Fired Up Sport

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast we hear from former Man City player Fran Brown on her groundbreaking football program Goals4Girls and how it's helped scores of young women, from mainly BAME backgrounds, gain confidence and find their voice both on and off the pitch. From a mixed race family herself Fran tells us how her own background helps her relate to the girls, why she thinks the government needs to focus more on inclusion in schools and about a life changing pep talk from Tennis legend Billie Jean King.

Heather Rabbatts was not only the first woman but the first Blakc woman to sit of the Board of Director's at the Football Association in England and she has blazed a trail ever since. She recently founded the Women's Sports Group, Group, a media rights management company who are negotiating the new Women’s Super League broadcast deal, so who better to talk to about how the league can come back stronger following this season's early curtailment due to coronavirus. Plus, we hear from Lizette Cabrera, an up and coming Australian Tennis star who was about to break into the top 100 when the pandemic hit, Since lockdown, with no income from competing, she tells us she's been getting financial help from a government job keepers program, an insight into the flipside of tour life when you're not one of the superstars

Just a few weeks ago AFC Fylde's Women's team was disbanded, the decision blamed on the financial uncertainty the club had been thrown into because of coronavirus. But the team found their voice, they spoke to the media, including the Fired Up Sport podcast, and that made one hell of a difference. Coach Kim Turner returns to the podcast to update us. And we hear from Jorge Sanchez, a Canadian Football coach who tweeted  his support of Lewes FC's Marketing lead Charlie Dobres in last weeks podcast. Charlie was arguing the case for women's footballers to stop being compared to their male counterparts and seen as elite athletes in their own right. It's a battle Jorge has been fighting his entire career. As a University soccer coach he's trained players who've gone on to play for the national side. So, we thought we'd get him on to hear what that fight for equality felt like, one he's fought for decades, from a male point of view ?

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast we ask why the monetary value of women's football isn't being embraced more widely with the marketing Director of Lewes Football club Charlie Dobres. Charlie believes there needs to be more ambition when we talk about how women's teams look on the other side of the current pandemic and we should start talking about women's teams "thriving" rather than "surviving". Plus the first ever Chief Women's Officer at Fifpro,the body that represents professional footballers worldwide, Amanda Vandervort.

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast Women's sport has seen its first casualty due to the financial fall out from the coronavirus pandemic. AFC Fylde, who play in the third tier of women's football in the UK, have been disbanded. The chairman said it was due to the "ongoing fluid situation regarding the virus". The team were not only shell shocked but disappointed they weren't consulted about other ways of financing the team before the plug was pulled; they were told just fifteen minutes before the club released a statement to the press. We caught up with Assistant Manager Kimberley Turner and former team manager Luke Swindlehurst to get their reaction to the news and hear how they think women's football can future proof itself from further financial shocks.

As the lockdown weeks tick by sports stars the world over are stepping forward and using their clout to try and encourage us all to stay active and maintain public health. We are honoured on the Fired Up Sport podcast this week to have the company of a sporting great who's doing just that. Olympic Gold Medal winning Australian Beach Volleyball star Natalie Cook has launched the 30 second challenge and has roped in big sports names to help spread the word. Plus the former X Factor dancer who's taking a realistic approach to exercise in quarantine and starting with the basics; Do you slouch on the floor with your laptop ? Does your bum stick out when you walk ? Are your shoulders well and truly frozen after weeks of working from home ? Then you need Tig and Sam, the hilarious instagrammers and their hugely relatable, true-to-life posts and quick fixes for a more mobile, healthy life in lockdown. They are the StrongHer Women.

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast how can we protect investment in women's sport on the other side of the current lockdown ? And why isn't women's sport, in the absence of any competitive sport right now, male or female, being given increased coverage in the print and broadcast media ? We hear from Isabelle Westbury, former cricketer turned sports journalist, who thinks she knows why and what needs to happen to change things. And as the weeks tick by in quarantine, we hear from Kate Dale, Campaign Lead for This Girl Can at Sport England. Kate tells us more about phase two of their  "Join the Movement" campaign #stayinworkout, which aims to inspire us to stay active during the lockdown in new and innovative ways.

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast we catch up with Fed Cup Captain Anne Keothavong, the daughter of an immigrant and a refugee to the UK, her background was not one that meant she was destined to a career in the top flight of tennis. But thanks to her determination, and the sacrifice of her parents, that's exactly where she ended up. She now presides over the most diverse team in the history of the Fed Cup. She shares with us her ambition, not only for the team, but also for getting more women into coaching tennis at both grassroots and elite level. Plus how to stay motivated in lockdown with Professor of Psychology at Loughborough University in the UK, Ian Taylor. He also asks will we come out the other side of this period of confinement more empowered to make our own exercise choices and or still be slaves to the local gym ?

