The Game Changers

Jeanette Kwakye is former international athlete turned broadcaster. This British sprinter was five-time British champion, Olympian and world indoor silver medallist, competing in the Olympic final of the 100 meters in Beijing 2008. Since retiring as an athlete and becoming a journalist in 2013, Jeanette's become a regular broadcaster across the BBC, Sky Sports and Channel 5. Jeanette works across many sports, having anchored world championships and athletics, swimming and taekwondo, along with Olympic and Commonwealth Games. In 2020, Jeanette became the first Black woman to present boxing on British TV and regularly presents the BBC Women's Football Hour show, BBC Five Live Breakfast and Fighting Talk. She's also hosting an exciting new show for Sky Sports' this autumn, bringing the British Basketball League, Men's and Women's games, to our screens. In 2017, Jeanette wrote a children's book called Femi the Fox, which teaches the younger generations about West African culture, and in 2021, she was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to sports and sports broadcasting. Jeanette is incredibly open about her life as an elite track athlete - who as a youngster was sometimes a challenge to coach. We talk everything from the issue of drugs in sport and the revealing sports kit worn by female athletes (which Jeanette loved when competing) through to her own challenges with injuries and how it felt to miss out on London 2012, having started the year as Britain’s fastest woman. We track Jeanette’s career path to becoming a prominent sports broadcaster in a space where there were few black women, and how it feels to now be on the other side of the microphone being the first person to talk to emotional British athletes as they finish their events at major Championships. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Layla Guscoth describes herself on social media as half netballer, half doctor. In 2016, Layla qualified as a doctor and somehow has managed to balance that career with being a professional netballer. Co-captain for the England side at the 2023 World Cup, Layla now has both Silver and Bronze World Cup medals. Layla's played for a number of Super League teams in the UK and Australia and captained both Mavericks and Thunderbirds. We explore how Layla has managed to balance two incredible careers, her pathway into elite netball and the women that influenced her progress, recognising her as a whole human, not just an exceptional athlete. As Layla shares her journey, including injuries, setbacks and time overseas, we consider what’s changed for netballers with increased professionalism, and what the future holds in terms of broadcast, investment and increasing media profile of the sport. Layla was incredibly open in discussing what a fully professional sport could look like in the future; what makes a great captain and is it time to think again about those netball dresses? It was a privilege to hear Layla reflect back on her extraordinary netball career. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Suzy Wrack is a much-celebrated women’s football writer for The Guardian. As an author, Suzy wrote the award-winning book 'A Woman's Game: The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Women's Football', along with the leadership book 'You Have the Power' with England Women’s football captain Leah Williamson, and her new book 'Strong Women', which was published this month. Suzy shares her journey into journalism and how her work at The Guardian enables her to combine her joint passions for social impact and sport. We talk about Suzy’s investigation into the abuse of Afghanistan Women’s Football team, and she reflects on how un-regulated, self-governed sports can harbour abusers at many levels. Generously sharing advice for those hoping for a career in sports media, Suzy is open about the realities of being a woman working in male dominated sector and how coverage of women’s football in print media is finally changing. That said, she also shares her disappointment that we’ve not seen more change following the Euros in 2022. Thank you once again to our partners at Sport England who support The Game Changers with a National Lottery grant. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Professional boxer Caroline Dubois is Youth Olympic champion, World Youth champion, four-times European Youth champion, Team GB Olympian and now IBO lightweight Champion. A pioneering female athlete with a stellar professional record of 8 wins no defeats and 5 knock outs, Caroline is known for her immense power and her explosive punches. Caroline talks openly about her recent IBO title and her ambitions to win more World Titles. Sharing her experience of being a young athlete on the British Boxing pathway, we explore how she overcome disappointment from Tokyo 2020, why she gave up her dream of Olympic Gold to turn professional at just 19 and how she copes with feelings of regret. We talk about the different between amateur and professional boxing as an athlete, the incredible growth in the visibility of professional women’s boxing and why she won’t be trying MMA anytime soon. Caroline has witnessed huge changes for women in boxing from the days when she pretended to be a boy so that she could train in a boxing gym, but she believes there’s still much that need to change - primarily more respect for female fighters. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery award. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Our guest in this episode is Ellie Simmonds, one of the world’s most celebrated Paralympians. A five-time Paralympic Champion and 14-time World Champion, Ellie shot to fame when she won her first Paralympic medals aged just 13, at the Beijing Paralympic Games. After two gold medals there in 2008, Ellie went even better at London 2012. As the poster girl for the home games, she won 4 medals, including two Golds, and broke a further two World records. This success in London helped make Ellie the most recognised Paralympic athlete in Great Britain, if not the world. Rio 2016 saw Ellie once again top of the podium, winning another Gold and setting a new world record in the Individual Medley. Ellie retired from the pool in 2021 after her fourth Paralympics Games in Tokyo, finishing her career with an incredible 5 Paralympic gold medals, 14 World titles, 10 European titles and countless World records broken along the way. Ellie continues to work with a variety of charities including the Dwarf Sports Association, WaterAid, the Scouts and I AM WATER. In recent years it’s been fabulous to see Ellie’s work in the media. Along with making powerful documentaries, Ellie’s been a guest on some of the country’s most popular shows including Celebrity Googlebox, celebrity Masterchef – which she won – and her appearance on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing last year which cemented her status as one of the nation’s most well-loved personalities. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery award. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

