INTERNATIONAL UPDATE – FEB/MAR 2020

ANNOUNCEMENTS  From the United Nations: Generation Equality Action Pack: International Women’s Day Women’s rights and gender equality are taking centre stage in 2020. Twenty-five years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—a progressive roadmap for gender equality—it’s time to take stock of progress and bridge the gaps that remain through bold, decisive actions. This year’s theme for International Women’s Day (8 March) is, “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights”. The Generation Equality campaign is bringing together people of every gender, age, ethnicity, race, religion and country, to drive actions that will create the gender-equal world we all deserve. Read more: International Women’s Day:  En |  Es |  Fr The following article provides very useful links to other international sites in regard to the Coronavirus. Coronavirus (COVID-19) UPDATE from AIS—the Australian Institute of Sport, partnering with the Australian Olympic Committee and Paralympics Australia in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, are committed to providing the National High Performance Sports System with timely, evidence-based information on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that recognises the unique concerns and context associated with high performance sport. (Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympics Australia, ais.gov.au)

Concussion

• Episode 53 – Concussion in Women & Girls [podcast]—the important differences between men and women are apparent in other aspects of life and health, yet they have been conspicuously absent as part of concussion and brain injury research! Although very important, the differences remain under-appreciated! (Concussion Talk)

Inclusive Sport 

• ‘Sport for all’ highlights ethnicity gap in sport [UK]—people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are far less likely to be physically active. (Sport England)
• http://www.beyondsport.org/articles/pg-s-secret-sign-serena-williams-for-gender-equality-campaign/

Grants & Funding 

• Bridget McKenzie quits frontbench over report she breached ministerial standards—Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie has quit Cabinet in the wake of the so-called sports rorts affair. (ABC News)

Football 

• Mum’s the word: how the W-League supports its mothers—balancing motherhood and professional football has never been made easy but new principles are prompting change. (Samantha Lewis, The Guardian)

Injuries & Medical Conditions 

• AFLW exploring link between player injuries and the menstrual cycle—when Erin Phillips went down in the third quarter of the 2019 AFLW grand final there was a collective gasp in the stadium. An uneasy silence settled over the crowd as she clutched her knee. It was an unfortunately familiar sight. (Kirby Fenwick, The Guardian)
• The associations of early specialisation & sport volume with musculoskeletal injury [infographic]—this study suggests that, in children aged ≤ 13 years, excessive weekly organised sport, playing one sport for more than 8 months of the year, and a relative lack of recreational free-play compared to organised sport increase the likelihood of reporting a history of ‘gradual onset injury’. (YLMSportScience)

Muslim Women and Girls

Muslim Women and Girls 2019 – Insight Pack. Women in Sport and Sporting Equals, December 2019 (20 pages)
In partnership with Sporting Equals, this insight pack collates research across the sector to provide information on the lives of Muslim women and girls. Through findings and case studies, this resource aims to provide context on the different cultures and backgrounds that Muslim women and girls have, as well provide advice on how sport and physical activity can provide engaging offers. 

Content:

·        Key data on the Muslim women and girls in the UK

·        Information on values and identity in Muslim cultures

·        Current sport and physical activity behaviours of Muslim women and girls

·        Methods to increase participation

·        Case studies and signposting to sports initiatives and useful organisations

Download a copy at:
https://www.womeninsport.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Muslim-Women-and-Girls-Insight-Pack-FINAL.pdf

Netball

MoJoAFRICA to support the Mary Waya Netball Academy, Malawi 

A pilot program to FUNDRAISE to TRANSLATE & ADAPT NETBALLMoJo into Chichewa (Malawian national language) – and help bring some of the enthusiasm and fun to girls in AFRICA

• NETBALLMoJo . . .  . . . is an inspiring educational resource that has been  voluntarily written by top sport scientists, leading coaches and women with information on how to be the best netballer they can be, while also gently building confidence to tackle specific female challenges in sport & life.
• The challenges in Malawi . . . The challenges facing women and girls in Malawi are very different from our young women in Europe and USA. WSNet’s “High 5!” programme can translate and transition NETBALLMoJo to inspire young women in Malawi to be great netballers but also adapt NETBALLMoJo to help deal with cultural issues around child marriage/’beading’, FGM and safeguarding. Malawi is not only the third poorest country in the world but also has slow and expensive internet – making it difficult for rural communities to get this information.

