Gender Equality Women Leadership Forum
By Matt Stevens
Key Sports Industry Leaders Speak Alongside Bowling Representatives in IBF’s Inaugural International Women’s Day Forum.
On Monday, March 8th 2021, the International Bowling Federation (IBF) will showcase a Gender Equality and Women Leadership Forum in partnership with the Saudi Arabia Bowling Federation to celebrate International Women’s Day.
The Forum is aimed at providing a platform for which to raise issues surrounding gender equality amongst sports and marks the beginning of a wider initiative IBF has to emphasis the women’s game and encourage women leadership in governance roles.
The Forum involved two representatives from Australia. Previous TBA CEO and bowler Cara Honeychurch and Junior National Training Squad Assistant coach and bowler Bianca Flanagan. Both armed with extensive involvement in the sport enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the discussion.
“To be part of the forum with so many fantastic women really opened my eyes to how lucky we are to have the opportunities we do in our sport” explained Bianca Flanagan.
When describing what others will get out of the forum, Bianca said “You will hear from talented and brilliant women from all over the world, sharing their experiences and passions at all levels of the sport. It will give viewers the opportunity to engage with some incredible women and hopefully give them insight into how and why we are in the roles are in”.
This initiative is part of a series of greater changes that began because of the 2020 IBF Congress that was hosted virtually in November of last year.
IBF President Sheikh Talal Mohammad AI-Sabah said “International Women’s Day marks an important opportunity for us to raise our awareness on the issues that surround women in sport. This Forum has been an effective mission for IBF to give our women role models a platform on which to raise issues and discuss what works and what does not. We are delighted to of had so many passionate contributors and we look forward to focusing on the issues raised to further shape our direction.”
The Forum can be streamed via the IBF Academy and the link can be found here. You will also be able to watch the replay on Youtube at anytime following the premier stream.
A new inititiative by the IBF is the IBF Academy where the world’s best begin. IBF aim to inspire future bowlers, coaches, officials and managers to be the best they can be, to push what is possible and to take our sport forward.
A place for learning and inspiration, the IBF academy aims to help every athlete on their journey from grassroots all the way to elite. A blend for knowledge with passion where technical expertise is delivered with energy and approachability with a strong sense of fun.
The Gender Equality Women Leadership form can be streamed from 7:00pm AEDT Monday the 8th March 2021 – here