The lockdown that’s resulted from the Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted everyone’s lives, and that includes exercise regimes. This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast we hear from women who’ve come up with inventive ways of exercising from home, either with neighbours or family members. We have advice for fitness procrastinators and perfectionists, from University of Sheffield Psychology Professor Fuschia Sirois, and we’ll hear from the professional footballer, and friend of the Fired Up Sport podcast, Lewes FC Women’s Striker Katie Rood, who initially found it hard to get motivated to do anything at this difficult time. 

It’s Reload time on the Fired Up Sport podcast. We’re giving you the chance to hear one of our most listened to podcasts from last year; the Great Period Cover-up. Why is there still such stigma around female athletes and periods? The monthly cycle has such a fundamental impact on athletic performance, so why is there so little research into its effects? On this podcast we hear from Commonwealth Games medal winner, track and field athlete, Jazmin Sawyers, who has spoken candidly about how her period almost prevented her from taking part in the  long jump final at the Rio Olympics. We also talk to Australian Tennis star Priscilla Hon about how she never used to feel comfortable talking about her period to male coaches. Plus Emma Ross, Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport, discusses the pioneering research she is doing to help female athletes turn their period into a super power . It's the Fired Up Sport podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

They were the team that made headlines across the world last year at the FIFA Women's World Cup. Jamaica's Reggae Girlz were the first ever team from the Carribean to qualify for the competition, and wherever they went, they brought the party with them. But it was thanks to the perseverance of one woman that they got there in the first place. Cedella Marley, daughter of reggae legend Bob Marley, invested in the team when their own football federation had pulled the plug. In an exclusive interview with the Fired Up Sport podcast Cedella reveals how lack of funding is still an issue, so she is stepping in to fill the gap. She also throws her support behind US soccer's Megan Rapinoe in her fight to get equal pay for the women's national side. She is a straight talking, hilarious, inspirational tonic and it was our complete honour to t?alk to her on the Fired Up Sport podcast. As Cedella says: "Get up, stand up, don't give up the fight".

Over 86,000 people watching women play a cricket match. A pipe dream and now a reality after the Australian and Indian Women's teams pulled in a record crowd at the MCG in Melbourne. It's Australia's home of cricket and a place where women were only allowed to become members in the last twenty years. We talk to the victorious Australian Vice Captain Rachael Haynes and find out why she missed the onstage celebration with Katy Perry ! Plus we hear from one of This Girl Can's Project Leads in Australia Mel Feinberg as the campaign goes from strength to strength down under.

As the Coronavirus pandemic signals a change for many of us in our day to day routine, is it possible to continue to exercise and stay safe ? In this special edition of the Fired Up Sport podcast we hear from Strategic Lead for Campaigns at Sport England Kate Dale who has some sound advice on what extra precautions you should take if you are going to the gym or exercising in a group and how to keep active if you are having to self isolate. All of this advice is in keeping with national guidelines at the time of recording. Please be advised to check regularly for daily updates in case that advice has changed.

When we heard Andy Murray say he's frustrated we don't have more female tennis coaches, we knew a woman who would wholeheartedly agree with him. Good news is, she has a plan. She's former Pro-Tennis player Jo Ward who's now Curriculum Manager for the Lawn Tennis Association. She's taking an in-depth look into how we coach girls, who coaches them and whether this is having an effect on the sharp drop off in the number of girls who stay in the sport as they get older.  Your chance to hear Jo again in this special Fired Up Sport Reload

Ahead of the Women's T20 Cricket Final between Australia and India which will attempt to break the record for the most spectators ever recorded at a women's sporting event, this week on the Fired Up Sport podcast we revisit a great chat we had with the voice of Cricket Australia, Karina Keisler and former England International player, turned writer and broadcaster, Isabelle Westbury. Karina talks about how Australia has led the way on equal pay in the women's and men's games, whilst Isabelle muses on how not getting the same opportunities and financial support as male cricketers in her teenage years may have actually helped her in the long run. The Fired Up Sport Podcast with Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster; come with us and #changetheconversation  

History could be made this weekend at the Women's Twenty20 Cup Cricket Final as an attempt is made to break the world record for the highest crowd ever at a women's sporting event. The World's top female cricketers slugging it out AND Katy Perry performing might just them over the 90,000+ spectator line. On this week's Fired Up Sport Podcast we take a look ahead to the final with former New Zealand player Nicola Browne and cricketer turned broadcaster India's Snehal Predhan. With teenagers in the Indian side breaking both male and female records and women players across the world slowly edging towards professional (ie. paid) status, there's a lot to be excited about right now in women's cricket.