The Game Changers podcast returns on Tuesday October 31 with eight more trailblazers in women’s sport exploring their careers and key issues around equality in sport and beyond. The award-winning podcast is support by Sport England through a National Lottery Award and hosted by Sue Anstiss MBE. The superb guest list for this latest series includes: Caroline Wozniacki – A professional tennis player who was ranked world number one for 71 weeks at the height of her career, and who won the Australian Open, before retiring from the game in 2020 having been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. In 2023, now mother to two small children, Caroline announced her surprise return to professional tennis. Ellie Simmonds - one of the world’s most celebrated Paralympians with an incredible 5 Paralympic gold medals, 14 World titles, 10 European titles and countless World records. Ellie retired from the pool in 2021, but continues to be one of the nation’s most well-loved personalities and a regular on our TV screens. Caroline Dubois – A pioneering professional British boxer and Olympian, who won European, World and Olympic Youth titles, and is now IBO Lightweight Champion. Layla Guscoth – an England netballer who incredibly combines this role with her career as a doctor. Having won silver and bronze World Cup medals, Layla’s captained her country along with teams in the Netball Super League and in Australia. Suzy Wrack – A British journalist and much-celebrated women’s football writer for The Guardian, Suzy’s also the award-winning author of ‘A Woman's Game’ and does an incredible job driving social change through her coverage of women’s sport. Jeanette Kwakye – former British sprinter, 5-time British Champion, Olympian and world indoor silver medallist, who’s gone on to become a much-respected sports broadcaster across the BBC, Sky and Channel 5. Juliet Slot – Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal Football Club, and a non-exec Director of the British Olympic Association, with previous senior roles at Ascot Racecourse, London 2012, Fulham Football Club and adidas. Juliet’s passionate about gender equality in sport and is leading the way through her work at Arsenal. And Hannah Mills - the most successful Olympic female sailor in history, Hannah went on to join Ben Ainslie’s SailGP team as its first female sailor, returning to the water just a few months after the birth of her baby Sienna. Hannah’s also a passionate advocate for positive impact around climate change. * The Game Changers is available for free across all podcast platforms, or you can listen directly from the Fearless Women website www.fearlesswomen.co.uk. This is also where you’ll find details of all the trailblazing guests featured in previous series – there are over 150 of them. You can also listen to the best-selling book ‘Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport’ for free on the podcast. You’ll find the entire audio of the best-selling book in series 13. The Fearless Women website is also where you can find out more about the Women’s Sport Collective, a free, inclusive community for all women working in sport. Help progress your leadership ambitions networking events, regional groups, webinars, mentoring schemes, LinkedIn Group, monthly newsletter, complimentary places at industry conferences and much, much more. It’s all completely free. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Our guest in this special bonus episode is professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, ranked number one in the world at the height of her career. Caroline’s professional career took off at 15 when she joined the WTA Tour, and her meteoric rise saw her ranked world number one for 70 weeks. Having won the Australian Open in 2018, Caroline was at the peak of her tennis career when she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Caroline retired from tennis in 2020 and then, much to the delight of tennis fans across the world, in 2023, now mother to two young children, she announced her surprise return to professional tennis. It was such a privilege to talk to Caroline. We explore her phenomenal rise to world number one, and the impact of returning to that position again years later when she also won the Australian Open. Caroline talks frankly about her Rheumatoid Arthritis – its diagnosis and how it impacts her life as an elite athlete. She also talks about her passion to help other women with the Advantage Hers* campaign. We explore the impact of her surprise return to professional tennis this year, the changes she’s seen and her plans for the future. As a mother returning to play her sport at the very highlight level Caroline Wozniacki is a huge inspiration to working mothers everywhere. * The Advantage Hers campaign is supported and paid for by UCB. For more information visit www.advantagehers.co.uk” Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery award. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

