Beyond the summer: Securing investment for women's sport in Wales

Cymru Women's Sport chair Professor Leigh Robinson, right, calls for government, industry and communities to build on summer 2025's phenomenal success and work together to make equality a priority

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WHAT an amazing summer of sport we have had to remember and celebrate! The Euro Championships, the Women's Open in Porthcawl, the women's team at Glamorgan building the pathway to turn pro and the Women's Rugby World Cup.

As the summer's events draw to a close with the World Cup selling far more than double the number of tickets for the 2021 World Cup, one thing is clear: Wales has a significant opportunity for the sport, education and health sectors to unite, setting the vision, policies and investment needed to deliver true equity and equality for women and girls across the nation. Our next challenge is to ensure that the focus lasts beyond the excitement of this summer of sport.

According to the UN, if we continue at the current pace of change, achieving economic parity for women will take another 300 years! That's more than 10 future generations of young Welsh girls who will still be missing out. Wales is working hard to change the fortunes of future generations through legislation - and this must be on the priority list too.

Demand for and interest in women's sport exists and is growing.

Records are falling across every sport. The Uefa Women's Euros sold 600,000 tickets before the first match, with 35% of fans travelling from overseas to Switzerland. Back in March, the Wales rugby union team made history with a record-breaking 18,000 fans cheering them on against England in the Women's Six Nations at the Principality Stadium.