MoJoAFRICA High5 – will translate & extend NETBALLMoJo into Chichewa, Malawi’s national language to cover ‘local/cultural’ issues in Africa such as child marriage, safeguarding, FGM, basic personal hygiene & health protection – problems simply not encountered in ‘western communities’.

“With help NETBALLMoJo can become a powerful tool to EDUCATE – girls in ‘third world communities’ – but more importantly it can EMPOWER girls, overcome ‘fear of judgement’ & build confidence through netball that can be taken into their everyday lives & careers.” Say’s Paul Reynolds, Communications Director at WSNet.

MoJoAFRICA will help focus the potential netball offers to empower girls across Africa.
Supporting Mary Waya in Malawi is just the start of a series of programmes WSNet is rolling out across AFRICA in the lead up to the next Netball World Cup in Cape Town 2023 – http://www.wsnet.co.uk/MoJoAFRICA

Fundraising link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/womenssports-network-mojoafrica

For a media/evaluation copy of NETBALLMoJo – please email your street address to jo.c@wsnet.co.uk 

Physical Activity 

• Is walking the best buy for public health? What should physios do? Prof Nanette Mutrie. Episode #415 —this podcast (part 1 of 2) will help you; appreciate the power for walking for health and mental health even more than previously, realise why ‘brisk’ may not be the ideal adverb to associate with walking for certain populations. The chat swings from practical tips about which technology to consider to capture walking, to tips for physios in the clinic and to Prof Mutrie explaining that walking is one factor that can contribute to addressing the Climate Crisis. (BMJ Talk Medicine/SoundCloud)

Physical Literacy 

• Why developing physical literacy is so important for kids—there are lots of factors that influence how active kids are, including how active their parents are, and whether their homes, schools, and neighbourhoods are good places to play. One thing’s for sure though: kids are more active when they’re having fun. (Briana Tomkinson, Active for Life)
• EUPEA’s Rose-Marie reponds on physical literacy for life: “this project is all about going from philosophy to action”—the first week of February 2020 turned out to be busy for ISCA and a number of international experts who gathered in Copenhagen for the kick-off meeting of the Physical Literacy for Life project. (Marie Oleinik, International Sport and Culture Association)

Pregnancy Women in Sport

• Getting physical during pregnancy—in an age when most women have a pair of sneakers and at least one piece of lycra stashed in their wardrobe, it’s staggering to learn that just 15% of pregnant mums are reaching minimum exercise recommendations. (Jenny Sinclair, Netball Scoop)

Preventive Health 

• Not just about muscle and money: What we can learn about longevity from elite athletes—if you hope to live a long time, your two best strategies are to be really healthy and really rich. (Alex Hutchinson, Globe & Mail)
• An optimal exercise option for breast cancer patients: Combining aerobic and resistance exercise programs—being physically active while battling breast cancer can have many benefits to one’s health. However, how much excercise is best and what types of exercises are most beneficial? This WellSpring provides an overview of the benefits as well as exercise recommendations. (Ki-Yong Ana, WellSpring)

Publications and Resources

• Anita White Newsletter, February 2020

https://universityofchichester.com/13NY-6PB9S-53UW6FZW06/cr.aspx

• British Cycling (17 February 2020)
  British Cycling launches its first Women and Girls’ Club Toolkit
  British Cycling has this week launched its first Women and Girls’ Club Toolkit, the latest step in its #OneinaMillion campaign to reduce the historic gender gap within cycling.

The toolkit, which will be distributed to each and every one of British Cycling’s 1845 affiliated clubs across the country, contains advice, tips and best-practice examples of making the cycling club environment as appealing as possible to prospective female members.

While huge strides have been made in encouraging more women into both competitive and recreational cycling, only 18% of overall affiliated club membership is currently female.

In launching the toolkit, British Cycling has highlighted the barriers which research shows still exist to female participation, and outlined ways in which clubs can overcome these and thus increase its female membership.
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Further information is available here, while the toolkit is available to download here.

