, other technical work like dragging sleds or pulling a harness with weights. They do hurdle-drills and short, fast races over short distances at a high intensity.

Are you keeping up?

There’s more. Running at race-pace over longer reps but quickly and closer to the 400m distance. Sometimes extra lactic work or speed work. And when that takes its toll, down to the pool for aqua-aerobic sessions. 

Not to mention keeping her mental focus after a false start at the World Championships last year saw her knocked out of the 400m. She rushes over that as we talk, moving onto the exciting relay result from the same event. 

Team-time 

Because it's not all ‘alone on the track’ stuff. The tall athlete is very proud of the Irish relay team, points out they are ranked 12th in the world with a great chance of qualifying for the Olympics.

“Our relay team is really exciting. I love being on the team, love the relays. We smashed the (Irish) National Record in Korea last year at 3.37m.”

Pic Zimbio

Relay qualifications are based on two races, so with that one in the bag they are aiming for another good time to confirm their place.

Funding a racing lifestyle

Like many elite Irish athletes Cuddihy is funded by the Irish Sports Council. But €12,000 doesn’t go far when a flight to Australia from Ireland can be almost €1,000.

This is where Cuddihy’s story gets interesting – she casually says she’s training to be a doctor to pay those bills.

She’s been mixing medicine and running since her student days in University College Dublin. Well-known for its sports programmes, she says the college helped plan her twin-careers.

“At the first Sports Scholarship meeting we talked about how to juggle both. Medicine gets trickier when you’re in fourth year and you have to be out and about doing internships,” Cuddihy explains.

“I did one year at a hospital, then took a gap year. Then I did my finals after Beijing.” That would be the 2008 Olympics.

She spread her internship over 18 months instead of 12 including time in Australia and back in Galway, something she describes with a grin as slightly unorthodox.

The flip side is falling behind women who can afford to train full-time thanks to government funding or full sponsorship. So Cuddihy’s time now in Australia is all about recovering from a niggling back injury and cracking the A-standard before the London Games.

“I’m still studying here, it can be tricky with the visa too so study is the best option. You can’t have big blanks in your CV applying for (medical) jobs. But I was far behind with training, you have to catch up,” she says.

She jokes that Canberra – as one of the few Australian cities without a beach – is the perfect place for focused training. Maybe it helps her boyfriend has returned to Ireland for his own medical training.

And younger sister Catriona was also at the Australian National Championships. Piling on the sibling rivalry she came 8th in the 400 m with a PB of 55.03.

What’s next?

Training, training and study. Cuddihy says everything between now and July is a step towards peaking on the track in London.

pic: Zimbio

“My plan is to fun faster than the A-standard by the London Olympics. 

In my event, you know you just have to run as fast as you can when you line-up.”

Do you see sexism in your sport?

Female media managers locked out of press conferences, questions on your sexual preferences and strings of comments on your appearance – just some of the issues raised by an interesting BBC documentary “Sexism in Football” this week.

Narrated by journalist Gabby Logan, the doco was packed with examples of behaviour you might have thought extinct by now. Based on interviews with women from “Women in Football” (WiF), it was an eye-opener.

Having worked in boxing for years, it wasn’t so much that the behaviour was shocking but I was surprised it takes place in such a mainstream sport. *shakes head at self *

Had to laugh at this story though: Logan was working at a football match and the fans started shouting: ‘Get your tits out’. Sitting in the press box, she ignored them as did the other journalists. Then Sir Bobby Robson, renowned former England manager, turned to the crowd, lifted his shirt and proceeded to massage his chest in their general direction. Priceless.

One thing mentioned in every interview will ring a bell for any woman working or playing in a male-dominated sphere – don’t rock the boat! Some of the women Logan approached declined to be interviewed, while others visibly pulled their punch-lines.

“Sexism in Sport” was reaching for positivity towards the end, looking at the inclusion of Helen Rabbatts on the FA Board and other changes. There's been a big shift for example since this story of the Dick Kerr Ladies in 1921. This is what really makes the doco I think, we do have to recognise the huge progress made in the last 50 years but the trick is to keep on pushing.

What do you think – has your sport changed, is there more to do?

Wordless Wednesday

Inchydoney Beach in Cork  - Ladies in the water!

Pictures only on Wordless Wednesday

Horseracing ... not just for boys

The H.H Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Endurance Cup takes place in the Emirates every year - an all-female horse 100km race over four stages. It's not quite Cheltenham but with a prize fund of Dh800,000 (over 166,500 euro) it's not to be sneezed at.  Enjoy and have a great St Patrick's Day weekend!

Blog karma for Women's Day

I'm always a little ambivalent about Women's Day - strange I know but it just seems strange that we need to have a day to mark the existence of half of the world's population but there you go - suppose you could say that about this blog too!

On the sporting side of things, one of my favourite Irish sites is hosting a week-long celebration:

Action81 - a week of columns including tennis and MMA, always worth a read! 

Any others we should look out for?

Sport and obesity in women

Derval O Rourke, Irish hurdler

So it seems we have a few new readers - thanks to a radio slot I did with Newstalk's Global Village programme on Saturday night chatting about women in sport. Welcome :)

It was as they say 'a wide-ranging discussion' taking in everything from transport to obesity. That last one was the piece I ended up most exercised - excuse the dreadful pun - about. 

Did you know that in Ireland the group with the highest levels of obesity are women over 50? A very worrying piece of research. 

This clearly links into the gender-divisions around sport. Women who don't do sport will get away with it for a certain number of years but after 50 clearly it all catches up with you. And we're not talking here about getting out and joining an elite level boxing club or something, just simply taking a walk or going for a swim.

I would also point this back at the funding bodies - a report found over half of all funding to sports goes to three sports - GAA, rugby and soccer - that women just don't like playing in the same numbers as men. 

There is a lot of work being done to change this, but is it enough?

Talking women's sports at espnW

American sports channel ESPN launched their espnW channel at the end of 2010 and have been doing some great work in promoting women's sports. Have to put my hand up and say I was a bit cynical at the time but the espnW summit held this month has wiped my worries.

Great panels for fans of women's sport like women and (sports) journalism content, mentorship, female executives, female fans of male sports and their role. And one of my favourite bloggers Dr. Nicole LaVoi talking on the 'sex sells' panel. Obviously all from an American perspective but interesting points raised for us over here as well.

You can find videos from these panels and more on the espnW Summit page. *One slightly annoying note  - you can't forward the videos so if you accidentally log out of the page, you have to start again at the introductions each time!

Wordless Wednesday

Not so Wordless Wednesday today: 

Thanks to photographer and footballer Melissa Vuong from the Bondi Shamrocks Australian Rules Football Club for sending these great shots from pre-season training this week on Coogee Beach in Sydney.
Read more about the club here in this interview with Sandra Ryan (in green above).