To celebrate Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s incredible Heptathlon Gold Medal at the World Championships this weekend, we’re re-releasing this special episode of The Game Changers. Now a two-time World Champion, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (KJT) has overcome many challenges during her extraordinary impressive athletics career which includes appearances at three Olympic Games. We’re so excited to see her compete again in Paris 2024. In this episode, Katarina talks about tackling anxiety and body issues, transforming her mental approach to the sport, learning to handle the pressure after lsoing the love of the sport and how she handled the internal conflict when her childhood role model, Jessica Ennis-Hill, became her biggest rival. Katarina also discusses the complicated preparations for the postponed Tokyo Olympics and being an ambassador of the Game On initiative, launched with Liverpool Football Club and Nike to help youngsters access sport in their local area. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery award. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

To celebrate the Football World Cup, we’ve been re-releasing episodes of The Game Changers podcast with incredible trailblazing women in football. Our final guest is Anita Asante. With 71 international caps under her belt, in a career spanning 14 years, Asante was a formidable England defender who played top club football for clubs including Aston Villa, Arsenal and Chelsea. Along with English clubs, and representing Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, Asante played overseas in Saint Louis, Chicago, New Jersey and Washington, and also spent six seasons playing in Sweden. We talk about Anita's incredible career and how the women's game has changed and Anita also shares her hopes for the inclusivity of the game, and how she's using her platform to speak up for the LGBTQ+ community and putting the onus back on the Governing Bodies to govern the politics and policies of the game. You can find details over 150 trailblazers in women's sport on the Fearless Women website or listen to The Game Changers on all podcast channels. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Emma Hayes is Manager at Chelsea Women. In 2023 she led Chelsea to their sixth FA Women's Super League win, and once again Emma’s team won the FA Cup taking her winning tally to five . It’s a fascinating conversation where Emma talks very openly about her life, her career and shares lots of advice for others hoping to be high level coaches in the future. Just to flag, there’s a little bit of occasional background noise of this podcast as the house next door to Emma’s had some building work going on while we spoke. It’s not too disturbing but just to let you know. Massive thanks to Barclays for once again supporting this series of The Game Changers which focuses on fearless women in football, reinforcing Barclay’s huge commitment to the beautiful game. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

To celebrate the Football World Cup, we’re re-releasing episodes of The Game Changers podcast with incredible trailblazing women in football. Gabby Logan is one of Britain's most influential women in sport. A former international gymnast Gabby is now a household name presenting many of our most popular sports TV programmes including the Olympics, London Marathon, Match of the Day, World Athletics Championships and Sports Personality of the Year. Gabby talks openly about her career path from Sky to the BBC, and why she's so passionate about improving the coverage for women's sport. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

To celebrate the Football World Cup we’re re-releasing episodes of The Game Changers podcast with incredible trailblazing women in football. Professional footballer, media personality, lawyer, philanthropist and now best selling author, Eni’s high profile racism case against the FA led to critical reforms within the sport. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

To celebrate the Football World Cup we’re re-releasing episodes of The Game Changers podcast with incredible trailblazing women in football. With 172 appearances for her country, Fara Williams is the most capped player in the history of English football. Fara shares her experience of being homeless as a young player, and how she went on to have an extraordinary 20-year career. Fara talks about her plans for the future and her hopes for the future of the women's game, having recently announced her retirement from professional football. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

To celebrate the Football World Cup, we’re re-releasing episodes of The Game Changers podcast with incredible trailblazing women in football. Today it’s one of the world's leading female professional players, Lucy Bronze. The UEFA Women’s Player of the Year in 2019 was also named The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2020 and won the Euros with the Lionesses in 2022. Having played in the US, and at several British clubs including Man City, Lucy went on to spend 3 years in France at Olympique Lyonnais, Europe's most successful team, before returning to Man City in 2020. Lucy now plays for FC Barcelona. We're loving watching the contribution Lucy is making for England right now. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

