EWS committee
Advantage Ladies FE&MALE Sports Conference, co-organised by Sport Austria, brought together decision-makers from sport, media, and science to promote gender equality in sport
On 8 April 2026, EWS Vice Chair Sarah Townsend attended the Advantage Ladies FE&MALE Sports Conference in Linz, Austria, co-organised by ENGSO member Sport Austria as part of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz event. Former ENGSO Youth Vice chair Erik van Haaren, as one of the panellists, and former Committee member Valentin Doupona, also actively participated in the event.
Under the theme “United for Change”, the conference brought together decision-makers from sport, media, and science to promote cross-disciplinary allyship, exchange perspectives, and initiate concrete actions to improve gender equality in sport. The programme was divided into two session formats: morning plenary sessions featuring keynote speeches, one-on-one conversations, and a panel discussion, followed by a series of interactive workshops in the afternoon.
The morning sessions featured representatives from across the sporting landscape, including Olympic skeleton champion Janine Flock, national football player Sarah Zadrazil, and tennis coach Judy Murray, who shared their lived experiences. Subject-matter experts also contributed to discussions on equal opportunities, gender balance, and structural change in sport.
As a panellist, former ENGSO Youth Vice Chair Erik van Haaren made a valuable contribution alongside Judy Murray, Sarah Zadrazil (FC Bayern Munich), and Viola Kleiser.
Photos 2-4: Sport Austria / Michael Meindl
Key takeaways from the morning sessions included the importance of ethical reporting, institutional courage, and the proper implementation of safeguarding policies in developing a sporting landscape that is accountable and places athlete welfare at its core. Judy Murray emphasised the role of meaningful, active play in encouraging youth participation in sport, as well as the importance of increasing the proportion of women in decision-making roles. Strengthening women’s voices, she noted, is essential to improving both women’s participation and the overall sporting ecosystem.
The afternoon workshops explored topics such as “Coaching & Training”, “Strategy & Structures”, “Media & Communication”, “Research & Science”, and “Respect & Safety”.
ENGSO participated in the “Media & Communication” workshop, presented by Jane Dehenney from GenderHub, which offered a comprehensive overview of current media representation in sport and highlighted the importance of being an active and critical observer. The “Research & Science” session provided an opportunity to discuss biases in current performance measurements in sport and opened space for dialogue on how research approaches could be improved.