Summit delivers motivational rallying call for girls and young sportswomen in the South and West
Dorset school hosts unique Powerhouse Project event for hundreds of pupils from schools all over the region.
Over 300 young women from state and independent schools across the south and west ofEngland attended a special Sport Summit to hear a series of eye-opening presentations and take part in inspirational masterclasses led by top figures from the world of sport. The Powerhouse Pupil: School Sport Summit 2024 in partnership with Bryanston School was organised to help girls and young women take full advantage of the exciting new opportunities for women in sport.
“Sport offers a wide range of professional careers for women, not just as players but also in a myriad of operational and commercial roles,” says Mollie Kmita who co-founded thePowerhouse Project with her twin sister Rosie. Both have become respected sports broadcasters following highly successful professional football careers. “Gold medal success at the Olympics and the exciting achievements of the Lionesses have certainly shifted the dial,” continues Mollie. “Such developments have also added further impetus to the remarkable growth in women’s sport, which is expected to generate a staggering $1billion in revenue this year alone.”
However, as Rosie points out, the sad fact is that two-thirds of girls at school will quit sport during puberty due to social pressures, gender stereotypes, body confidence issues and alack of self-belief. “We want to change that statistic and ensure the girls of today are truly empowered and have absolutely every opportunity to develop the skills, inner strength and leadership qualities to succeed in the wonderful world of sport. We’re delighted that our partnership with Bryanston has enabled us to reach out to so many young sportswomen from schools all over the region. Seeing their enthusiastic participation in the various sessions at the Summit is really encouraging and bodes well for their own futures as well as the wider sporting community.”
Other speakers at Sport Summit hosted by Bryanston included Ivi Casagrande, Edel McCann and Kylee Parsons. A former professional footballer who is now a high-performance coach and sports scientist, Casagrande has worked at a national and regional levels in the United States, Brazil and the UK and Ireland. She highlighted the importance of having a clear focus and the resilience and determination to reach one’s goals.
Edel McCann is a very experienced women’s health and sports physiotherapist and is theClinical Lead at Leto Woman in London, a highly respected centre of excellence for women’s health physiotherapy. She has worked with numerous professional sports teams and athletes and hosted an insightful well-being masterclass for the girls and young women attending the Summit. Kylee Parsons is the Assistant Academy Director for FC Norsjælland Girls, a professional Danish football team, and she hosted a masterclass that explored the wide range of skills and career opportunities in sports business.
“The energy and enthusiasm of everyone who attended the Summit was great to see,” says Rory McCann, Director of Sport at Bryanston. “This is a wonderful and pivotal time for women in sport ,but it’s important to show the next generation of players, coaches and organisers that they now have excellent role models and a growing and supportive community to help them follow their dreams and fulfil their career aspirations. Such targeted support simply wasn’t around in years gone by. The high number of attendees from schools all over the region is really encouraging. We’re delighted with the very positive feedback from the day and, following the success of this inaugural event, we are hoping the Summit can become a regular annual fixture in the diary.”
Pupils from schools in Dorset, Hampshire and as far afield as Bristol and Petersfield attended the event. Great care was taken to encourage open discussions and teamwork involving pupils from the different schools and to provide plenty of opportunities for the young women to raise questions regarding their own personal aspirations or any areas of sensitivity and concern.
Mollie and Rosie Kmita formed the Powerhouse Project to help empower, upskill and inspire women and to act as a catalyst for bringing the women in sport community together for thebenefit of individuals and the wider sporting sector. They have also recently joined Phil de Glanville, Abbie Brown and Kumar Sangakkara on Bryanston’s Sports Advisory Board that supports the school’s ‘sport for all’ ethos and ‘performance pathways’ and will help senior3staff and coaches to identify, develop and prepare pupils for a career in high-performance sport.
March 2024