The Scottish Women in Sport annual conference sponsored by sportscotland focused on the growth of women’s sport in Scotland. Key topics for the 2025 event included grassroots sport, athlete stories, and using partnerships to support the female experience.
Opened by Maree Todd, Minister for Drugs & Alcohol Policy and Sport, and hosted by Heather Dewar, award winning journalist, co-chair of Scottish Women in Journalism and SW/S Trustee, the conference welcomed organisations, individuals, volunteers, partners and participants to identify and discuss areas of improvement around the challenges and issues facing women’s participation in sport.
The event gave insight into opportunities for effective brand partnership and sponsorship. Focus was also on the potential for growth and infrastructure in women’s sport with the added requirement for more officials, coaches, and venues.
Grassroots to glory
Given the strong growth and increase in participation of football for women and girls across the country, Shirley Martin, Head of Girls and Women’s Football at the Scottish Football Association led a thought-provoking discussion on how she is involved in maximising the momentum of women’s football in Scotland. This involved discussions around accelerating the game and driving further growth of women’s football on and off the pitch.
Trudy Lindblade, CEO of Cricket Scotland was joined by Nic Wilson, Head of Development at Cricket Scotland, Board Director at Bowls Scotland, Trustee and treasurer Gullane Sports Development Trust to speak about the 2024 cricket season, which was the most successful year ever for Scottish Women’s Cricket, capped by a historic first appearance at a World Cup.
The presentation looked at hybrid solutions for moving from amateur to professional status in women’s cricket, and while there have been successes, the challenges faced were also brought to life, with honest discussions around how issues were resolved.
The rise to the top
Lisa Palombo, Head of Professional Teams and Community at Caledonia Gladiators presented ‘The Rise of Professional Basketball- Making It Our Business!’. Lisa said, “We are now one of the flagship Clubs in the UK. In other Clubs, men play in the arena and women play in the sports centre. But not here!”
Deloitte recently reported in March 2025 that women’s basketball is now projected to generate more than $1bn of revenue alone in 2025, up 44%.
The conference gave delegates the opportunity to hear ‘the athlete’s story’ from a panel of professional female athletes to understand the different models of ‘professional’ and what that can mean to the individual. Other topics included, the pride of playing sport at the top level, the growth of opportunities, the day-to-day juggling and difficult decisions still faced by sportswomen.
Among the athletes was Scottish Badminton’s number one, Kirsty Gilmour, who has been a full-time athlete since she was 17 years old. Kirsty has won 10 European medals, 2 Commonwealth medals and 14 International tournaments in badminton, as well as being involved in commentary, podcasting and punditry.
Kirsty is passionate about promoting sport in Scotland for everyone, but especially young girls. She is the director of Badminton Academy Social Enterprise (BASE) which aims to give a safe and fun environment to anyone wanting to pick up a racket.
Kilmarnock FC’s Laura McLaughlin was also involved in the discussion. She was the first professional women’s player to sign a contract with Kilmarnock in 2022, balancing the demands of football, a career and motherhood. Laura spoke of her passion about promoting the women’s game and inspiring the next generation.
Claire Brownie was the final member of the athlete panel. She is the most capped player in Scottish Netball history, finishing on 129 caps after the 2023 World Cup. Claire has competed in 3 World Cups, 3 Commonwealth Games, 11 European Championships and a World Youth Cup, captaining the team at every level from U17 to Senior.
Powering women’s professional sport
Aileen Booth, Commercial Partnerships Manager at Scottish Hockey joined Head Coach, Chris Duncan, to explore the benefit of building multiple small partnerships to support athletes. The concept of ‘value beyond money’ was brought to the forefront, along with the importance of utilising partnerships to evolve the female experience.
Aileen also talked through the Scottish Hockey female athlete health research programme and partnerships that have come out of that around menstrual health and breast health.
Tammy Parlour CEO, The Women’s Sports Trust presented recent research on the visibility and commercial landscape powering women’s professional sport. Tammy spoke about sponsorship and the impacts on finance available to support professional athletes.
Key takeaways from the ‘Beyond the Game’ presentation centred around profile, profit and passion.
- Profile - visibility is accelerating, but sustainable growth requires consistency, not just spikes around big events.
- Profit - Brands are leaning in, but the next level unlock is providing clear return on investment alongside purpose and value alignment.
- Passion - Excitement, personalities, and storytelling are the true multipliers that turn moments into movements.
Hannah Lawrance, Senior Brand Partnership Lead at Scottish Gas/Centrica rounded off the conference sharing the successes of the Scottish Rugby Women’s National Team campaign for the Women’s Rugby World Cup ‘25: Meet My Teammate.
Hannah manages key partnerships with ParalympicsGB, Team GB, Scottish Rugby, and the SFA. With extensive experience in elite rugby, agency roles, and media partnerships, Hannah excels in activating and managing high-profile brand collaborations.
With the 10th edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup taking place in England from 22 August to 27 September 2025, Hannah gave insight into Scottish Gas and SRU Women on the Road to 2025 which is focused on powering trust.
About Scottish Women in Sport
Scottish Women in Sport are a charity led by a group of Trustees and supported by dedicated volunteers who make up the SW/S Digital Committee.
Using a variety of platforms, SW/S work with Scottish Governing Bodies, sports organisations, athletes, officials, and more, to highlight positive change and challenge those who continue to exclude or undermine the involvement of women and girls in the sporting arena.
Over the past ten years, SW/S have delivered an annual conference focusing on the issues that matter and impact on women in sport, as well as an annual awards event, where the many successes and achievements of women are celebrated through a variety of categories.