With the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics edging ever closer this week on the Fired Up Sport podcast we hear from a trailblazing legend in Paralympic sport. Deepa Malik was the first woman to win a Paralympic medal for India in Rio 2016 when she was in her forties ! She has played a major role in changing the way disability is perceived in India and is a tireless champion and activist in her attempts to level up women's sport. She was paralysed later in life, having already suffered the devastating blow of her daughter becoming disabled following a tragic accident when she was a baby. They are now the world's only Paralympic mother and daughter sports duo. It's was a complete honour to talk to Deepa on the Fired Up Sport podcast.

When you hear that tired old sentence that begins with the words, "The thing about women's sport is that it's just not as popular as ....", stop right there and refer said speaker to work of sporting digital-analytics-guru Josie Brown. She is chief data cruncher for Tennis Australia and has some very revealing statistics about which stars sports fans search for the most on the internet. Clue ? Two out of the top three this year have been women. Plus how to get out of the house when you have three small children, let alone exercise ? This Girl Can Ambassador Kirsti Hau tells us how she does it and how she rekindled her love of netball in the process.

We hear from the only Women footballer in the world to be paid equally by club and country, New Zealand striker Katie Rood who plays for fan-owned Lewes FC in the UK. Lewes FC is also the only club in the world to not only pay the women players the same as the men but to also give equal investment to both teams. Clare McDonnell went along to their home ground, the intriguingly named Dripping Pan, to find out more about their equality philosophy and how it's not only benefiting the club, but the local community too.

As the Australian Open tennis reaches its climax, we hear from its first ever female Chief Umpire, Cheryl Jenkins. Plus we celebrate the fifth anniversary of This Girl Can by interviewing the star of their new campaign. Farrah is a Trans woman who drives lorries for a living and has a passion for climbing. But the fear of judgement almost stopped her doing what she loves: “You have to live your life, you can't live in a closet; it's too dark and too lonely.”

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are a mere six months away, and focus is not just on the athletes but also those who make the big decisions in national governing bodies. As ever, the pressure is on for each country to achieve in the medal table, and in the UK the woman overseeing that knows exactly what it takes to get to the top of the podium. Dame Katherine Grainger is the UK's most decorated female Olympian and a six-time world champion rower. She's now Chair of UK Sport and has been speaking to the Fired Up Sport podcast.

As bushfire smoke clouds the Australian Open, we speak to those who make the tennis Grand Slams happen. Up-and-coming pro Kim Birrell tells us how she copes with the mental strain that injury brings, and WTA umpire Donna Kelso gives advice on how to pursue a career in the game. Plus, there’s a sneak preview of an interview with Britain’s most decorated female athlete, Dame Katherine Grainger. The Fired Up Sport podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #changetheconversation. 

British Olympic legend Lady Mary Peters went to a bookshop to buy a book on women's sport. There were over a hundred on men's sport but only four on women's, so she decided to change that ratio. Peters’ new book highlights overlooked sportswomen across disciplines and generations. She joins Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster on the Fired Up Sport podcast to talk about ‘Sportswomen Who Inspire’, how she still walks four miles a day at eighty years old and how she's determined to leave a legacy that will give practical help to young athletes. 

2020 starts with another selection of great guests from 2019. It was an incredible year for women’s golf, which included Europe’s dramatic defeat of the US with the very last putt of the Solheim Cup. We hear from victorious captain Catriona Matthew and vice captain Mel Reid. We’ve also Fallon Sherrock - the first woman ever to beat a man at the World Darts Championships, Laura Hoggins (‘Biceps Laura’) who walked out of her office job to follow her Strongwoman dream, plus Amazin LeThi who experienced prejudice and abuse before being saved by sport. She’s now helping to make it more inclusive and safe for all. Fired Up Sport in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #changetheconversation

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster bid a cheery farewell to 2019, with some of the incredible guests who have spoken to the Fired Up Sport podcast. From Susan Alberti, a key figure in creating the Women's Aussie Rules Football League, to Tracy Edwards MBE, who skippered the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race. A documentary about that crew (‘Maiden’) is now on the shortlist to win an Oscar! It has been an incredible first year of Fired Up. Thanks for coming with us as we #changetheconversation on women's sport. See you in the New Year! Merry Christmas! 