View the full news item – link:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/news/article/20200217-club-news-British-Cycling-launches-its-first-Women-and-Girls’-Club-Toolkit-0

• Marketing sport to women and girls – Insight Pack. Women in Sport, February 2020 (25 pages)
  This guide shares Women in Sport’s latest advice on how best to market sport to your target audience. It explains the behaviour change journey and how effective marketing can encourage women and girls to take up your physical activity or sport offer. Developing the right messaging and distributing information through appropriate channels are key to engaging women and girls with sport. Through our research into Puberty and Menopause we have developed an understanding on how significant life stages affect the attitudes of women and girls towards sport. In our publications, ‘What Sways Women to Play’ and ‘Reframing Sport for Girls’, we investigate motivations and opportunities that would influence women and girls to engage in sport. The knowledge we have derived from this extensive research, as well as examples from the sector, can inform your approach to marketing sport to women and girls.
  Download a copy – Link:
  https://www.womeninsport.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Insight-Pack-Marketing-FINAL-designed-V3.pdf

Research

• This is a research based article on the physiological differences in male and female competitors in high performance sport, demonstrating that males have superior physical advantages even when they transgender to female.
  
  https://twitter.com/scienceofsport/status/1215719856949080065?s=12 

Softball 

• Japan win softball’s Australia Pacific Cup for second time—Japan won softball’s Australia Pacific Cup for the second time after defeating home side Aussie Spirit 7-0 in the final. (Dan Palmer, Inside the Games)

Sport for Development

• APC signs MoU with UNICEF; focuses on promoting rights of children with disabilities—in a historic development, the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to promote the rights of children and youth with disabilities, and to work together for their greater inclusion into society. (Around the Rings)

Sponsorship & Marketing 

• Women’s sport sponsorship is more than a media buy—women’s sport offers particular opportunities for brands, being typically less cluttered and cheaper to sponsor than its male equivalent, but potential sponsors need to tread carefully, an industry specialist advises. (warc.com)

Sport Integrity 

• Scandal Strikes French Figure Skating—the president of the French Federation of Ice Skating says he will not resign in the face of allegations he kept secret allegations of rape against a top coach. (Around the Rings)

Sport Medicine 

• Best practice guideline: Novel Coronavirus 2019 and sporting activity—there is concern regarding the emergence of a new virus, known as Novel Coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV), which originated in the Hubei Province of China. (Australian Institute of Sport)

Sport Nutrition 

• The keto diet may wear down athletes’ bones and increase the risk of injury—a small new study has found that the ketogenic diet could worsen the health of your bones. (Gabby Landsverk, Business Insider)

Sport Technology 

• Nike launches retail version of Eliud Kipchoge shoe it says complies with rules—Nike has launched a mass market version of its controversial Alphafly prototype shoe that it says complies with new World Athletics rules. (BBC)

South Korea

• South Korean Association for PE and Sport for Girls and Women Update supplied by Kyung-Ok Yi, President of the Korean Association of Physical Education and Sport for Girls and Women.  She has reached out to IAPESGW, re-establishing contact.  We look forward to their participation in our online and Congress activities.
• In January 2020, the 28th Korean Association of Physical Education and Sports for Girls and Women was launched with the chairman of Kyung-ock Yi (Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea). The 28th Korean Association of Physical Education and Sports for Girls and Women consists of 20 vice-presidents, 50 permanent directors, 50 directors and more than 500 members.
• KAPESGW was founded in 1954 and recorded 66 years this year. KAPESGW  brings together women’s scholars who specialize in physical education to represent women’s rights, promote women’s sports in school sports, elite sports and sports for all, and strives for academic development to improve quality of life through sports.
• The 28th KAPSGW aims to enter the Scopus of the journal published four times a year to enhance the academic status of the society and to strengthen its identity, to develop textbooks for each physical education related major in response to the social changes of the 4th industrial revolution in the 21st century, and to work for globalization. In addition, KAPSGW intends to build a system to foster physical education specialists to strengthen women’s specialized curriculum education and protect human rights of sports women.

• Women in sport reports, research & expertise—the latest three months of global women in sport industry reports and academic publications has just been released by Victoria University (Victoria University)