Under the slogan ‘JUST TRY’ it aims to get more women active by PLEDGING to TRY sport.
Following the launch of the Women’s Sporting Calendar2012 and concerns around short-listing for
the BBC SPOTY award – the issues (access, availability, promotion, sponsorship, role models etc)
surrounding women’s sport have been highlighted by both the media and organisations such as
Women’s Sport & Fitness Foundation (WSFF), USGirls, the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) and The
Association for Physical Education (afPE). WSFF research* has identified huge numbers of women
keen to participate in ‘Informal sport’ and also some of the barriers preventing women’s
participation.
National Governing Bodies, Sports Clubs and Gyms etc are running thousands of events for women
to TRY sport over the summer – the Women TRY Sport campaign is bringing them together by listing
ALL opportunities for women to TRY sport on one website www.wsnet.co.uk. Liaison with most
NGBs, sports clubs/health centres and gyms, PLUS in partnership with the FIA, Women’s SportsNet is
giving access to local events for women and girls to TRY over the summer and generate soft Olympic
legacy by encouraging Women & Girls into fitness through sport.
Supported by SportsHeroines
Along with NGBs, Twenty ‘ SportsHeroines’ – all committed to
the Women TRY Sport campaign have offered their voices &
support to the campaign – the entire England Netball team
have added ‘JUST TRY’ messages to their Facebook pages.
Sasha Corbin (England Netball) commented ‘I am so
honoured to be a part of this absolutely amazing cause –
this (initiative) has my 100% support.’
NGB Initiatives
A number of NGBs are running specific initiatives to target
getting women into sport – Touch Rugby, Rush Hockey, Back
to Netball, ‘No Strings’ Badminton, GO SKI/GO BOARD,
Breeze Bike Rides, – which recognise an understanding by
NGBs of the appeal of ‘informal sport’. These events are all
aggregated on the WSNet.co.uk website alongside many
other sports ranging from Softball to ‘Roller Derby’ through
to Dance and Zumba.
Sue Tibballs, CEO of the WSFF said “Fewer than one in five
women do enough exercise to benefit their health, but we
do know that nearly 12 million women and girls say they
want to be more active. We support any initiative which
makes it easier for women to sign up and get involved so
we hope that this programme will help women take the
first step into sport and fitness.”
Launch 21 June – Wembley
The campaign will be launched on 21 June at Wembley in
conjunction with the FA with an invitation for a number of SportsHeroines from a range of sports to
TRY Football under the guidance of WSL players. Zoe Wishman, Marketing Manager for Women’s
Football said ‘Women’s SportsNet is an ideal portal for bringing women’s sport together in a really
comprehensive way. This is long overdue and provides a great service to women and girls
everywhere who want to know how to try a new sport, locally and informally.’
This launch is timed to be the day after the first meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on
Women’s Sport and Fitness – several of whom will be in attendance.
Further information and invitations to the event will be issued on 14 June 2012 – initial expressions
of interest to attend should be made to Jo Cotgrove (jo.c@wsnet.co.uk).
Notes for editors:
Women TRY Sport Campaign – Recent research by the Women’s Sport & Fitness Foundation tells
us that there are millions of women in the UK who would like to TRY ‘informal sport’. National
Governing Bodies, Sports Clubs and Gyms etc are running thousands of events for women to TRY
sport over the summer – the Women TRY Sport campaign is bringing them together”, said Paul
Reynolds from Women’s SportsNet. “Our website (www.wsnet.co.uk) features national
SportsHeroines, video footage, featured players and some obscure sports for women – TRY Roller
Derby!!! It also lists women’s sports by ‘Spectate’, ‘Participate’ and ‘TRY’ with web links,
Facebook/Twitter feeds, video and ticketing information – making sport more accessible to women.”
“We currently list some 1500 ‘Women TRY Sport’ events run by NGBs, Clubs and Sports centres on
our website www.wsnet.co.uk – this is a free service”.
Women’s SportsNet – is all about raising the profile of women’s sport and the profile of some of
our great SportsHeroines. Helping women to feel comfortable and confident with sport with our
Women TRY Sport Campaign (June 21) to hook up the zillions of women’s who want to TRY sport
with the thousand or so of events listed (free) on our website. We believe that this unfunded, notfor-
profit and unsponsored project run by a group of volunteer, sports nuts will be one of the most
cost-effective elements of soft legacy delivered (particularly outside of London) around the Olympic
programme and can have far-reaching impact and huge leverage from what is effectively a
community-led project.”
• WSFF – Women and Informal Sport Report 2012
Contact:
Women’s SportsNet – Paul Reynolds, E: paul.r@WSNet.co.uk T: 01372 842490 M; 07976 385453
W: www.WSNet.co.uk Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/women.try.sport.day
Twitter @WSNet