In this final episode of season 14, we talk to Eilish McColgan, an incredible distance athlete. Eilish holds the European record for 10,000 on the road, as well as British records at 5,000m and 10,000m on the track and road, and in the half marathon. With European medals indoors and outdoors on the track, Eilish represented Team GB at 3 Olympics in London, Rio and Tokyo. In 2022 Eilish became Commonwealth Games Champion over 10,000 metres, a feat that repeated her mum's victory 36 years earlier and broke the Commonwealth Games record. A few days later, she was back to take a silver medal over 5,000m. And then, in 2023, Eilish broke her own British Half Marathon Record and became the first British Woman to win the Berlin Half Marathon. She also eclipsed Paula Radcliffe's UK record, running 10k in 30 minutes. In this episode we explore Eilish’s incredible sporting journey and her pathway to success. We hear about how severe injuries led her to dramatically adapt training, how she’s embraced social media and become an outspoken advocate for body positivity in sport and the challenges athletes face today around sports sponsorships. Thank you for Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery grant. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Molly McCann, also known as Meatball Molly, is a mixed martial artist, formerly a Cage Fighters champion, who is currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In this very open interview, Molly takes us back to her life growing up in Liverpool, surrounded by alcohol and addiction, and the childhood experiences that led her to follow a different path and become a world famous MMA fighter. We explore what it’s like to lose your privacy and how Molly now deals with the negativity and trolling that arise from her growing profile. Molly is a cousin of Katie Taylor and we discuss the huge positive impact female fighters can have in society. Molly is already using her profile to drive social change, especially when it comes to providing opportunities for her home community, and there’s no doubt she’ll continue to have a huge impact as she considers a move into politics in the future. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through a National Lottery grant. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Louise Minchin is a journalist, presenter, author and podcaster, who presented BBC’s flagship morning show, BBC Breakfast, for over 20 years. Louise also has a passion for endurance sport. Having raced her first triathlon in 2013, she went on to compete in her Age Group at five World and European triathlon championships before completing a number of extreme events including some of the toughest long-distance triathlons in the world. Louise talks frankly about how she re-discovered sport in her 40s, having regrettably stopped competitive swimming as a young girl, put off by the shape of her muscular arms. We explore Louise’s activity as a vocal campaigner for menopausal women – talking openly about her own struggles on the BBC – along with her experiences as a contestant on shows like ‘I’m a Celebrity’ and ‘Masterchef’. Louise’s has just published her second book ‘FEARLESS, Adventures with Extraordinary Women’ and it’s a joy to hear about the impact of the inspirational women featured. It was also fascinating to explore how taking on physical challenges can help women be bolder elsewhere in their lives. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a Nationl lottery grant. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

Our guest in this episode has been instrumental in the success of the British Paralympic team, helping them to achieve record-breaking medal hauls at 10 Paralympic Summer and Winter Games. Penny Briscoe competed for Great Britain in Canoe Slalom before becoming Senior National Coach for the GBR team at the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. She has worked in para sport as coach, team manager, performance director and is now Director of Sport at the British Paralympic Association and is also the Chef De Mission for Paralympics GB. In 2017, Penny was awarded an OBE for her services to disability sport. In this fascinating conversation we explore Penny’s path into para sport and how the role and profile of the British Paralympic Association has changed over 20 years. Penny shares the enormous impact of London 2012, the challenges that followed in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, and her ambitions for Paris 2024. If you’d like to hear from other senior women leading British sport, previous episodes of The Game Changers include interviews with Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Sally Munday OBE, Dame Liz Nichol, Dame Katherine Grainger, Sue Day MBE, Baroness Sue Campbell and Clare Connor CBE. Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast through the National Lottery. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

This episode is a slightly different format, as I talk to a panel of game changers about a specific topic – and in this case it’s women in sports coaching. Just 10% of accredited coaches at the Summer and Winter Olympics over the past decade have been female and we rarely see women in high profile coaching roles in our biggest sports. This conversation explores why this is and what needs to change? My guests for this episode were: Having discussed their own experiences and journeys as women in sports coaching we explore the current gender balance in football, rugby and hockey in grassroots and elite coaching, and consider which sports are doing things well. We discuss why having more women in coaching matters, what makes a ‘good’ coach and what’s preventing equality. Finally we consider what needs to change for the future and my guests share some fantastic advice for other female coaches. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production

This is an utterly fascinating conversation with Preeti Shetty, a hugely well-respected figure in sport, particularly in the area of sport for positive social change. CEO and founder of Upshot, Preeti is also a Board Director of Brentford Football Club, the Vice Chair of Street Child United, a Director of London Sport and sits on Women in Football’s Board committee. As the head of Upshot, Preeti focuses her efforts on proving the difference non-profits can makes to people's lives and communities through impact measurement and evaluation. Having grown up in Dubai, before moving the UK to work at the BBC, Preeti shares how she discovered the power of sport to change the world. We explore her work at the Football Foundation and the challenges she faced as a woman of colour seeking to gain investment to buy Upshot from her employer. Having been spat at on her first visit to watch a Premier League Football match at Milwall, she could understandably have walked away from the sport, yet she now sits as a Board Director of Brentford FC. It’s little wonder that Preeti is so respected and admired in the sports industry. Thank you to Sport England who support The Games Changers Podcast with a National Lottery grant. Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers Hosted by Sue Anstiss Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media A Fearless Women production