We talk to Fallon Sherrock in the week she became the first woman to defeat a man in the PDC World Darts Championship. She tells us about the momentous match and about her love of ‘power scoring’ against the men. Plus, we chat to Catriona Matthew, Europe’s Solheim Cup-winning captain, who is now relishing the challenge of trying the retain the cup in the United States. Fired Up Sport with Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #changetheconversation

We talk to Scottish para-swimming star Toni Shaw, who has her sights set on a place at Tokyo 2020 and inspiring a new generation of aquatic athletes. Shaw already holds UK and European records, so she is not your average fifteen-year-old! Elite swim training while at school is pretty exhausting, but her regime out of the water has been helped massively by a state-of-the-art prosthetic. Plus, we have a sneak peak of an exclusive interview with a woman at the centre of one of the biggest sports stories of the year, the captain of Europe’s victorious Solheim Cup team Catriona Matthew. It's the Fired Up Sport podcast with Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster, in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us #changetheconversation

All around the world, professional and amateur sportspeople are this week wearing rainbow-coloured laces to show support for the LGBT community. Gay rights pressure group Stonewall is behind the campaign and are leading the way in trying to make sport an inclusive and safe place for all. Clare McDonnell speaks to Stonewall ambassador Amazin LeThi, who suffered discrimination and prejudice from a very young age. It drove her to the edge, but sport saved her. Fired Up Sport in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #changetheconversation

As the saying goes, governing bodies are traditionally "male, pale and stale" but Sport England has a plan to change all that. Its Executive Director of Sport, Phil Smith, tells Clare McDonnell all about it. And Kirsten Webster stumbles across a BMX champion of the future; three-year-old Olive! Plus, the mum who took her kids to BMX meets and became a Top 10 rider herself.    Fired Up Sport is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #ChangetheConversation

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster take you to the beaches of Australia and the world of the Surf Life Savers. As recently as the ‘80s these were all-male clubs, but we hear from the woman who changed all that. And we also find out if Kirsten passed her final test to be a Surf Life Saver with the Tallebudgera Beach club in Queensland. The Fired Up Sport podcast is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can; come with us and #ChangetheConversation

Prepare to bin your preconceptions about what it means to be a female weightlifter! Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster are joined by two of the increasing number of women who can often be found in that intimidating corner of the gym – the free weight area. We hear from the amazing PT, CrossFit advocate and weightlifter Laura Hoggins, who jacked in her office job to follow her Strongwoman dream. And by author and journalist Poorna Bell, who gained confidence after she gained strength and changed shape through lifting weights. "When you let go of that fear of judgement, you feel much calmer in your own body." Fired Up Sport in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangetheConversation.

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster discuss news of equal pay for players in Australia’s men's and women's national football teams. But is it really equal? Sports journalist Kate O'Halloran crunches the numbers. Plus, England and Harlequins player Rachael Burford is back from the Rugby World Cup to tell us why making the tournament title gender neutral is the right way to grow the game for both sexes. The Fired Up Sport Podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

When Tracy Edwards dared to become the first woman to Captain an all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989, nobody expected her or her team to make it out alive. The ground-breaking and death-defying journey is captured in the new documentary Maiden, which is being tipped for an Oscar nomination. This week’s Fired Up Sport Podcast brings you this amazing story, and reveals why Maiden is back on the water on yet another round the world voyage. The Fired Up Sport Podcast in Association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster look at how unequal research means most coaching programs are created with the male body in mind – and this needs to change. We hear from former British tennis player Jo Ward, who's rolling out a new training program to teach girls the sport based on scientific research. We’re also joined by the woman who heads up professional Women's Football in the UK, Kelly Simmons. She reveals her plans to capitalize on increased interest in the women's game following this year’s World Cup. The Fired Up Podcast is brought to you in Association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

