Meet the inspirational nominees for Womenspire’s Women in Sport award

“My interest has now gone to getting other people into cycling - not making it about competition. It’s about community. I’ve been involved in arranging bikepacking trips and leading groups,” Vera said.

“I’ve been a big advocate of getting more women and people of colour to push their boundaries and embark on these challenges. 

"That’s meant mentoring, attending events and being a spokesperson to encourage the cycling industry brands to think about how to be more inclusive and increase their participation of people from different groups.”

“There is a definitely a want from a lot of girls (to play cricket) but there’s not necessarily that provision there for them so that was my intention as I developed with my coaching - making that available to them so they could play with friends and play at clubs that have women's teams,” Lydia said.

“At Radyr particularly, we’ve tried to establish a women’s team so they can get that progression. Encouraging them to be there with their friends is really important as it’s a very social sport. 

"If you can encourage people to stay together, and make sessions fun and exciting, that drop-off rate will decrease.”

“My job role is an Exercise Referral Professional. It’s a unique role as a fitness instructor, working with people with different medical conditions to help maintain their mobility, independence or recover from surgery processes with the long-term gain of maintaining independence and returning back to some physical fitness,” Emma said.

“I also take a number of different football sessions with different clubs and actively coach within a leisure centre. I’ve been quite blown away by actually being nominated. To know that I have impacted people in a positive way makes it all worthwhile.” 

“I was Head of Rugby at Swansea University so I was juggling that full-time job, trying to play the best standard I could and captain Wales, leading the girls through this change and process,” Siwan said.

“The main thing for me is I was a voice for the squad. I remember when professional contracts were announced, speaking to the Under 18’s girls. They were so excited because now they can aspire to be professional rugby players.”