“To come away with a medal (from the Olympics), for the women in this sport would be amazing,” Lois Toulson tells the Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA). Image courtesy of LEN - European Aquatics With a host of World, European and Commonwealth medals to her name, Lois Touslon is one of Britain’s most successful female divers of all-time, but she insists the best is yet to come. She was the youngest diver to be selected for the Team GB Olympic team back at the Rio 2016 Games, where together with veteran Tonia Couch the then 16-year-old finished fifth in the synchronised 10m platform final.  Fi ..read more

“In terms of gender (equality) there’s been massive improvement in Olympic sailing, but in terms of elsewhere, progress is really frustrating,” Shirley Robertson tells the WSA.  “It's very much a male dominated sport, but next year is potentially a big year…” The land-locked hills of Clackmannashire in central Scotland may seem an unlikely place for a history-making British sailor’s journey to have begun, but Shirley Robertson began defying expectations from a young age. Long before Ellen MacArthur and Dee Caffari set their landmark ‘around the world’ achievements in the mid-2000’s Rober ..read more

The England Women’s Deaf football team need to raise an initial £50,000 by the end of June to book flights to and accommodation for the 2023 World Cup. Pictures courtesy of @clairestancliffe “Until I was about 18 I thought I was the only deaf person in the world,” Claire Stancliffe tells the Women’s Sports Alliance. “Joining the England Deaf Women’s football team was life changing.” She “fell in love” with football – thanks in no small part to her “Liverpool mad” football family – around the age of four-and-a-half. It was also around that time she began to have difficulties with her hearing a ..read more

Image courtesy of Garry Jones Photography / Skateboard GB Is teenage Olympic and World Championship medal-winning skateboarder Sky Brown a ‘once-in-a-generation’ talent? Well, Skateboard GB certainly hope she will have a few talented team-mates capable of joining her on major podiums in the years ahead. And while they have several reasons to be optimist, one name in particular has excited followers of the sport in the UK, that of Ayva-Mae Whittenbury.  Last year she not only beat rivals more than two decades older than her, but also took Sky’s record as Britain’s youngest-ever National S ..read more

“It (amputation) sounds like a crazy decision and it was difficult one to make, but I was in so much pain,” Alice Tai tells the WSA. “Now I have no regrets and I’m living my best life!” Image from British Swimming / Team England Having achieved a career grand slam of Paralympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles before reaching her twenties, on paper at least she was living an athlete’s dream. Out of the water, the swimmer’s reality was vastly different though. Alice was born with bilateral talipes, otherwise known as club foot, with both of her ankles fused and her right foot in partic ..read more

The Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA) is delighted to reveal the line-up for April’s inaugural ‘recognition shortlist’ which acknowledges outstanding sporting achievements over the last month as identified by WSA fans and supporters. The nominee shortlist, as suggested and identified by WSA fans as well as supporters, are broken down into three categories; underdogs, trailblazers and squads. Following a public vote the winners will be announced on April 30th 2023 and receive a prestigious WSA trophy! SQUAD SHORTLIST: Vote Now ANTRIM, LADIES NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE [SQUAD]:  Irish Ladies N ..read more

Even Zoe Smith admits her experiences over the last few years are likely leave you wondering what the punch line might be, but her condition – lost move syndrome – is no joking matter. Nor is it an isolated experience, despite those suffering with it often doing so in silence. Olympic champions Simone Biles (gymnastics) and Jack Laugher (diving) broke with that tradition though in 2021, revealing their struggles after medal-successes at the Tokyo Olympics. World champion trampolinist Bryony Page also discussed her own challenges with the condition enroute to the summit of her sport to the WSA ..read more

“I’m a positive person, I want women to feel welcome in skateboarding and confident that they can wear whatever they want,” Stefani Nurding tells the Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA). Images from @stefaninurdingxx As the title suggests Stefani has plenty to be proud of but if you do a quick social media search, you’ll quickly realise she has over 250 thousand followers who clearly agree. The skateboarder may have an enviable follower list, which leading bands are keen to be associated with, but hers is a story of graft as much as glamour. Because as we know, while social media exposure can posit ..read more

Image from RedBullContentPool The name of Maddie Hinch became etched into British hockey history in the summer of 2016 when her heroics – four match-winning penalty saves – helped the Team GB women secure their first-ever Olympic title in the sport. The goalkeeper playfully nicknamed ‘mad dog’ for her fearless sprints from the goal line towards fast-approaching rival forwards, also played crucial roles in the team’s iconic European (2015) and Commonwealth (2022) triumphs. But her story is about much more than medals, as she Maddie has also had much wider impact on the sport. She was once a gi ..read more

Image from Red Bull Content Pool “Breaking is so exhilarating,” B-girl Roxy tells the Women’s Sports Alliance. “To actually do it or learn a new move is such a personal achievement and there's no more rewarding feeling. “Well, other than maybe having a child!” Roxy laughs after finishing that sentence, before an abrupt stop as she drops the phone to free an extra hand and stop her excitable two-and-a-half-year-old son, Leo, from diving head first off the bed. “He’s fine, don’t worry I’m happy to talk,” she insists after the rapid recovery. “As you can tell he’s quite crazy, but he’s a product ..read more