This week on the Fired Up Sport Podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can, Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster salute the incredible achievements of Kenyan athletes Brigid Kosgei and Eliud Kipchoge. Eliud made headlines around the world with his never-been-done-before sub two-hour marathon run, then Brigid smashed the sixteen year-old record for the Women's Marathon in Chicago. Hers is a similar story to his; poor background, single parent - she even had to drop out of school because her mum couldn't afford the fees. But when their stories differ significantly, it is because of gender. In the part of Kenya that Brigid is from, she would have been expected to become a full-time homemaker after giving birth to her twins and give up on her athletic ambitions. But this is where her husband Matthew comes in - he deserves massive chops for flipping the gender role norms and looking after the children, so that Brigid could go to a residential camp and train. We’re joined by BBC Africa Sports Journalist Celestine Karoney, who has been talking exclusively to both record-breaking athletes. We also hear from Shelby Williams, who has just been named ‘Leader of the Year’ in the England Athletics Volunteer Awards. She tells Clare and Kirsten how she got a whole community out running, from complete novices to ultra marathon runners - they run, they train, they help one another, but they always end up in the pub! Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast, in association with Sport England and This Girl Can, Clare Mcdonnell and Kirsten Webster ask why is there still such a stigma around female athletes and periods? The monthly cycle has a fundamental impact on performance, so why is there so little research into its effects? Clare and Kirsten hear from Commonwealth Games medal winner long jumper Jazmin Sawyers, who took the unusual step of being honest about why she had to pull out of an event, she was in agony because of her period. They also hear from Australian Tennis star Priscilla Hon on how she never used to feel comfortable talking about her period to male coaches, but she does now. Plus Emma Ross, Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport, discusses the pioneering research she is doing which aims to help female athletes turn their period into a super power in time for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. It's the Fired Up Sport podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.  

It’s another special Fired Up Sport podcast this week and it involves the MIGHTY Liverpool Football Club. Clare McDonnell hosted a fantastic night at the London headquarters of Liverpool F.C. to mark the launch of their partnership with global charity Right to Play, an organisation that uses the power of play to transform the lives of children and young people affected by war, poverty and disease. Gender equality is a major focus of theirs and this is where Liverpool's Women's team comes in. Its manager, Vicky Jepson, was a hugely vocal and entertaining part of a four woman panel at the event. Her own journey to the very top in football coaching meant she was often the only woman in a room full of aspiring coaches, and the only person funding themselves. But she stuck at it and now coaches one of the biggest Women's football teams in the world. Hear her, alongside Sarah El Jizi from Right to Play Lebanon, Katrin Imhof the Chief Program Officer of Right to Play and Susan Black, Director of Communications at Liverpool Football Club. The Fired Up Sport podcast is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

This week on the Fired Up Sport Podcast, in association with Sport England and This Girl Can, the eyes of the sporting world will be on the World Athletics Championships in the Qatari capital Doha but one of the major stars will be absent. Caster Semenya, the 800 metre World and Olympic Champion will not race, after new rules on testosterone levels in female athletes meant that she would have had to take drugs to reduce that hormone if she wanted to compete. Semenya refused. Clare and Kirsten hear from Olympic Channel journalist Evelyn Watta who says it's not only the Olympic Champion who feels abandoned by the system. She's been speaking to female runners from Kenya who have been dropped from the team and left without any support. They are angry but mainly confused. And ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, they speak to British racing driver Katherine Legge about her ambitions to race in Formula One and why she is determined to spread the word that motor racing is a career for women. Fired Up Sport; come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

This week on the Fired Up Sport Podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can, Clare McDonnell is fresh from the Solheim Cup in Scotland, buzzing about one of the most epic, thrilling battles in women's golf to date. She's been speaking to major corporate sponsors who now have women's sport very firmly at the top of their wish list. Meanwhile in Australia, Kirsten Webster talks to former pro-cyclist Bridie O'Donnell. Now in government, O'Donnell's mission is to change how sport is run from top to bottom in her corner of the world; from board level down to volunteers at local clubs. She wants to make sport more open and welcoming for girls and women and says once she's done this, she'll happily be out of a job. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation

This week's episode is a special edition from the Solheim Cup in Scotland. Every two years, Europe’s top female players take on the United States, turning the usually singular sport of golf into a thrilling, cut-and-thrust team event, similar to the Ryder Cup. Clare McDonnell went to the Gleneagles course to hear from star European golfers Anna Nordqvist and Caroline Masson as well as the American world number three, Lexi Thompson. What do the players think about how such a high profile women’s event could help drive take-up of the game? She also speaks to fans who are going that extra mile for their team. The Fired Up Sport podcast is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation.

Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster discuss a landmark week for Women's Football, as Manchester United Women take on Manchester City in their first big-time derby. They also hear about a massive boost in girl's football following the Women's World Cup, while Kirsten visits a groundbreaking grassroots tennis program in Queensland that aims to get more indigenous girls to take up the sport and follow in the footsteps of Grand Slam champion Ash Barty. The Fired Up Sport podcast is in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #ChangeTheConversation

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast, Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster get to grips with the meteoric rise of Women's Aussie Rules football, or Women's AFL. Participation has doubled since 2017, the year the first women's national league started. Kirsten has been speaking to the woman many credit with getting the national league off the ground, Susan Alberti, "The Queen of Women's AFL" and the player who went from being the Captain of the Australian Netball team to a star of Aussie Rules, Sharni Leyton. Fired Up Sport podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #changetheconversation on Women's Sport.

This week on the Fired Up Sport Podcast; It's Different for Girls. Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster get into why it's different for women in the press room of a major sports tournament when the rest of the room is mostly white, and mostly male. Can that sometimes be an advantage? Plus why do you keep your world ranking in tennis if you’re injured but not if you have a baby? Former tennis pros-turned-broadcasters Lucie Ahl and Jill Craybas tell us change is needed. It's the Fired Up Sport Podcast in association with Sport England and This Girl Can. Come with us and #changetheconversation

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast, in association with Sport England and This Girl Can, a true female sporting pioneer for whom if "No" is the answer, she simply asks another question until she gets a "Yes".  She's Victoria Gosling, not only a decorated servicewoman who reached the rank of Group Captain with three young children, but also the woman who launched the Invictus Games for injured service personnel with Prince Harry and has now moved on to become CEO of GB Snowsport.  Victoria has a can-do attitude and is walking and talking proof that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, and it's even more possible if someone else tells you you can't.

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast, in association with Sport England and This Girl Can, we ask if the Women's World Cup has brought only good news for the women who played in it? The victorious US Women's team came home to a ticker tape parade, but for certain Argentinian players, who previously spoke out about a lack of investment in the team, they were dropped for the next big tournament.  Hosts Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster chew over the World Cup fall-out with Brenda Elsey, a US Sports Journalist and host of the feminist Sport podcast "Burn it all down".

This week we have a Fired Up Sport Special podcast for you. Clare McDonnell has been along to the Women's British Open Golf Championship at Woburn in the UK and caught up with some of the biggest names in women's golf right now. British player Bronte Law asks why, with three British players in the top 30 in the world right now, does women's golf get so much less media coverage than, for example, tennis ? And What Fires Up reigning Open Golf Champion Georgia Hall on the way to play a major championship? Kanye West in the car. 

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster immerse themselves in the world of Women's cricket and speak to the woman who's the voice of Cricket Australia, Karina Keisler. She talks about how Australia has led the way on equal pay in the women's and men's games, and about her plans for a match later this year which could become the most watched female sports event of all time. Plus, former England International player turned writer and broadcaster Isabelle Westbury discusses how not getting the same opportunities and financial support as male cricketers in her teenage years may have actually helped her in the long run.

On this weeks Fired Up Sport podcast Clare Mcdonnell and Kirsten Webster hear from the woman who is pushing for a Tour de France for female cyclists, the former Sports Minister in Australia who couldn't understand why the prize money for male cyclists was so much bigger than that for female cyclists, and the woman who has taken total non-cyclists from her mainly Muslim community and turned them into tri-athletes.  Fired Up Sport, the first truly global podcast for Women's sport; come with us and #changetheconversation.

This week on the Fired Up Sport podcast, ahead of the start of the Netball World Cup, Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster catch up with former England Captain and Commonwealth gold winner Ama Agbeze and ask how do you cope when you don't make the squad? They go courtside at one of the fastest growing netball clubs in the UK and hear from two former professional tennis players who have advice for younger players on the tour; freeze your eggs.

In week one of The Wimbledon Championships we have a special Fired Up podcast for you. An in-depth chat with Judy Murray, Mum to tennis superstars Andy and Jamie, and a fierce advocate for greater equality and access for all in tennis, regardless of background. We talked Andy teaming up with Serena Williams and the powerful message mixed doubles sends out, why tennis courts in public parks should be free to use and whether she would consider the job of Sports Minister.

This week on the Fired Up podcast with Clare McDonnell and Kirsten Webster, British Golfer Mel Reid - who finished in the top three in the USPGA Major Championship last week - tells us how certain golf club manufacturers still won't supply her with equipment because they "don't support women's golf". And Kenyan Footballing legend Doreen Nabwire - the first and only Kenyan Woman to player top level football in Europe - explains why the Cameroon Women's team were "indecent" in the way they behaved against England in the World Cup last sixteen. She also talks about how football saved her from the slum and how's she trying to do the same for kids today.